PNY Attaché 4GB Flash Drive: An Altruistic Choice for Portable Storage
Written: Jul 21 '09 (Updated Jul 21 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: Portion of proceeds go to good cause, large capacity, reasonable price, good warranty support
Cons: First one died after a month, USB bends easily, cap easy to lose
The Bottom Line: Overall, I've been happy with this drive. I suspect my issue was an isolated one. I think it's great to support a cause while getting a decent capacity flash drive.
noangels's Full Review: PNY Susan G Komen USB 2.0 Flash Drive P-FD4GBATT2-...
I have a possibly compulsive need to have important files and documents with me at all times. In the small zippered pocket of my pocketbook, there is a flash drive that contains my resume, financial documents, schoolwork, pictures, and the latest music from my mp3 collection. I use the drive daily to update these documents and work on schoolwork. I also have individual flash drives where I backup this master flash drive and individual groups of files. Naturally, this obsessive need to backup and transport files has led to my purchase of more than twenty flash drives in the last two to three years.
I felt like I was starting to outgrow my 2 gigabyte (GB) flash drives as my master storage. I had to delete picture files when I wanted to add large folders. I purchased the PNY Attaché 4GB Susan G. Komen Flash Drive because it was on sale, had a larger capacity, and supported a cause that is important to me.
Design
This is an average-size flash drive, aptly nicknamed “thumb drive” since its size does resemble a slightly flattened thumb. The drive has a pink plastic casing with a breast cancer awareness ribbon printed on it. In addition to promoting awareness of the cause, I liked that this made it easier to distinguish it from my other flash drives. There is an access light in the center of the drive that blinks when it is in use.
The USB plug protrudes from the end of the drive, which is sometimes problematic for me. Because I use my flash drive with my laptop they often become bent from banging into things or leaning against objects. I’ve tried my best to be careful with this drive and thus far, I have only noticed a slight change in the angle of the USB.
The drive comes with a pink plastic cover that protects the USB when the drive is not in use. The cap is extremely easy to lose. I’ve lost and found it at least twice already. There is a notch at the end of the drive for it to be attached to a keychain or lanyard, though it does not come with one. I attached it to an old San Disk lanyard I had.
Usage
The USB 2.0 offers transfer speeds up to 480 Mbps. These speeds were satisfactory for my needs. I am able to transfer chunks of data pretty quickly.
This drive comes with no pre-loaded software and functions well as a plug and play device (simply plug it in and use it!). I have used it successfully with Windows XP and Vista systems. Capacity
This flash drive has a 4GB capacity, which has been well suited to my current needs. I had previously been using a similar PNY Attache Pro, but the 2GB capacity became insufficient when I started carrying more pictures from my digital-SLR. 4GB is enough space to hold an average of 1,000 digital point-and-shoot pictures, 1,000 songs, or a very large number of documents (tens of thousands). I am currently able to carry all of my important documents, my schoolwork, my latest pictures, and music, with enough room left over to carry other files as needed.
Problems and Support
After less than a month of use, this flash drive died. I was able to backup the latest data by holding it at an extreme angle with my finger while the transfer completed. After scouring PNY’s website for information, I found a link to contact tech support. I immediately received a response and was sent information on how to send the product back to the manufacturer. The product was covered by a 1-year warranty. It took about a month for a replacement to arrive and it has functioned correctly ever since. I’m not sure if the problem was a defect in the drive or a lack of durability. Price
I purchased this drive for $17.99 at Best Buy. $0.50 of the purchase price is donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. I felt that the price was reasonable for a drive of this capacity.
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