I am partial to my USB pen drive. Basically, USB pen drives are relatively cheap (mine cost about $25) large (I got a 64mb, but they come in sizes up to a gig - if you are willing to pay) hard to destroy (at one person claims that his survived a trip in a washing machine with his data intact) fast (I find about 10X faster) alternatives to a floppy.
You basically stick the drive (the size and shape of a small highlight pen) into your computer's USB drive (I also bought a few USB A/M-A/F extension cords, but some USB pen drives come with a short one), and it is automatically recognized (takes, at most, about 3 seconds). If you have any system above Windows 98SE, no software is needed.
I went with one branded by Targus (diskonkey.com seems to make the same device for Compaq and Fujifilm) and bought it from Ecost.com (
http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=371963). I also got bunch of extra extension cords (
http://www.accessmicro.com/productin...&rnd=735702448). Basically the cheapest I could go for what looked like good quality.
Good:
-fast
-hard to break
-large
-idiot proof
-lets you copy and paste a whole bunch of files in one shot
-my model works fine with Windows 98SE AND Windows 98 (and probably even NT - with software)
-my model has its own on-board processor
Bad
-not supposed to work with Windows 95
-my model did not come with extension cord
-included password data protection software did not work well with Windows 98 (so I deleted the file)
-my model does not have write-protection switch
-does not seem to work with Windows 98 when you use an unpowered USB hub
-to properly "close out" and remove the drive (not needed on Windows 98), you have to first close the files you were using on the USB and then select any file or directory not on the USB and/or close the program you were just using (just like not ejecting a floppy when you have an open file or the computer thinks it is still working with the floppy)
