mjwood0's Full Review: SanDisk Cruzer® Mini (512 MB) USB 2.0 Flash D...
SanDisk is a major player in the flash memory arena. So naturally, when I saw this player go on sale at Staples for $19.99 after instant rebate, I jumped at the deal. I figured that for under $20, I couldn't go wrong.
Introduction
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So far, I've been nothing but happy with this device. Small, lightweight and has an attractive green LED in the back end of the unit to let you know when it is being used. Not too shabby. Also included is a lanyard with a clip to detach the drive from the lanyard and three colored protective caps. While I didn't realize why they would include three caps (of different colors none the less), I soon realized that one of the drawbacks to this drive is that the caps seem to work themselves loose over time. I've had the drive for close to 3 months, and it's high time I started using another cap since the current one will fall off on occasion.
Specifications
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This drive boasts 512MB of flash memory and is USB 2.0 compatible. It also comes with some bundled software on the device, but no driver disk. The bundled software is quite skimpy. There is a utility to encrypt the data on the drive and some other things that I've honestly never messed with. To me, this is good since it means that I've really never felt the need to change anything about the device.
I run a Dell Inspiron 8100 laptop with WindowsXP Pro and Fedora Core 3 Linux. While the hardware on my laptop is USB V1.0, the drive was automatically recognized by both operating systems with absolutely no problems. A very big plus! Since I was using USB 1.0 hardware, transfer speeds were not very impressive. They were sufficient for most applications though. I've also tried the drive at work on a newer Dell desktop machine with USB 2.0. The difference in transfer speeds was unbelievable! Must faster file transfers. Overall, if you're going to use one of these for large files, you'll want to make sure you have USB 2.0.
The Good, The Bad and ....
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Overall, I like this little device! I've never had one before and it really is much nicer than having to burn CDRW disks every time I want to transfer anything larger than a floppy. Plus, with floppy drives being phased out, a new storage medium is needed. This is a great product to fill that void.
I was also impressed that this drive was recognized by all three operating systems it was tried with. That is uncommon for hardware to just work out of the box with everything and the folks at SanDisk seem to have done a good job of this. I've heard others complain about Windows 98SE and Windows 95 support, but since I have no access to these systems, I cannot comment.
Finally, not to sound TOO shallow, I really like the pleasing green LED in the back of the unit. The color and intensity is just right in my opinion. Not too bright when using my laptop at night, and not too dim for daytime use. I know it seems stupid to some, but it's small features like these that make things either fun, or boring.
Thus far, I've only owned the drive for around 3 months. No data corruption or failures to report in this time. However, it does seem that the USB plug is a little loose from the body of the drive. I always use care when inserting the drive into the USB port, so this seems a little strange. Also, as mentioned earlier, the plastic USB protective caps seem to loosen with use.
The final complaint I have is that the lanyard attachment point is so small that nothing but a thin string like the lanyard will fit in there. Because of this, I can't get a normal metal loop on there to attach this device to my key chain. I'm not convinced that this is a smart idea anyway, but I would like more options other than the lanyard.
The SanDisk Cruzer Mini is the fastest and easiest way to move your data. Cruzer Mini is Hi-speed USB 2.0 certified for fast data transfer (also compa...More at MemorySuppliers.com
High-speed, compact, USB flash drive for storing or transferring data, pictures, music, etc. High, 512 MB storage capacity; USB 2.0-certified for fast...More at Amazon Marketplace
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