Portable data storage is really useful. Small drives that fit into your pocket and are powered by the USB cable – what’s not to like? Now users have different options over the traditional spinning hard disk drive (HDD). Solid state drives are available as external portable drives, but what are the benefits – if any?

One obvious benefit is speed and reliability. Using non-volatile flash memory provides immediate access to files on the drive and there are no problems with impacts. With no moving parts, portable SSDs will take much more punishment at the bottom of your bag! HDDs simply can’t compete for ruggedness and there are new SSDs which have been developed to be almost indestructible.

However, HDDs still give the user a lot more data storage for their money and SSDs still can’t compete when it comes to capacities. HDDs of 1TB are commonplace, but the equivalent SSD is so expensive it almost prices itself out of the market.

Flash drives are essentially the same as SSDs and come at a fraction of the price of SSDs. However, many are made with cheap components and can be prone to media degradation. So if you’re looking for a flash drive, make sure you purchase a good quality drive. In summary, if you want cheap, cheerful data storage and aren’t going to bash your media around very much, go for a HDD. If your data storage is going to take punishment, opt for SSD.