There are 4 parts to this
review, please use the pulldown below to browse sections or simply hit "Next"
at the bottom of each section to continue
Sandisk Cruzer
The second product I’m looking at is the Cruzer from Sandisk. The specs
are below:
| Specifications |
| USB 1.1 specification compliant |
| Upgradeable firmware |
| Advanced Power Management (APM) supported |
| Up to 12 Mbits/sec transfer rate (depending on computer)
|
| USB powered |
| No driver needed for Windows ME/2000/XP |
| Size: 2.68" (68mm) L x 1.73"
(44mm) W x 0.67" (17mm) H |
| Accommodates both Secure Digital and MultiMediaCards
|
| 2 year warranty |
Features |
Media has write-protect switch |
Upgradeable with purchase of additional SD memory cards
|
Included travel case |
2” extension cable |
Compatible with both PCs and Macs (Windows
98SE/ME/2000/XP and Macintosh OS 9.1+ & OS X, v.10.1.2+) |
-
"Load" to change memory card
-
"Travel" locks and protects the USB plug
and memory card
-
"Connect" exposes the USB plug to insert
Cruzer into a computer
|
Status indicator light |
Inside the box are the following:
- The drive with an installed SD media card
- 2” extension cable
- CDROM with Win98/98SE drivers
- Quick start guide
- Travel case
You definitely know that through SEO, your business will benefit hugely, so you have to make sure to find the right Link Building Company that can help you gain your goals SEO on lookup motor rankings, finding the best Link Building Company for your business is a lot more crucial than ever. Link building Company will help you | Simple Website Templates. Every great website and web design needs a starting place or point. Our own newly redesigned website started from a basic template that was heavily modified to suit our needs and the same can be done for you. Using our simple sea website templates on our site you can buy website templates The Cruzer uses Secure Digital (SD) or MultiMedia Card (MMC) media
for its storage. If you want more capacity, all you have to do is buy a larger
media card to replace the smaller media already in the drive. The device will
read media up to 512MB. The Cruzer I was sent came with a 64MB SD card. The
media cards are pretty cool, as they are just slightly larger then a quarter.
The Cruzer is about three times the width of the TREK drive; about the size
of a Zippo lighter. One nice thing about this device is the slide in the middle
of the drive. By setting the slide to it’s middle position, the drive
is in its “travel mode”. At this setting, the media card is locked
into the device, and the USB connector is inside the case, making the device
smaller and less likely to snag on clothing or poke you in the leg while it’s
in your pocket. Pushing the slide up pushes out the USB connector, putting it
into its “connect mode”, which then lets you connect the device
to a computer for file transfer. If the area around your USB ports is tight,
the drive comes with a short (2 inch) USB extension cable. Since this drive
is wider then the TREK drive, this cable will sometimes be necessary. Finally,
pushing the slide down (“load mode”) ejects the media card from
its slot. The card is ejected far enough that it’s quite easy to pull
out with your hands. Installation is pretty much the same for this device as
it is for the TREK drive; plug it in, wait for windows to install its internal
driver, then watch as the new drive letter appears. The Cruzer has a nice, bright
indicator light on the top that works the same as the light on the TREK drive
(only brighter). It’s steadily lit when it’s plugged in and flashes
when data is being read from or written to the drive.
In Use
I used both of these devices for better then two weeks on pretty
much a daily basis. I carried both devices around in separate pockets and in
my work Dockers they were quite comfortable. Both devices were less comfortable
in jean pockets, but not unreasonably so. Due to it’s smaller size, the
TREK drive was slightly the more comfortable of the two. Both devices were INVALUABLE
in transporting data and transferring that data between systems. A network is
a much more efficient method of transferring files, but not every computer is
network connected. If you transfer files from various computers very often,
or bring large files home from work, these devices fit the bill perfectly. Though
not as large capacity-wise as CDR/CDRW media, these USB devices are much more
convenient to carry.
Testing
I tested both drives in threedifferent ways. First I ran the disk benchmark
utility from SiSoft Sandra Pro 2002 SP1. Then I copied a 7MB file to each drive
and timed it, to see how long each took to write the file. Lastly, I ran the
Disk Throughput test from the CLIbench 0.7.15 utility.
| Sandra |
|
| 985 kB/s |
TREK |
| 912 kB/s |
Cruzer |
| 60 kB/s |
Floppy disk |
| higher is better |
|
File Transfer
Times |
|
4.33 seconds |
TREK |
6.33 seconds |
Cruzer |
lower is better |
|
| CLIbench 0.7.15 Throughput
|
|
| 921 kB/sec Read Min. |
Cruzer |
948 kB/sec Read Avg.
|
Cruzer |
| 953 kB/sec Read Max |
Cruzer |
| 865 kB/sec Write Min |
Cruzer |
900 kB/sec Write Avg.
|
Cruzer |
921 kB/sec Write Max
|
Cruzer |
| CPU usage 2% |
Cruzer |
| |
|
| 992 kB/sec Read Min. |
TREK |
1008 kB/sec Read Avg.
|
TREK |
1012 kB/sec Read Max
|
TREK |
| 677 kB/sec Write Min |
TREK |
| 681 kB/sec Write Avg. |
TREK |
| 686 kB/sec Write Max |
TREK |
| CPU usage 2% |
TREK |
| higher is better except for CPU
Usage |
|
As you can see, the TREK drive has slightly faster read speeds than the Cruzer.
This is most likely because the TREK drive is an all-in-one device, where the
Cruzer is a media reader with replaceable media. Interestingly enough, as you
can see from the CLIbench results, the Cruzer seems to have much faster write
speeds. Since the TREK drive was so limited in capacity, only a 7MB file was
used for transfer. It would have been nice to be able to compare a 64MB TREK
to the Cruzer, to see if the speed advantage increased as the size of the file
copied was increased. Notice how much faster these drives are then the ancient
floppy drive. Why would anyone want a floppy drive in their computer nowadays?
Conclusion
At first I was disappointed. This review was originally intended to be an external
storage device roundup. I’d contacted a dozen different manufacturers,
but unfortunately only TREK and Sandisk were kind enough to send me product.
I was very impressed, however, with the devices I did get for review. These
devices are a fine replacement to the archaic floppy disk. The drives can hold
quite a bit of data (when you buy one with sufficient capacity), they are convenient,
much faster then a floppy disk and best of all can be added to a system with
a current operating system without having to install any pesky drivers. Some
current PC’s will even let you boot from these USB devices, so the floppy
is truly at the end of its usefulness.
If you’re looking for the ultimate in convenience, I’d say the
TREK ThumbDrive SMART is your best bet. It’s smaller size makes it more
convenient to carry around, though I’d prefer to buy one with a greater
storage capacity. The Sandisk Cruzer is better if you’re looking for greater
flexibility. Being able to upgrade your device to a higher storage capacity
(albeit for an additional cost) is a nice benefit. Both devices are quite convenient
and would work well for anyone who has the need to carry data around.
Pros (TREK)
More convenient due to it’s smaller size
Very inexpensive
Way better then a floppy drive in every way
Cons (TREK)
Storage capacity too small (though there are larger versions of this drive available)
Status LED could be brighter
Keyring idea on cap not really a good idea (for some users)
Pros (Cruzer)
Ability to add higher capacity storage media
Extension cable included for those tight spots
Nice, bright indicator light
Way better then a floppy drive in every way
Cons (Cruzer)
Slightly more expensive then the TREK drive
Slightly larger and therefore less convenient to carry
Check
for pricing and availability
|
