Pen drives have become smaller, faster and cheaper over the years, while their capacity has seen the typical exponential growth, faithfully following Moores law. 2GB is currently the sweet spot with 4GB becoming popular. 1GB is almost out of fashion. Heres a review of the SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2.0GB model.
Introduction
SanDisk is a well known manufacturer of flash drives started in 1988 by Sanjiv Mehrotra and Eli Harari. They have a $9b market cap. They have been very reliable and my personal experience with their flash based products has been excellent.
I went to SP Road, Bangalore (electronics market here) to buy a 2GB pen drive. I was looking for good performance and low cost.Transcend was ruled out immediately due to the pathetic performance. I was hoping Corsair Voyager would fit though I probably knew it wouldnt. So I was left with 2 choices - Kingston Data Traveller or SanDisk Cruzer Micro.
I reached SP Road at about 6.30pm and headed straight to Golchha Computers. Its a decent shop and they offer good prices. Found that the Kingston and SanDisk are the same price. The Corsair Voyager was about twice as costly, just as I had suspected. SanDisk and Kingston were reliable companies and Kingston offered a 5 year warranty, which is 2 years more than what SanDisk had to offer. However, one look at the SanDisk package and I was convinced. Its way smaller than the Kingston and definitely better looking. The extra warranty probably wasnt much relevant, as 3 years is more than enough. Im sure there would be something with 10X speed and capacity in 3 years. So I bought the SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2.0GB for Rs800+4% VAT = Rs832 after a little haggling for the price though
I also bought a 2GB Transcend 630 MP3 player at Rs2800+4% VAT = Rs2912, for a friend.
Specifications and Features
Package Contents
Looks
It was imported by Rashi Peripherals and was not sealed, just like their other products. The contents were properly packed and in good shape. The drive was already in the clear skin. It is such a good fit that I took a minute to realise that I can remove it and change the skin. I was under the impression that the colored cover are to be put on top of the clear skin. With that doubt gone, I removed the clear skin to examine the drive in greater detail.
With the clear skin.
Without the clear skin. There is space provided to write some details. The surface was very smooth and great to write with. Unfortunately I cant post what I have written on it
The other side of the pen drive. Great grainy metallic casing. Amazing to touch and feels strong.
The pics are a little grainy and out of focus. Will get better pics with the EOS 400D or 30D in a few days time.
Heres a photo for size comparison
The clear skins are a nice addition. The skins are a tight fit and provide good grip while holding. They are made of rubber (silicone?!). They dont feel the same as the cheap plastic on the Transcend or Kingston (not so cheap plastic, but plastic nevertheless) drives. The cap has just the right response and force while removing and putting it back on.
I didnt waste any more time with the cosmetics and this is how it looks when working. The skin doesnt cover the rear portion of the pen drive. That portion has clear rubber fixed to it. The drive activity LED is placed in that area. The green LED is actually not as dull as in the photo. The flash and bright ambient (the window in the background provides direct sunlight) make it look dull. I would have preferred a blue/red LED though. They probably made it green because the colored skins were red and blue.
Heres a better photo of how bright the LED is. Its very noticable and you wont make a mistake, accidentally removing it while in use.
Performance
The drive was detected immediately by Windows and worked well without any hiccups. The software was already in the drive and didnt interfere with the operation. I havent tested them, so cant say anything about their quality or shittiness.
Tested the drive with the standard benchmarks - HDTach and ATTO.
HDTach Results
Sequential Read = 14.1 MB/s
Burst Speed = 20 MB/s (It did show 20.1 MB/s in a repeat test. So performance is 20MB/s average)
Random Access = 0.6ms (Excellent timing)
ATTO Results
Small File Size
Large File Size
The speeds are a little less than the Kingston Kingston Data Traveller Mini Fun 2GB reviewed here(I couldnt find this particular model in the market. It was definitely a choice). However its still much faster than the normal Data Traveller II that is available widely for the same price.
Conclusions
Great drive for the price. I doubt there is anything better in the market that beats it at this price point.
Raghu.
Introduction
SanDisk is a well known manufacturer of flash drives started in 1988 by Sanjiv Mehrotra and Eli Harari. They have a $9b market cap. They have been very reliable and my personal experience with their flash based products has been excellent.
