CFgear » FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a USB flash drive?
2. How do flash drives work?
3. How much information can I store on a USB flash drive?
4. Will flash drives work on any computer?
5. What is so special about CFgear's USB flash drives?
6. Can someone at CFgear just give me a ballpark figure for my bulk flash drive project?
7. What are the volume breaks or discounts for bulk projects?
8. What kind of lead time do bulk flash drive orders require?
9. I’m trying to keep costs low. Does lower storage capacity equal lower cost?
10. Do you provide an end-to-end solution, including shipping to my facility?
11. Why should I invest in CFgear vs. other custom flash drive companies?
12. In the event there is a need to return a product, what is your warranty or exchange policy?
13. Can you please explain your quality control procedures?
14. Is CFgear RoHS compliant?
15. Really now, what’s really the difference, if any, between CFgear and the "others" willing to sell me bulk flash drives?
Q. What the heck is this new fandangled thing folks call a Flash Drive?
A. If you’re reading this answer, then congratulations! You made ‘er to the wonderful world of digital file transfer and storage. So you wanna know what that little bugger with the stem on the end does, eh? The best way to think of it is like an eency weency “honey I shrunk the” hard drive. Or better yet, a “we’ve come a heck of a long ways since the floppy disk” storage device.
The difference between the hard drive in your computer and a flash drive is there’s no moving parts inside a flash drive. It uses “flash memory” in fact to read/write digital content. Thus the name “flash”. In the example of the ol’ floppy storage, the difference is that with a flash drive, you can save, delete, store, transfer files as you please, as much as ya want (the average lifespan of a flash drive is about 10 years…so as much as you want within an average of 10 years!).
A floppy, or even a Compact Disc doesn’t enable the “recycling” of digital storage to the degree a flash drive does. Plus the old floppy and/or Compact Discs just don’t look quite as good hanging off your key chain. So in review, a flash drive is used to mobilize digital content…to allow you to save files and take them with you…either to transfer to another computer or merely to feel good about having your entire day’s work in the pocket of your new denim jeans. Wow! Ya learn something everyday, huh?!
Q. I kinda get the flash drive thingymabobber. But how do I make it “work”?
A. Well, it’s really rather simple. Every computer manufactured these days comes standard with a usb port…a place to plug external/peripheral computer devices such as your printer, mouse, or in this case your flash drive into. Yep. That little slot (generally on the side of your laptop or right smack dab on the front of your PC tower is the place to plug that fandangled flash drive in.
But before you plug in, there’s a little secret we want to share with ya. Most all flash drives or devices engineered to fit in the usb port have a usb cable symbol on the side that needs to face up when pluggin’in to the port. Actually, what will happen if you plug it in incorrectly is either the computer will not recognize the flash drive device or the drive will not plug in to the usb port. So if that occurs, simply flip the drive over and insert it into the usb port.
In the event your drive still doesn’t fit in the usb port and/or doesn’t “populate” (fancy word for “your computer recognizes it”), then it’s obvious you didn’t invest in a CFgear flash drive. Sorry. In the event, that the drive does “populate” (don’t ya love that word?!), your computer (depending on the O/S - Windows, Vista, Macintosh) should alert you that new hardware has been found (Hopefully it says something to the effect of that new hardware being a usb data storage device. If it says it has found a screwdriver or hammer or something like that, then once again, you should’ve invested in a CFgear flash drive).
The easiest and most proven way to access the drive and get ready to transfer files to the flash drive is to go to “My computer”. Once in “My Computer” you should see either an F: or G: drive icon. You can then click on that icon and a new window should appear on your screen. You can now drag and drop any content you want from your computer to that flash drive. The opposite is true should you want to transfer files from your flash drive to a computer. Simply open up the drive…drag and drop the files from your flash drive window to wherever you wish on your computer.
Q. How much info can I put on these flash drives?
A. You can store as much digital content on your flash drive as the storage capacity of your NAND Flash memory chip is engineered to hold. If you don’t know the storage capacity of your drive, you can discover this by right clicking the F: drive (other “flash drive” icon) in you’re My Computer window. Then scroll down to Properties. In Properties you will see both how large the total capacity is as well as how much capacity is remaining (assuming you’ve already had fun loading some content on the drive).
Just a bit o’ trivia for ya, the first flash drive was a mere 8MB. Since that time, it’s hard to come by much of anything smaller than a 16MB with sizes moving up beyond 32GB. Increments of storage size double. So you move from 8MB to 16MB to 32MB to 64MB…you get the pattern…yes…it’s Math…it’s fun fun!
And since we’re on the subject of numbers, there’s 1000MB in 1 Gigabyte (GB). The kids refer to it as a “Gig”. Another useless bit of info we know is that the true geeks are already talking “Terabyte”, which is equal to 1000GB. Yowsers!! That’s a lot of storage space. Enough to park your 1968 Datsun in for sure.
Q. So I’m sold on these flash drive dohickies, but will just any ol’ computer accept them?
A. Flash drives are engineered per USB standards. And USB actually stands for “Universal Serial Bus” so we sure as heck hope that by engineering a product such as a flash drive around standards for something called “Universal”, the darn flash drives would work in more places than a Visa card.
Truth is, flash drives will function on about any modern day (within the last decade) PC or Macintosh. And not to confuse you too much, but depending on the generation of software used on a computer (eg. Windows 2000 vs. Vista), the way in which your computer reads and “populates” (we covered that earlier, remember?) will vary.
Q. So what’s so darn special about CFgear’s flash drives?
A. Glad you asked. Well, wait now. That was us asking the question. And whaddya know, it’s us answering it too. How’s that for biased? But the straight scope is that NOT all flash drives are the same. Some have recycled NAND Flash memory chips inside them and that can mean up to 40+% failure rate when a user attempts to transfer/store large files on the drive. The lifespan of a recycled chip is also much shorter.
