noangels's Full Review: SanDisk Cruzer® Micro (2 GB) USB 2.0 Flash Dr...
I must admit, I was lazy in my purchase of the San Disk Cruzer Micro 2GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive. My usual amount of tedious research was ditched for a quick, inexpensive solution because I couldn’t be bothered to do the research after a few late nights as work. I completely overlooked the term U3 and never bothered to look up what it was. I’m happy enough with my purchase but perhaps this review will help those of you who are smart enough to be doing product research right now.
Why I Purchased This Flash Drive A recent promotion has led to an increasing collection of important files accruing on my work computers. We have a network that stores all of our files, but sometimes there is lag from computer to computer. I wanted a way to have my files with me at all times. I don’t have time to wait around for files if I need to go downstairs and work from there. I brought in an old 128 MB flash drive as a solution.
This was by no means a permanent solution. The flash drive had served me well, but had suffered several years worth of rough-handling (which I shall detail in another review). Needless to say, the angle at which the USB now sat didn’t give me a lot of confidence that it would connect for long. I decided to look for a new flash drive; one with a significantly higher capacity. The purchase decision resembled my future mother-in-law’s thought process for a dinner out; go with whatever is cheap and easy. The flash drive was inexpensive and I found it in minutes. Perfect.
Design This flash drive seemed well designed, especially in comparison to previous San Disk Flash drives I have owned in the past. It is tiny (length and width of your thumb, but thinner). It has a sleek black exterior, complete with an illuminated, white panel that also exists to extend and retract the USB. This is a far better design than previous flash drives that remained stationary and had multiple colored caps (all of which were lot within a month of me owning them). The rigid design resulted in them becoming bent over time. This one gives a little and retracts if there is too much pressure on it. Yes, I wasted that much thought on this.
There is a tiny notch with a metal ring to attach the flash drive to your keys. I decided against this, as my keys get thrown around quite a bit. I was able to attach the lanyard from my previous San Disk flash drive and I wear it around my neck. There is a buckle that can be detached just above the flash drive so I don’t even have to take the lanyard off my neck to use the drive (nor does my face have to be pressed against my PC). If you have one handy, I highly recommend it.
Capacity This Flash drive can hold a little less than 2 GB (or 2048 MB) of information (remember, a tiny bit goes to formatting). It is overkill for documents alone, though I suppose it never hurts to have too much space. I wanted the extra capacity so I could transport music, video, and picture files without a problem. My 128 MB flash drive couldn’t even hold a whole album of high quality audio files. 2 GB gives me plenty of room for anything I will need to have ultra-portable. I also have a portable hard drive (which is significantly more cumbersome than a flash drive), but I rarely feel the need to have that much information on the go. As a frame of reference, 2 GB holds about 380 pictures from my 6 megapixel digital camera.
Software, Compatibility, and Ease of Use This flash drive comes with U3 software. As the very helpful member Gr8ful, pointed it, this software does have the benefit of allowing you to run programs directly from your flash drive. Gr8ful's comments on this review go into great detail about this (I won't repeat it here, because I certainly can't say it any better than he already did). I really don't have much use for this feature so it wasn't helpful to me, but it can be a great thing to have portable programs.
The software attempts to dumb down the use of technology to the level of a paint-by-number art project. It frustrates those of us who can function in a computer without "here’s how to wipe your own butt" tutorials. It pops up every time you plug the flash drive in and leaves an icon on your desktop throughout the duration it is connected. It also pops up when you unplug it unsafely. I could remove the software and decided not to. I like the little “eject” button that comes along with it. It cuts my usage time down by about 0.1 seconds so I left it alone. It certainly can be an annoyance, but can definitely be of use to someone with its program portability functionality.
I have only used this flash drive with various incarnations of Windows XP (Pro, Home, and Media Center) and have not had problems.
Software or no software, this flash drive is easy to use. I don’t think I’ve ever found a flash drive that is not easy to use. They’re plug and play; insert them into your USB and they work.
Price I purchased this flash drive on dell.com for $23.99. Overall, I’d say it was a good value for the money.
UPDATE This flash drive stopped working after 7 or 8 months of use. I'm not sure if I was just unlucky or if this was due to the retractable design actually being a bad thing. Either way, please be advised.
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