Giggity Giggity -- Kingston DataTraveler 1GB flash drive
Written: Mar 31 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Flash drives are awesome.
Cons: Doesn't seem able to handle a large number of files, even when well under 1gig.
The Bottom Line: Flash drives are incredibly useful and incredibly cheap. The Kingston DataTraveler is quite serviceable as a flash drive. Get one today!
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| Jellyn's Full Review: Kingston Data Traveler USB Flash Drive (1 GB) |
I was new to this whole flash drive thing when I bought the Kingston DataTraveler 1 gig drive.
Imagine, this little tiny stick can help you transport your files from laptop to desktop four feet away, or from one computer to another halfway around the world. Naturally, since the files I'm most likely to want to move around are mp3s and avis (sound files and movie files for you newbies), I needed a flash drive with a minimum of a gig. Amazon was selling them cheaply at the time, July '07. So I went for it.
Specs
Flash drives are so cute!!!
It's about the size of my index finger, though flatter. You can loop a string or lanyard through it and wear it around your neck, or you can slide it onto your keychain, or just carry it around in your pocket. Just be careful not to sit on it or run it through the wash.
There's a cap on the end to protect the USB connector.
You don't have to purchase batteries for it, or install fancy software.
Mine is white with dark grey highlights.
And that's about as technical as these 'specs' are going to get.
How to Use It
Step 1. Pull off the cap to reveal the USB connector.
Step 2. Locate a computer. Try the living room, bedroom, office, or your local public library.
Step 3. Look for the USB port on the computer. There will probably be two or four of these; little rectangular holes, undoubtably labeled USB.
Step 4. Plug the flash drive into the USB port.
Step 5. Put the cap somewhere you won't lose it, step on it, or forget all about it.
Step 6. The computer has probably opened up a window displaying the contents of your drive. If it hasn't, see Troubleshooting A below.
Step 7. Open up a folder/directory with the files you want to copy, select them, copy them, then paste them into the drive's window. Alternatively, drag and drop. Or Save As.. from a program you're working in, or any number of methods that you'd usually use to move a file from place to place.
Step 8. Pull the drive out.
Step 9. Find a new computer!
Alternate Step 9: Carry the drive around and at random times, pull it out and show it to people. Tell them: "I have David Tennant on here. Three hours' worth of him and his TARDIS." They will be envious. (Or a little frightened.)
* Troubleshooting A: Try turning the computer on first.
My Experience
These things are adorable and wicked easy to use. My CD/DVD drive on my laptop has started having issues, so I can no longer burn CDs reliably with it. Instead, I put the files I want to burn onto my flash drive to transfer them to my desktop and burn from there. Sure, I could connect the two computers over the network, but that's a hassle and Windows always tries to screw that up somehow or other.
One problem I did run into was that while transferring mp3 files, it seemed to stop working. I could no longer write (copy) to the flash drive. There was still plenty of space on it, but it wouldn't do it. It was like it was write-protected, only it was not. I figured out that it doesn't seem to like a lot of files at once. What's the magic number? I'm not sure. It handles dozens okay, which is all you'd usually be using. It's a minor problem, though it is annoying.
Final Thoughts
Flash drives are cheap. If a gig is all you're likely to need, go for it. If you like carrying around movie files, you might want to spend a few extra bucks for more storage space -- 2 gig or 5 gig. But if you're prone to losing small things, or your parental or spousal unit loves washing your clothes without checking the pockets, then you might as well buy the drive you can more easily afford to lose. And a 1 gig drive fits the bill quite nicely.
The Kingston DataTraveler has served me quite well.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Jellyn
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Location: New Hampshire
Reviews written: 210
Trusted by: 47 members
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