The quality of a flash drive can be viewed in much the same way any other product is offered. There’s not so good, good, better, best…and CFgear’s which is the “very bestest”! That’s because CFgear has Triple-Distilled quality controls in place, ensuring that every chip is of the “very bestest” quality both for stability and lifespan.
But premium quality and attention to detail don’t come “cheap”. In fact, CFgear NEVER proclaims to be the “cheapest.” If price is your main focus, void of any concern for quality, chances are CFgear is not a good fit for your project.
Q. Can someone at CFgear just give me a ballpark figure for my bulk flash drive project?
A. Hmmm. Trust us. We’d love to throw a number out. And we’re quite capable of doing so. However, there are so many variables that are truly “variables” which makes giving out an uninformed number tricky. The market is volatile, your project objectives may require certain flash drive models, shapes or even packaging. Beyond that, if you’re even an eency weency bit serious about the project, we know you’ll gain a ton of insight by getting on the phone with one of our Solutions Directions! Sure it may take a few minutes of your time, but we assure you you’ll be that much closer to being an expert on bulk flash drives should you decide to bring the project to life.
Q. What are the volume breaks/discounts for bulk projects?
A. Typically, the discounts occur at 1000, 5000, 10,000 and every five thousand units thereafter. Obviously, for projects involving 100,000 or more units, special pricing will be arranged.
Q. What kind of lead time do bulk flash drive orders require?
A. It all depends on the final volume of the project. CFgear has multiple manufacturing partners able to output tends of thousands of flash drives per day. Much of the lead time is actually more dependent on how “custom” your bulk project is. If it involves special preloading or packaging, extra time may be required for programming and artwork. We recommend speaking with a CFgear Solution Director so a clear understanding of your project requirements and objectives can be achieved.
Q. I’m trying to keep costs low. Does lower storage capacity equal lower cost?
A. Not always. Truth is the NAND Flash (flash drive “engine”) market is volatile so it’s hard to know what to expect other than consistent change. Sometimes, because of the overall demand, lower capacity NAND Flash is more expensive than higher capacity. It doesn’t make much “cents”, other than the law of supply and demand, but trust that we will definitely let you know if and when you can invest in say, for instance, a 1GB drive for a lower dollar amount than 128MB.
Q. Do you provide an end-to-end solution, including shipping to my facility?
A. Yes. CFgear can fulfill all requirements of a custom flash drive project. That includes artwork production for your logo, preload interface design/engineering/organization, custom package development/sourcing, flash drive design/molding/sourcing, custom insert cards for retail flash drive packaging, custom bulk packaging and drop shipping.
Q. Why should I invest in CFgear vs. other custom flash drive companies?
A. Yikes. The direct, hard question. Well, it really depends on what your key factors are in making your decision. If it’s merely getting the cheapest product, chances are you may choose not to invest with CFgear. Not saying CFgear is more expensive, but we don’t manufacture “cheap” hardware. CFgear knows the pains of dealing with unreliable, unstable, defective flash drives. Trust us, you pay for what you get. So if quality and best value are critical factors in your hunt to find the right custom flash drive business partner, then that’s why you should invest in CFgear.
Q. In the event there is a need to return a product, what is your warranty or exchange policy?
A. We offer a lifetime, no-questions-asked exchange program. In the event that one of your Cfgear flash drive products malfunctions, we will replace it with a similar style and capacity product.
Q. Can you please explain your quality control procedures?
A. Sure can. We have the industry’s only Triple-Distilled™ approach to ensure Quality Control. It starts in the engineering/design stage of your custom bulk flash drive project. After confirmation/approval, the project moves to the production floor and is once again Quality Controlled per your project specs and CFgear benchmarks (logo coloration/size, preload functionality, packaging, overall functionality and performance of flash drive). Then the product moves to CFgear headquarters for a final inspection. In the event we identify product at any of the stages that does not meet our Quality Control guidelines, the product is either replaced or repaired to be fully compliant.
Q. Is CFgear RoHS compliant?
A. For all those outside the European marketplace, RoHS stands for The Restriction of the use of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and is a directive which came into effect on July 1, 2006.
The RoHS Regulations implement the provisions of the European Parliament & Council directive on the Restrictions of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2002/95/EC).
This primary objective of RoHS is to protect human health and the environment. So all ya need to know is that CFgear's products are manufactured in a manner respectful towards humanity and sweet mother earth!
Q. Really now, what’s really the difference, if any, between CFgear and the “others” willing to sell me bulk flash drives?
A. We know. Ya just want someone to give ya the straight scoop. The honest to goodness truth about what to look for, good or bad, when trying to decide on the right business partner. Well, we’re gonna have to humbly admit it really depends on what you value in the project. If you value quality, then it’s worth noting there is a “difference” between CFgear and “others”. We’re a private, family-owned company that has a proven (ask our doctor!) history of being obsessive about anything and everything we do…and quality is definitely at the top of the list of things we value and do and are thus obsessed about. However, if you’re really interested in just the same old same old as far as quality goes, while we might be able to help ya, the big difference between us and the others will exist in our obsession surrounding enjoyable service and unequalled industry expertise.
The reality is there are indeed some common denominators in the industry. No one can truly say they are 100% unique with ALL that they offer for custom bulk flash drives. As we said, depending on your values and needs, there’s good and not so good in all companies. We’re hoping our ol’ fashioned values of solid quality, professional (as in educated, willing and happy to help!) service taught to us by our grandfather are appealing enough to make us the front runner in your quest for custom bulk flash drives.
