I am always amazed at the prices of hardware. Most hardware prices drop and drop until you thing they won't drop any more, then they drop again. The latest jaw-dropping price to cross my desk is a 64 gigabyte memory stick (also called a flash drive or jump drive or thumb drive or USB drive) for $59.99, including free shipping. That's less than a dollar per gigabyte!
The first flash drives to appear in the marketplace had storage capacities of a few megabytes (not gigabytes) and typically cost $20 or $25 each. Many of us marveled that "these things store more data than a floppy disk and they are smaller and more rugged besides." Of course, as the years went by, prices dropped and storage capacities increased. The latest 64 gigabyte flash drive stores the equivalent of 44,000+ floppy disks. It will also store ten or fifteen full-length movies, all in a device that weighs about two ounces. This should be great for backing up all of your genealogy data, including family photographs, and a lot more besides.
Even better, the Centon DataStick Pro USB Drive 64GB is also listed as being ruggedized and waterproof. I am guessing it should survive a trip through the washing machine. That's important to me as I have previously lost flash drives due to the washing machine. Twice.
I have seen 64 gigabyte and even larger flash drives advertised before but never at a price of less than a buck a gigabyte.
The price of $59.99 is listed as a sale price but I have no idea how long the sale will last. It is available now (I just ordered one) but could end at any moment. The sale is on eBay and many items listed by merchants on eBay are good "while the supply lasts." This might be the same.
The shipping is free but you must pay state sales tax if the order is sent to California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Tennessee, or Washington. The free shipping is listed as "11 to 14 business days" for delivery but faster shipping is available if you are willing to pay more. I elected to take the slower, free shipping.
I don't get a commission on these or anything. I simply saw the ad, purchased one for myself, and then decided to share the news here. To learn more, or to order the Centon DataStick Pro USB Drive 64GB on eBay, go to http://r.ebay.com/w9NMD2
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