Customer Reviews

Lexar Media 512 MB JumpDrive Sport Portable USB 2.0 Drive (PC/Mac) (Retail Package)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I reviewed the design of this drive some 18 months ago. Well I am using this drive all these 18 months and I am satisfied with it's design and performance. I saw a reviewer talking about cheap plastics and against the rubber cap that covers this drive. That maybe true for him since he is a physically disabled person. However for a normal person this drive should not pose any problem but the rubber cap should only add more benefits as I had mentioned in my previous review which you find below.


I bought this last week. Ordered it through Amazon from J&R Music and Computer World. They shipped it almost immediately. So far I am satisfied with the product. The main concern I had was the cap. My friends have other models and they have problems with the cap getting lost. This model is quite unique and the only one with a rubber cap that fits around the drive and thus achieves 2 things. The cap is secure and has very less changes of getting lost and the rubber cap protects the drive too. Another notable feature is that the key ring is on the cap and thus you can have this drive on your key chain or around your neck and just can detach the drive when ever you want it, leaving the cap with the key ring or the neck strap. Well another model too had this feature but the cap was not a tight fit one and secure as this one and you have the worst probability of loosing your drive and just retaining your cap! The other models which have the key ring on the drive itself, well you will have to plug the drive to your USB port with either all your keys or have to remove the neck strap before you plug it. Also you have the probability of loosing the cap. This one is a clear winner as far as design is concerned. Once I use the drive for some time I can post more comments about its durability and performance.

This was great while it lasted. Then today I guess I pulled it out of the USB port a little too firmly, and suddenly it was all over. The computer no longer recognized my JumpDrive. Once I got past the numb shock and denial phase that typically follows the loss of a massive amount of data, I marched the JumpDrive back to Circuit City, where fortunately I was still within the bounds of their product return policy (by ONE day, WHEW!) and I decided to purchase a SanDisk Mini Cruzer (I'll give my opinion on that one after a substantial amount of time has lapsed -- got it at CompUSA and they offered me a one-year warranty for $12 guaranteeing a free replacement in case ANYTHING goes wrong, so I bought the protection). Three words to the wise: BACK IT UP. And don't yank it out of the port too hard. Handle it as you would a flower petal in danger of ripping apart when you remove it & maybe you'll have better luck.

Here is my original review of the Lexar Jump Drive....

Before discovering this marvelous device I was using clunky Zip disks to store my files. Now I use only the Lexar JumpDrive to store and transfer large graphic files from school to my home PC. When I plugged the device into my Dell Dimension desktop for the first time, it was recognized immediately (in the back USB port; the front USB port under the flap is awkwardly positioned and can't accomodate this drive).

Though I got an immediate popup message telling me that I had plugged a hi-speed (2.0) device into a non-hi-speed USB port and that performance would be slowed down, before I had a chance to fret about how long the process would take, the files were already copied- so slowness turned out to be a non-issue.

The real test was when I took it to school and transferred/viewed/saved data using the school's MACs. So far I tried it on two separate MACs and the Lexar was immediately recognized.

I highly recommend this for students. One little tip though - If you save files in programs like Quark, Photoshop or Illustrator and you originate the file on a MAC, & will need to transfer it to a PC, remember to give the document the right file extension so your PC can read it (MAC doesn't require a file extension be assigned). (In case you were wondering, use .qxd for Quark, .psd for Photoshop, and .ai for illustrator).

When I forgot to do this for a Quark file, I simply clicked on the saved file that was stored in the Lexar jump drive and saved it to my desktop without opening it. The file was converted automatically and I was able to read it with no problems or issues.

This device is a lifesaver and has spared me hours of time in the school's studio working on my homework. What a joy it is to be able to get everything accomplished at home. I'm not sure how I got along without it. The outer rubber cap makes me feel confident that this thing isn't going to get damaged when not in use. Though it doesn't appear to be fragile, I would not recommend putting it on a keychain since there's little point in having it battered around for no good reason on a daily basis.

On a final note, the 512MB version for $49 from Amazon is a great deal. Unfortunately a lot of people must have also thought so and I had to cancel my order since I couldn't get it delivered for a couple of extra weeks, and wound up buying it locally and paying a bit more. But if you are debating whether or not the JumpDrive is worth it, the answer is a definite yes.

If you were further wondering whether you should go with a Zip Drive instead, and have the need to transfer files from MACs to PCs and vice versa, then you'd also require third party software for your PC to read the MAC files from your Zip Disk, in additon to the cost of the drive (about $80 for a 100MB drive) and the disks themselves (about $10 a pop). So save yourself the extra cost and clunkiness of the Zip & go with the JumpDrive. I doubt you'll have reason to regret it.

Some users have complained about the drive not being able to store many files with long names, or files containing certain characters (like "\"). These problems are a result of limitations in the file system, known as "FAT", designed by Microsoft. They can happen with any brand of drive, and can even happen on Windows 98 hard drives. ("FAT16" would be worst, but hardly anyone is using it anymore; "FAT32" is most common today.)

Microsoft improved things somewhat with the "NTFS" file system in Windows NT/2000/XP. You could reformat the flash drive to use NTFS under those systems, but then it won't work with most other operating systems (like Win 98SE, Linux or Mac), and it probably won't work with the Lexar JumpGear MP3 player.

