Tiny size, good storage, excellent quality.
Written: Mar 18 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: small, compact, sturdy, 128MB, plug and play works, extension cord
Cons: false advertising, only USB 1.1 speed, lock is hard to read, annoying packaging
The Bottom Line: They disappoint me with the USB 2.0 fake line, but I still think the device is well made, looks good, is sturdy, and I would recommend it for certain.
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| stenz's Full Review: Transcend JetFlash (128 MB) (TS128MJFLASHA) |
This type of device is a great idea and terribly useful. You can keep it in your pocket and transfer files back and forth between machines easily. The model I have is 128MB which is absolutely perfect for the file sizes that I deal with - usually 20-100MB databases that I can compress to a fraction of that and then toss on the mini drive.
This one comes with a CD for drivers for older versions of Windows. If you have XP, then it recognizes it right away. Both Linux and Mac OS X will recognize it right away as well. I have yet to try putting files off of an XP machine onto the device and then reading it with Mac OS X - so I don't know if/how that works.
This unit was in the annoyingly hard to open packaging that you see more and more often these days for portable electronics. Once I finally got it open, I saw and felt that the device is very well made and very compact. It comes with a lanyard so that you could presumably wear it around your neck like some sort of geek chic jewelry or something.
It also comes with a USB extension cable which is handy for computers which only have USB ports in the back - I don't use this so much since I mostly deal with networked laptops and the occasional desktop or server that I work on has front mounted USB ports.
On the unit itself there is a small switch that allows you to lock the device into read-only mode so you don't accidentally write over something. It is by no means a way to keep anyone out of the files since they could easily just flip the physical switch if they have physical access to it.
I don't foresee myself using this feature, but it is there nonetheless. Also, the switch for it, which is just right ergonomically to the touch, is nearly impossible to determine which way is locked or unlocked. There is a raised symbol molded into the plastic that shows a locked/unlocked symbol, but it is hard enough to see right in your face in good lighting - let alone if you are reaching around a server rack trying to figure out what state it is in.
Above all, I am pleased with this device - I live in Bermuda and it is hard to get these things - so when I had the opportunity to get a 128MB one for $100 I jumped on it.
I saw on the packaging that it is "USB 1.1 compliant and 2.0 compatible" - I didn't think much of it and was glad to have the 2.0... then later it hit me. The thing only works at the USB 1.1 speed, but of course it will be compliant with USB 2.0 ports - they are always backwards compatible.
So it won't transfer data at USB 2.0 rates, but it will work on those ports - sure, great. That bit of false advertising to the quick reader like myself really puts a sour taste in my mouth.
That said, the device is still great for me - the size files I need are still plenty fast enough at USB 1.1 (well under a minute to transfer everything on it is all that I need and this meets that).
And I love that like most all of these things, it just plugs into my Powerbook and mounts itself - it just works.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
stenz
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Member: Eric Smith
Location: Bermuda
Reviews written: 63
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
I live in Bermuda and I write software for the financial industry.
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