In today’s computing age, having a pocket size USB hard drive or a USB hard drive is a standard extra that most people end up purchasing at some point. Over the past decade technological improvements and price reduction has allowed many people to own personal computers or laptops. With the way both computers and the Internet have been used, many people have numerous large files they store on their desktop or laptop. Some people hold thousands of songs on their mp3 music player and many people have full length movies stored on their machines. For some, these are the only files that are important to keep safe . For others, everything from their family pictures to their favorite songs are important enough so losing them would not be a pleasurable experience. With that being said, perhaps a compact portable hard drive or a larger external hard drive with a bigger storage capacity are two tools that make it painless to store and back-up files. Which one is better? It all depends on your needs.

Portability

One of the major differences between a USB drive and a standard size external hard drive comes in the form of basic portability. A USB hard drive is often significantly smaller is physical size than an external hard drive. While an external hard drive is not necessarily large (generally about the size of a small hardcover book), a USB drive can easily fit into purses, laptop carriers and even in pockets . If you are worried about true portability, a small USB drive is probably the way to go.

Size

The size of the USB drive is significantly smaller than the size an external hard drive. For some people, this may not be much of a concern. For others, this could make or break the purchase, depending on what they are looking for. While a USB drive is smaller in terms of actual dimensions, they can be smaller in terms of storage space, but technology is changing all this. If you need to back up an entire computer, you may be better off with an external hard drive but this may not necessarily be 100% accurate in all cases, since small USB drives are increasing in storage capacity all the time. If you simply need to back up a few or a few important things, a tiny USB hard drive may be better for you .

Price

Price also follows a similar trend seen between a USB drive and an external hard drive. Generally speaking, an external hard drive has more storage capacity, and therefore tends to be more expensive than a smaller USB drive. If price is a major factor for you, you may go with an external hard drive and be ok. If you are planning on purchasing a drive with a larger storage capacity, you can expect to pay a little more money. If you simply need a small drive for a few files, spending more money on a larger external hard drive may not be the best thing for you.

As you can see, the choice between a USB drive and a larger external hard drive fully depends on personal needs . If you are looking for something more portable and more cost efficient, a USB drive the best choice. If you need something larger that can hold larger files, a standard dimension external hard drive is right on target . Whatever you need, however, having a removable drive to store and back up files can be incredibly helpful.