I Want a USB Drive That Fits My Lifestyle

I can tell you first-hand that when deleting some selfish user's 0.5GB of huge TIFF files from an overstuffed network file server, you enhance the experience if you listen to Pet Shop Boys' "What Have I Done to Deserve This?".

In other news, please don't buy the Sony USM-128U2 "Micro Vault" USB drive. I have one, and I love the little thing to death. It's a really handy thing to have, and I don't think I can live without it or something like it. So why shouldn't you buy it?

Because the damn thing has broken on me twice. The actual hardware itself is quite robust and reliable, and aside from a brief period of time where I had some minor hardware-detection issues using it with my iBook, the thing runs like a trooper. But consider that it's a flash chip with a USB connector sandwiched between three interlocking pieces of plastic, and those pieces of plastic are for shit.

Really. The drive looks great, but if you use it daily it will break open on you. I wear mine on a chain around my neck, and Sony probably wasn't counting on people doing that for some odd reason. The housing is glued together, and frequently comes apart when you try to remove the drive from its protective lid.

Now, I've successfully managed to Krazy Glue^TM it back together twice. Once if you have a more conservative definition of "successfully" than I do. Bottom line: it still works, but it looks like crap.

I am usually very impressed with the high quality of Sony products, and I admit that I'm putting my little USB drive through a lot of stress rubbing against my shirt and my bare skin for hours on end, but this is ridiculous. Sony, are you going to make a robust product or are you going to put big chips in cheap plastic molds and call it a day?

If anybody can recommend a heavy-duty USB drive to me, I'll be happy to hear suggestions.