Customer Reviews

Lexar JDSE2GB-431 2 GB JumpDrive Secure II (Retail Package)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this because I wanted an encrypted device that I could use to offload personal documents I receive while traveling for work, and then read them using my Mac(s) at home. Lexar JD II is the only product I found advertised to work with both Macs and PCs at the same time.

My primary Mac is an Intel Mac. Early on I realized the encryption utility only runs on PPC Macs. Okay, so I figured I'd use it on the PPC Mac Mini, and everything seeemed fine at first.

Then I hit a problem where my Mac Mini could not read video DVDs. A little search on the Mac support forums, and I found that installing Lexar JD software disables video DVD support on my Mac! Fortunately there were instructions on how to uninstall.

Aside from the problems with the Macs, I also hit the problem another reviewer mentioned, which is that you must be logged in as a LOCAL administrator to use the encryption software under Windows. Since my work PC is a member of a domain, I had to create a local account, log off the work domain and back on as a local user to use encryption anyway. Kingston Data Traveler Elite works fine under Windows domain logins, unfortunately for me they don't have Mac software yet.

So in summary the current Lexar encryption software:
- Can't be used on a Windows domain machine
- Can't be used on an Intel Mac
- Breaks the DVD on a PPC Mac

It's not for me!

However if you are using the Lexar strictly on stand-alone Windows PCs, OR you don't require encryption, it should be okay.

I am giving this unit the lowest possible score for the reasons below. The fact that this is product by Lexar is actually named "Secure" invokes the belief it really is secure. However, I have been discussing this with Lexar for over two weeks now, without resolution.

The problem is that the Encrypted Vault (the reason I purchased the thing) is not available except when signed in as an administrator. Hello??!! Why would Lexar build a unit that is smaller than some earrings my girlfriend wears if they did not expect it to be used as a portable device, meaning it would be used in many different computers? So, if you go to the library, or at work on a network, or at your friend Billy's house, and you are not the administrator, YOU LOSE! The only way around this is to put your most sensitive material right on the public drive, and not use the secure features of the drive. Does that make sense?

I was sent the software version by Lexar with no improvement, and have tried all of their suggestions, and now the unit will display the Microsoft Windows error screen and shut the drive down.

To be fair, if you do not need to access sensitive material on any computer (without admin rights) then this unit could work for you. It works great on my home computer, but I just have to admit that with a PORTABLE device I tend to want to PORT it around and use it on other machines and cannot.

If you need to access your data on many machines, and wish to do so without admin rights, beware! I suggest you look at the Lexar website and contact them to make sure this is possible. I'm still wrestling with them, and am hopeful I can take them to the mat and pin them, and will be able to actually use this storage device as advertised.

I just bought this drive last weekend and I have to say I am impressed. It seems to write faster than most of my other flash drives and was very affordable to boot. It is very thin and light which makes it nice to carry around in my pocket. On the downside it is made of very light plastic and does not seem very durable. Overall I recommend this nice and affordable jump drive. This is the first Lexar product I have ever bought and I will consider them in the future for my flash needs.

P.S. If I have any issues with durability I will definately update my review.

This flash drive has served me very well. It's fast, reliable, and survived a trip through the washing machine and dryer with all data and functionality intact. I use it frequently with a Windows XP machine and an OS X machine. Buy this drive! You won't regret it.

I cannot give enough praise for the Lexar JDSE2GB-431 2 GB Jump Drive Secure II. It does what it's supposed to do with the greatest of ease, and in short, is the handiest, sleekest, lightweight gadget that gives peace of mind to any computer owner.

I'm assured by Lexar that the flash drive works fine as a flash drive, but was not made to work with my 64 bit laptops, just 32 bit.

This worked just as advertised. The included software did just what I wanted it to do and is very easy to navigate.

I have been using this product for a month, and so far I am happy with it. The drive is so small for the amount of data I can carry arund, so I am afraid to lose it. For that, the SECURE II gives me a great sense of security.

SECURE II is about 9MB. It is saved in the drive just like any other files you will save, and is not protected in anyway from accidental deletion. So you have to be careful not to delete it along with other unwanted files or reformatting. First thing I did was to make a backup of the entire folder in my PC. SECURE II runs without any installation in your computer. It can create vault areas in the flash drive. For example, if you make a vault area called MYSPACE for a size of 500MB, you will find a file MYSPACE.LXV (size 500MB) created in SECURE II folder. Even if the vault is empty, the LXV file takes up 500MB and available space in the flash drive goes down to 1.5GB. Anything you save in the vault will be absorbed in the reserved 500MB space and will not reduce the remaining space (1.5GB in this case). Using file explorer, all file names, or any related data, saved in the vault will not be shown, it shows only as MYSPACE.LXV.

The vault can only be accessible when the computer you insert the drive is logged on as administrator. I created a vault at my home computer and tried to open it at work computer for which I don't have the administrative privilege. The vault access was dimmed out in SECURE II, and I could not retrieve the files inside. The product calls for Win2000 and XP as system requirement. I tried it on a Windows ME machine, the flash drive itself worked fine but SECURE II did not run seeking for a DLL file.

I have one complaint that is the physical design. A hole for strap (which does not come with the product) is put on the cap, not on the body. You come home and notice you've lost the drive and data stored in it, but the cap is still securely attached to the string in your brief case.

If you work at a company that logs onto a domain stay away from this product. You can only use the encryption feature logged on as administrator and that means a local log on versus a domain log on.

Excellent product. Already has helped with many projects. Recieved on time!