Very Very Sexy and Sleek
Written: Sep 20 '06 (Updated Sep 20 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great design, fast read and write speeds, slightly smaller when retracted
Cons: Very slow writes when writing multiple small files at once
The Bottom Line: May prove to be handy and durable.
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| nad_masters's Full Review: SanDisk Cruzer® Titanium (2 GB) USB 2.0 Flash... |
USB thumb drives are now becoming more and more popular as more people realize they are easy to use and offer great convenience. So now features and style are what manufactures are now trying to use to differentiate themselves from the competition.
Design
SanDisk does so with their Cruzer Titanium. The USB connector actually slides out from inside the case. The blue LED is actually behind the switch, giving it a soft blue glow. This is actually very nice, as it covers up one of my most hated attributes of the blue LED - the brightness. The LED flashes during data access. This also means you have no cap to lose. Another plus? The drive is much smaller once the connector is retracted!
SanDisk also says this USB flash drive is virtually indestructible and is capable of surviving 2,000 crushing pounds. I'm not about to try this, but they claim this is the case because the USB casing (no pun) is made out of titanium. This is the same alloy used by Apple on their earlier PowerBooks.
Applications
The Cruzer Titanium comes with three applications on the drive. CruzerSync syncs up with Outlook and allows you to view your emails and attachments. They are in compressed form on the USB drive itself. Contacts, Calendar, and even the Notes (all part of Outlook) will be available once you plug the drive in. Unfortunately, it only works with Outlook, not Outlook Express. Not sure if this applet will work with the new Mail and Calendar application in Vista.
CruzerLock is an encryption applet for the drive. It allows you to section off a part of the drive space for encrypted files and folders. In testing, it works very well, and shows up as another drive letter only after you enter the correct password.
CruzerCache allows you to back up your PC's files on the Cruzer Titanium. However, I am the kind of user who backs up by dragging and dropping files. This is probably suited for users who rather have a one-touch, no thinking involved kind of back up.
I personally do not use any of them on a regular basis. I tried them out, and generally works pretty well. With Outlook, I used it at work to see if I can get my data to work on another work PC that uses Outlook (without setting me up on it), and it showed up flawlessly within a few seconds of plugging it in.
With the CruzerLock, you set up the amount you wish to partion off your drive, enter your password, and a new drive appears. This is your encyrpted partition in which the next time you insert the drive, it will auto-run and ask for your password. Fail to provide the right key, and all you see is what is in the unencrypted area.
Unfortunately I haven't really used the CruzerCache as I never really trust backup utiltites. I am the "drap and drop files as backups" kind of guy.
Performance
Performance was stated to be 15 MB/sec reads wth 13 MB/sec writes. However, when I tested it with a single large file, I was able to get a 650 MB file ISO file read in about 37 seconds. This translates to 17.63 MB/sec reads (measured). Reading with 650 MB of the files that it contained (WinXP CD with SP2) instead of a single large files yield a 10.23 MB/sec. Perhaps SanDisk took the safe route and used an average when they advertised the 15 MB/sec.
Writing with the single solid 650 MB WinXP SP2 ISO, it took around a minute to complete! This translate to a transfer rate of 10.33 MB/sec. Still pretty good, but falls short of the 13 MB/sec claim. Writing the files instead of the ISO of the same size, however, yielded an agonizing 5.64 MB/sec. That is a far cry from the claimed 13 MB/sec promised by SanDisk. Although much faster than most other pen drives, be aware of this fact when copying a folder with many bite-sized files.
Reads
Claimed- 15 MB/sec
Tested- 17.63 MB/sec single solid 650 MB file
Tested- 10.23 MB/sec 650 MB of data files of various sizes
Writes
Claimed- 13 MB/sec
Tested- 10.33 MB/sec single solid 650 MB file
Tested- 5.64 MB/sec 650 MB of data files of various sizes
To Buy or Not to Buy
Overall, the performance is still very quick. In fact, with a solid file, it is easily the fastest pen drive I've tested, both reads and writes. The design is interesting, and better off paired with a necklace or a loop to hold on to (which it includes). However, you must find your own way of attaching it to your key ring if you wish to use it as a keychain ornament. Other than that, there is very little I disliked about the unit.
2 GB is a sweet spot today in terms of price/capacity ratio. However, as 4 GB drives come in, the value may quickly shift.
Recommended:
Yes
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nad_masters
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Location: Chicago, IL, USA
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If you mind is in the gutter, where are your hands?
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