15 Interesting and Unique USB Hard Drives

Not too long after flash-based USB thumb drives first hit the market, they became as synonymous with computing as a computer mouse. Well, almost. Prices were high at first, but plummeted fast, and we’re now at a point where a 16GB model can be had for a meager $40. They’re popular for not only that reason, but because they’re small, and easily disposable.

Because thumb drives are so accessible and inexpensive, ambitious geeks have splurged their imagination on creating some of the most interesting storage devices out there. UK memory seller MemoryBits has rounded up 15 of the most impressive, or at least the most unique. I should note that these are not only thumb drives, though, but there are also also some actual hard drives (the sky’s the limit when it comes to today’s storage, really).

How about a VHS Top Gun USB drive? Sure, it’s not portable, but who cares when you’re in the danger zone? One of my favorites from the list is a USB KFC chicken burger… it’s a faux chicken burger that’s more of a USB dock, but that still counts… because it’s very, very strange. Or how about a Super NES game USB thumb drive that holds all of your SNES ROMs? That might not be what the creator is using it for, but it’s what I’d be using it for!

I’m sure I’m one of the few people who doesn’t get too excited over steampunk, but #6 in the list is actually very, very cool. Cool enough that I’d love to carry it around with me. It’d be a great conversation starter! And of course, you can’t ignore the Transformers thumb drive, which can turn from a flat object into a jaguar.

Just looking at these inspires me to figure out a mod that I could do that might be just as interesting. Maybe for my first mod, I could just make my entire PC a USB thumb drive? But then I might have to throw portability out the window…

If you loved the Tom Cruise movie, Top Gun, then you are certain to want this VHS-disguised USB hard drive to hide your super-sensitive data among those other old VHS tapes you are saving to re-watch someday. A bizarre hard drive, but clever too because what identify thief would think to search through those ancient VHS tapes searching for your banking information?