Note: Sorry, this deal is for United States residents only.
If you missed out on the 2GB flash drive deal a few months back don’t sweat it. Not only is the 2GB drive available for $4.95, but there is also a 4GB drive available for a mere $14.95! And if that’s still too much for your pocketbook pick up the 1GB drive for free. There will be a little bit of tax on each of the drives though, so the 1GB will actually come out to a little under $1. Those prices include free shipping, and there are absolutely no mail-in rebates to struggle with. You won’t even find a deal like this on Black Friday next week.
What’s the catch? You have to purchase these drives using a newly created Google Checkout account. Google Checkout is a completely free service to signup for, and I’ve used it for several of my purchases in the past. It’s hassle-free so it is definitely worth the $10 that you save off of your total purchase.
For those of you wondering these drives are capable of being used with Vista’s new ReadyBoost feature. That would be because it exceeds the minimum requirements with its 6MBps read speed (2.5MB/s required for ReadyBoost) and its 3MBps write speed (1.75MB/s required for ReadyBoost). Of course you can always get around that restriction, but having a drive that meets the requirements will ensure that you get the best performance.
If you want to pick one of these up you better hurry. The 1GB drive is the number one selling item on Buy.com right now, the 2GB is number two, and the 4GB is number three. At prices like these it’s very possible that Buy.com will sell out of them.
Kingston 1GB Data Traveler USB Flash Drive (FREE + tax)
Kingston 2GB Data Traveler USB Flash Drive ($4.95 + tax)
Kingston 4GB Data Traveler USB Flash Drive ($14.95 + tax)
[via Shankri-la]
To be clear, you should mention that the $10 discount for Google Checkout applies to the entire order, not each item purchased.
I’ve never been charged tax at Buy.com, by the way.
That’s awesome. That 1GB drive has my magic price tag = Free!
I did say this in the article, which I thought cleared that up: “it is definitely worth the $10 that you save off of your total purchase.”
I’m sure it just depends on the state you live in, but Buy.Com did add tax onto the 1GB drive when I went to checkout.
That’s my favorite price, too.
Thanks for the mention, Ryan!
I am lucky MI doesn’t charge a tax yet. USB drive prices are falling so bad I think by the new year the 4GB drives would be going for FREE!
Thanks, again, Ryan! I picked up a free one last time you mentioned it, and got another one today…
You only pay sales tax if the purchase is shipped to MA, CA, or TN. At the checkout, it may show “estimated tax” for everyone, until after you enter your billing info…
these deals are actually horrible, last year I got 2 and 4GB ones where they paid me to buy them (after rebates, but still) The prices of USB drives seem to have gone up…
I picked up a 4 GIG and it had shipping added? Still it is a great price for a 4 GIG drive. I have a couple 2 GIG drives already and I could not turn down that kind of deal for a 4 GIG! Thanks Ryan
@spock: Where shipping was added (this happened to me too) you just had to change to 7 to 9 day shipping and it would have been free.
Does anyone know whether these drives are reliable? I got a 1GB one because I didn’t have to pay anything, so should I also pick up one of the other ones? I ask because I had a SanDisk 512mb drive for like 2 weeks before it started transferring data incompletely.
I just hopped on it. Well, I thought about the 4 GB flash drive, but a free 1 GB just seemed so irresistible.
So yeah, I got a 1 GB. I think these flash drives are reliable enough. Might outlive your SanDisk, Max. :p And yeah, there was no tax when I checked out, I live in NC. So the 7 – 9 day wait for a flash drive begins. 
Ahh, thanks for the heads up. I didn’t actually go through with the checkout at the time so I didn’t realize that.
I for one try not to purchase anything with rebates anymore. I’ve gotten stiffed by several different companies, and can never get a hold of them to see what’s going on with my rebates.
My dad bought one of the 2GB ones the last time around, and hasn’t had any troubles with it. The reviews on Buy.com are also VERY good so I would say it is a wise purchase.
Every time I order from them with the 7-9 day shipping it takes about 3 to get it. Kinda funny if you ask me.
Got the 1GB one. I’m in CA so had to pay $0.72. Definitely worth it for drive, though. Should be plenty of space for me. I’ve been using a dinasoar 64MB drive, so this is a big step up. Maybe I’ll look into that free flash drive virtual OS program installation thingy I though I heard about here.
Thanks!
But it looks so gay…I like the space but I don’t like sacrificing the look.
Wow, that is a heck of an upgrade for you. That’s equivalent to upgrading to a 160GB hard drive from a 10GB. You’ll feel lost with all that storage!
I wasn’t all that fond with the color choice for each of the models as well, but at prices like that I would be willing to sacrifice the appearance.
Wuhu, it finally came in. Nice, now I can hold whatever I want in my pocket.
I’m sure you’ll love the extra storage. If you’re like me it will be hard to find useful stuff to fill up the drive. I had things like OpenOffice on there before, but I never really used it so I went ahead and remove it.