So what is the big deal about USB 3.0? We all know it's faster, but what else? Well, a lot of things actually: like more bandwidth, better power management and better bus utilisation than a USB 2.0. But let's just look at the speed. Well, let’s just say the USB 3.0 can be up to 60 times faster in some cases than a USB 2.0. Compare a USB 2.0 download bar alongside a USB 3.0 bar and the difference is embarrassing. It’s a sports car racing a bicycle. But what if you don’t have a USB 3.0 port on your computer? What happens then? Well, most new laptops and PCs do, but even if yours doesn’t, the USB 3.0 will still be faster than the USB 2.0. How come? Well, think of the port like a tunnel or a water pipe. The USB 3.0 sends the data down the tunnel at such a huge rate it maxes out the tunnel’s capacity so the end result may be a faster download than a USB 2.0. But with a USB 3.0 port you get a much bigger ‘pipe’ so the data travels even faster still. If USB 3.0 drives are not all equal, how do you pick the best one? Well, this is where it gets tricky. Although a lot of USB drives may call themselves USB 3.0, they may not actually be delivering the kind of speed you want at all. In fact they may not actually be much better than a USB 2.0. It’s a bit like breaking the speed limit in your car. Let's say the limit on your road is 50kph and you do 51kph. The traffic cop pulls you over and says you're breaking the speed limit. As the cop is writing you a ticket, a sports car roars by doing 280 kmph. Well he’s breaking the speed limit too though he’s so much faster. And that's the problem. When you go down to the computer mall to get your fancy new USB 3.0, how do you know if you’re buying a 51kph vehicle that just scrapes into USB 3.0 territory or a sports car? Well, there are three ways you can tell. One is price. If the price is really low, then let's face it, you can be pretty sure it’s not a sports car. The second way, is the logo on the side. And the third way is the spec. Only the really confident brands will tell you on the spec sheet exactly how much data they can shift and at what speed. At this point, now that we have established the need for USB 3.0 in the times, we need to understand the benefits devices with such a capability can provide us. For, it’s not just companies anymore that feel the greater needs of transferring larger files at faster speeds. Sizeable backups are the requirements of households and individuals too. Although USB 3.0 has been around for a while, it’s become common among PCs and laptops now. Most of these devices have at least two such bus ports which in turn have driven flash drive manufacturers enthusiasm to new highs, resulting in the launch a slew of USB 3.0 drives. Thus, global leaders in flash storage solutions like SanDisk have the USB 3.0 drives featuring professional-grade performance with some of the fastest speeds in the industry that are many times faster than standard USB 2.0 drives, yet with generous amounts of storage. All this is possible because the standard provides more headroom for devices to deliver a better overall user experience. With 5 to 10 times the bandwidth available, video solutions work that much better. USB 3.0 flash drives combine faster data speeds and generous capacity in compact, stylish packages. Given that the new standard has increased the maximum-data capability from 480 MBps to 5 GBps, it’s like you moved from a plain-jane hatchback to a bigger, roomier, better, more horse-powered one because you have begun travelling more for work, you take more short-holidays or simply because the comfort quotient is growing and you can afford it. Case in point, transition to USB 3.0 flash drives have become pretty affordable. Further, most often than not, USB 3 hard disks and flash drives, have much more powerful controller chips than those that were in the USB 2.0 devices. Understandably, the increased speed is vastly noticeable even if you are using a USB 3.0 hard disk over a USB 2 interface. Given their transfer and read speeds, these flash drives can move large memory intensive photos, movies, and other files up to 60 times faster than standard USB 2.0 drives, considerably reducing the time spent waiting for files to move from the flash drive to your computer. For example, users can transfer a full-length movie to the ExtremeTM PRO USB 3.0 Flash Drive in seconds, or 1,000 photos in less than 35 seconds on a USB 3.0 computer port. What’s more, storage capacities of up to 128GB are able to accommodate the bulkiest media files, documents, high-resolution photos, MP3s and HD. -By Rajesh Gupta, Country Manager, SanDisk Corporation
