Customer Reviews

Lexar JumpDrive Lightning 2 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive JDP2GB-231

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I purchased 5 of these for a group of people that work in our lab (total ~$1200). The first day I tried to use mine, a piece of plastic that holds the usb plug in the housing broke, and shortly thereafter, the entire plug pulled out easily, exposing the internals. It was within 30 days, so I sent it back to Amazon for a replacement, which they shipped right away. The first time I went to use the new one, the same thing happened. It is still w/in 30 days, so I am looking to send all 5 back for refund.

The Lexar JumpDrive Lightning 2GB flash drive has very impressive performance ratings of 160X (24MB/sec) sustained Read and 120X (18MB/sec) sustained Write speed capability. This is one of the very few USB drives that lists the Read/Write speed capabilities.

The "reality" of flash drives is that the smaller the file size, the slower the transfer rate will be.

I ran some tests with the Lightning to see what the transfer rate and the elapsed time is for groups of various file sizes:
* 433MB 784 medium files, avg. 550KB 12X 4 min. 3 sec.
* 483MB 81 large files, avg. 6MB 54X 59 seconds
* 1GB 1 very large file 115X 58 seconds

So, even though the Write speed capability of the Lightning is 120X, the transfer rate drops to 12X with medium size files, which is fairly "real-world" usage.

But, don't let that dissuade you from considering the Lightning: The higher the "speed capability" of the device, the better the transfer rate will be and the less time it will take to transfer those smaller files.

To prove this point, I took one of my "great deal" CF cards (that had no speed ratings) that tops out at 36X Read / 7X Write, and ran two of the same tests:
* 433MB 784 medium files 3X 15 min. 10 sec.
* 483MB 81 large files 7X 7 min. 48 sec.

So, compared to the Lightning, the "great deal!" card took nearly 4 times longer to Write the medium files and 8 times longer to Write the large files. So, which is the better deal when you use the device over and over and over...

Whether you are shopping for a card or a stick for digital cameras or a USB flash drive, if the performance numbers are not specified, BEWARE! What you might think is a great deal may get you a device with very poor performance that you will regret purchasing. I know, I have several in my drawer.

So, my bottom-line advice is: Look for the highest-rated device you can find. Flash devices will last a looong time and our file sizes and amount of data will only grow! So "future-proof" your purchase by shopping for a high-rated and large capacity for now and the future.

(I have no relationship with Lexar or the Flash memory industry.)

We purchased 21 of these. 20 out of the lot are defective. The Lightning "Jump Drives" have a rubber/plastic molding that holds the front and back of the jump drive together. The cap is built the same way. Upon removing the drives from the package, and removing the caps, most of them cracked and parts of the plastic fell off. We contacted Lexar (brush up on your Indian language skills before calling) and did not get anywhere with them..... I would NOT recommend buying from Lexar. We returned the products to PC Mall, and exchanged them for SanDisk Cruzer Titaniums. MUCH BETTER!

I have a lot of USB drives, this is my first 2GB model however. I have not experianced failed parts problems as listed by some other reviewers. On the contrary I found the drive quite sturdy and rugged with its SS case. Performance to date is excellent. I have not had it very long so I dont know how long term durability and performance will be. I have an older Lexer drive which is all plastic, it has worked well not failed, but seems to be of lesser quality and speed than this drive. Only complaint (minor) the polished stainless finger prints easly. Lexar does include a polishing cloth with the drive so it's not a big deal.

The Lexar Lightning was a great purchase, I've had it for 6 months now and everything has worked perfectly. I heard about the plastic cap issues, luckily I haven't had problems but I went to the site to find out what to do just in case I did have problems and noticed that I could easily replace the product through the website if I had to. Overall I really enjoy this product.

Its FAST, and 100% reliable. In the sixish months that I've owned it I've had zero-problems with it. The lexar functions as a boot device in modern bios motherboards. I've imaged it with a boot CD and experienced considerably FASTER load times than booting the CD itself (obviously). Transfering TV avi episodes is super fast. I bought my first from Dell for 6 less than the first three digit number, and I bought one from amazon.

I do, however, wish it came with a tether for the cap. I did make a tether myself.

Its only missing a write protect switch!

This little drive worked great for two weeks and then, suddenly, all of my files are gone. There is no physical damage to the device and it still comes up in XP but sans any files.

Mine just went through the washer and then through the dryer. I plugged it in... and IT WORKS...!!!!!!!!

It looks slick but is not made to last. After a week, the little LED in the center detached and would float around inside the housing. After a month or so, the cap became loose and eventually fell off. If you find it, please let me know. A few months after that while trying to remove it from my computer, the housing came off, but the chipset and board stayed attached in my computer. I figured it really wanted to be there.

Avoid it.

i disagree with all the negagtive comments twords the lexar's line of lightning flash drives.
i keep mine attached to a messanger bag at all times, i toss it around all the time and never have i had mine get distroyed. if you treat your electronics with alittle bit of care (when pluging into the computer and taking out), keeping this flash drive in one piece should be fine.

its extremely fast to put music on, almost as soon as you drag a single file will it be on the flash drive. Its also alot nicer looking than most flash drives that are out right now for the price. and all the applications they make for usb drives work amazing on it.