However, there is a way to work around the first problem without sacrificing compatibility. The problem occurs because there is a limit on the directory size in the main "root" directory. (Each file takes up some space in the directory, and longer names take up more space. Unfortunately, the root directory can't grow indefinitely to accomodate more file information.) You're more likely to reach this limit with a larger drive, since you'll try to put more files on it.

The solution is to create a folder in the root, and put most of your files there. Folder directories *can* grow without limit, so you can keep adding files (with long names, even) until your drive is truly full. You can even use multiple folders to organize your data, just like you do on a hard disk. (Note: I haven't tried this with the JumpGear MP3 player, but I imagine it will go through each folder in alphabetical order.)

Hope this helped.

I have three Lexar Jump Drives 1 - 64MB, and 2 - 128MB. As I writer I am paranoid about losing my backup. Never enough backups!! I have really adored the peace-of-mind these jump give me. Floppies are too slow, too expensive and too easily DO NOT WORK. I have 3 computers on NTFS and 2 on FAT. So they won't all read the same floppy. CDs are fine, but burning them does not always take right. I have had some bad CDs from one company and lost me work. These Jump drives give the easy - they are faster moving files, nothing to install, work on any computer or laptop - macs included. They just pop in and a couple click are ready to do.

This 1/2G memory storage is just what I need. I like the cap cover. it fits over and around, sort of like a bonnet, so the cap does not come off. It's very narrow, the precious butterball designer limited the ability to be used by some computers. This narrow one should work for everyone.

Great designs, great memory, great easy of us, great PRICE. This is one you cannot afford to be without!!

I have a couple of these drives and they work great. The product is rugged with the rubber cap. It can get banged up with no problems.

Regarding the issue that the other reviewer had, I saw that at first. I formatted the drive to either FAT32 or NTSF and this solved the problem. No more issues. When I called up the Tech Support, they mentioned that the product is formatted to FAT so that the drive supports Mac and PC.

I really like this product.

This is one excellent product! I've seen other jump drives- with caps that come off and can allow dust to enter the mechanism. But not this one! This Jump Drive features a rubber cap that can only be intentionally dislodged. I've been carrying this one around in my purse for months now (this is quite a bit of abuse) and it is still working great. I originally bought this item at Target because it was on sale for half the price of other drives, but I would definitely choose this product again. The keychain feature makes it very handy and the LED let's you know whether it is in use or not. Very quick file transfer and great directions too. Definitely one of the best stocking stuffers this year!

These jump drives have a couple of great points mentioned in other reviews. I can't imagine at this point buying one without a rubber cap that fits snugly like these have. I put mine in my pocket or my backpack and the end never has dust, lint, or anything else on it. I haven't tried to see if it's water proof;)

I'm an instructor at a community college and use my JumpDrive to store my many presentations, class activities, tests, and research for each class. Currently it has an entire semesters worth of material for 4 different courses and it's not full. It has been invaluable to me to be able to put that much information on the drive and be able to take it with me and not have to download/upload information all the time.

My biggest criticism is that the drive sometimes won't read on different computers. I use it on a weekly basis on up to 5 different computers, all configured a little differently. About 15% of the time when I move from one computer to another, I'll get an error message that there is "an unrecognized USB device". The drive did this first 1 month after I started using it and I sent it back to the manufacturer. I don't know what (if anything) they did since it was sent back without any information saying what they did or found. Since then, I've learned that if it doesn't read, just plugging it into the port a couple of times and eventually it will be recognized. I don't claim to be a computer expert, so there may be some very simple and better way to deal with this. I have not tried to contact customer service again. It has never completely refused to read.(Some of the computers were Dells, so it may have been a driver issue with the computers, I'm checking on this.)

Even with that criticism, it really is a great product and the above problem really is just an occasional annoyance. I think I've used it pretty hard and pretty frequently with a lot of computers and it still seems to work really well.

As a professional network and desktop support technician, I've been using the 512MB Sport Jump Drive on the job for well over a year and really love this drive.

I especially like the containment system surrounding the drive-- the rubber housing provides durable protection while allowing the drive to be inserted and extracted easily (it's great not having a separate cap-- I've lost more than one from other types of similar drives). I keep mine on a neck lanyard, and when I'm not wearing it, it's travelling around in my briefcase where it is often subjected to being crushed by all kinds of computer paraphernalia.

My drive has been written to hundreds of times over the course of ownership and is still performing well. Like any portable storage unit, I would never recommend to anyone that they use the device for permanent file retention, but it is da bomb for temporarily transporting files. My Iomega USB Zip drive has since been dumped and is sitting on a shelf in our storage closet. I don't expect to ever use it again.

For this kind of money, you cannot go wrong. This is not the only Lexar storage medium that I've owned over the years, and I do not expect it to be my last.

Great drive for the price. I like the rubber cap. Erin, There are several file encryption programs available. You can download them at CNET and ZDNET and find one you like. You then install it on the computers you are using. You can even store the install program on the USB drive and carry it with you. Then you can install and uninstall on any computer. Once installed use the encryption software to scramble your files. Text, Docs, pictures...anything. They are password protected. Just don't forget your password. Good luck.

I have loved this USB drive! I did some research before buying it, and have been quite pleased with the results. My sister had a USB drive that was made of cheap plastic, and her actual drive broke and fell out and she lost all of her data. She bought another around the same time as I did, without doing the research, and her piece that goes around her keychain has already broken. This product is extremely durable and reliable so far. It stays together, yet is also thin enough to plug in between other USB ports...a very good buy!