Editing USB flash drive (section)

===Flash memory cards===
[[File:8GB media comparison.jpg|thumb|Three different [[Micro Center]]-branded digital media, showing a USB flash drive, an [[SD card]], and a Micro-SD card, all having a capacity of 8&nbsp;GiB, next to a U.S. 5-cent coin for size comparison]]
[[Flash memory card]]s, e.g., [[Secure Digital card]]s, are available in various formats and capacities, and are used by many consumer devices. However, while virtually all PCs have USB ports, allowing the use of USB flash drives, memory card readers are not commonly supplied as standard equipment (particularly with desktop computers). Although inexpensive card readers are available that read many common formats, this results in two pieces of portable equipment (card plus reader) rather than one.

Some manufacturers, aiming at a "best of both worlds" solution, have produced card readers that approach the size and form of USB flash drives (e.g., [[Kingston Technology|Kingston]] MobileLite,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kingston.com/flash/mobilelite_reader.asp|title=MobileLite 9-in-1 Reader|publisher=[[Kingston Technology]]|access-date=2009-04-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227044548/http://kingston.com/flash/mobilelite_reader.asp|archive-date=2009-02-27}}</ref> [[SanDisk]] MobileMate<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(1219)-SDDR-108-A11M-SanDisk_MobileMate_Memory_Stick_Plus_4in1_Reader.aspx |title=MobileMate Memory Stick Plus 4-in-1 Reader |publisher=[[SanDisk|Sandisk Corporation]] |access-date=2009-04-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305041708/http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item%281219%29-SDDR-108-A11M-SanDisk_MobileMate_Memory_Stick_Plus_4in1_Reader.aspx |archive-date=March 5, 2009 }}</ref>) These readers are limited to a specific subset of memory card formats (such as SD, [[SD card#microSD|microSD]], or [[Memory Stick]]), and often completely enclose the card, offering durability and portability approaching, if not quite equal to, that of a flash drive. Although the combined cost of a mini-reader and a memory card is usually slightly higher than a USB flash drive of comparable capacity, the reader + card solution offers additional flexibility of use, and virtually "unlimited" capacity. The ubiquity of [[SD cards]] is such that, circa 2011, due to [[economies of scale]], their price is now less than an equivalent-capacity USB flash drive, even with the added cost of a USB SD card reader.

An additional advantage of memory cards is that many consumer devices (e.g., [[digital camera]]s, [[portable music player]]s) cannot make use of USB flash drives (even if the device has a USB port), whereas the memory cards used by the devices can be read by PCs with a card reader.