I went to SP Road, Bangalore (electronics market here) to buy a 2GB pen drive. I was looking for good performance and low cost.Transcend was ruled out immediately due to the pathetic performance. I was hoping Corsair Voyager would fit though I probably knew it wouldnt. So I was left with 2 choices - Kingston Data Traveller or SanDisk Cruzer Micro.
I reached SP Road at about 6.30pm and headed straight to Golchha Computers. Its a decent shop and they offer good prices. Found that the Kingston and SanDisk are the same price. The Corsair Voyager was about twice as costly, just as I had suspected. SanDisk and Kingston were reliable companies and Kingston offered a 5 year warranty, which is 2 years more than what SanDisk had to offer. However, one look at the SanDisk package and I was convinced. Its way smaller than the Kingston and definitely better looking. The extra warranty probably wasnt much relevant, as 3 years is more than enough. Im sure there would be something with 10X speed and capacity in 3 years. So I bought the SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2.0GB for Rs800+4% VAT = Rs832 after a little haggling for the price though
I also bought a 2GB Transcend 630 MP3 player at Rs2800+4% VAT = Rs2912, for a friend.Specifications and Features
- Dimensions: 7.9mm x 18.95mm x 52.2mm (H x W x L) - Yes I verified this claim from their website
- Brilliant green LED
- Stylish metal casing with changeable colored skins and caps
- Cruzer Sync and PocketCache software that came stored in the drive.
Package Contents
- 1 SanDisk Micro Cruzer 2.0GB Flash Drive
- 1 Clear skin and cap
- Two additional colored skins (Red and Blue) with matching caps
- Quick Start Guide
Looks
It was imported by Rashi Peripherals and was not sealed, just like their other products. The contents were properly packed and in good shape. The drive was already in the clear skin. It is such a good fit that I took a minute to realise that I can remove it and change the skin. I was under the impression that the colored cover are to be put on top of the clear skin. With that doubt gone, I removed the clear skin to examine the drive in greater detail.
With the clear skin.
Without the clear skin. There is space provided to write some details. The surface was very smooth and great to write with. Unfortunately I cant post what I have written on it
The other side of the pen drive. Great grainy metallic casing. Amazing to touch and feels strong.
The pics are a little grainy and out of focus. Will get better pics with the EOS 400D or 30D in a few days time.
Heres a photo for size comparison
The clear skins are a nice addition. The skins are a tight fit and provide good grip while holding. They are made of rubber (silicone?!). They dont feel the same as the cheap plastic on the Transcend or Kingston (not so cheap plastic, but plastic nevertheless) drives. The cap has just the right response and force while removing and putting it back on.
I didnt waste any more time with the cosmetics and this is how it looks when working. The skin doesnt cover the rear portion of the pen drive. That portion has clear rubber fixed to it. The drive activity LED is placed in that area. The green LED is actually not as dull as in the photo. The flash and bright ambient (the window in the background provides direct sunlight) make it look dull. I would have preferred a blue/red LED though. They probably made it green because the colored skins were red and blue.
Heres a better photo of how bright the LED is. Its very noticable and you wont make a mistake, accidentally removing it while in use.
Performance
The drive was detected immediately by Windows and worked well without any hiccups. The software was already in the drive and didnt interfere with the operation. I havent tested them, so cant say anything about their quality or shittiness.
Tested the drive with the standard benchmarks - HDTach and ATTO.
HDTach Results
Sequential Read = 14.1 MB/s
Burst Speed = 20 MB/s (It did show 20.1 MB/s in a repeat test. So performance is 20MB/s average)
Random Access = 0.6ms (Excellent timing)
ATTO Results
Small File Size
Read Transfer Rate = 196 KB/s
Write Transfer Rate = 147 KB/s
Large File Size
Read Transfer Rate = 18.1 MB/s
Write Transfer Rate = 8 MB/s
The speeds are a little less than the Kingston Kingston Data Traveller Mini Fun 2GB reviewed here(I couldnt find this particular model in the market. It was definitely a choice). However its still much faster than the normal Data Traveller II that is available widely for the same price.
Conclusions
Great drive for the price. I doubt there is anything better in the market that beats it at this price point.
Raghu.
