Portable USB Storage--Opinions please

I would appreciate some opinions on what is called "portable USB storage "--little blobs of plastic (smaller than a pack of cigarettes) which claim to be able to download and then upload fairly large amounts of bytes (like 64-128MB) by just porting into a USB port.
Lexar's Jump Drives would be an example.
I am a Neanderthal who not only has Win98 but no Zip drives, tape drives or CD-R/RW.
Do these things work? What are the drawbacks?

 

Those are good ideas; but, I think I would prefer something else. Fo instance, consider that Compact Flash can be had in sizes up to 512 Megs for about $80. The card readers/writers can be had in physical sizes not much over the device you inquired about and are about $20 or less. And, there is a lot more space on one of these. (Or you can have them as small as 32 megs.)

Yes, it is physically a little larger; but, the flexibility of being able to carry as many or as few CF chips as I want, each the size of two quarters stacked on each other is worth it to me.

 

Alex Ethridge--Many thanks for your comments on Compact Flash. It does sound better than these USB storage modules.

Would still welcome comments from others, unless all agree about Compact Flash.

 

Additional note about the reader/writer:

Some reader/writers have a cord permenently attached and some have removable USB cords. Some of the ones that have removable cords are extremely small and have a USB connector permanently attached that mates to the USB plug on the back (or front) of your computer.

I have one in front of me right now that is flat and sort of triangular shaped. At its widest point it is 2 inches. It is 2.6 inches long not counting the 0.5 inch USB connector and 0.6 inches thick. See it at http://www.microtechint.com/qs-zio.html

It is very handy. I use it for on-site backup of small amounts of data. With two 512-Meg CF chips, I can store up to 1 Gigabyte of user-created data. I've never run across a machine that has more than that amout of user-created data.

I'll be working out of town so I will not be around for more replies for the next five days.

 

Alex Ethridge--Thanks for the additional info about reader/writers!! Sadly the site you suggest is very coy about pricing. But I will inquire locally.

 

Go to www.pricewatch.com and do a search.

They are under $20 in Birmingham Alabama USA.