SanDisk Cruzer Profile 512MB USB Flash Drive (SDCZ5-512-A10, Retail Package)

by SanDisk

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 1.1 inches ; 1.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000A4AW1S
• Item model number: SDCZ5-512-A10
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

SanDisk's Cruzer Profile is a unique, biometric USB flash drive that provides the ultimate in portable data security. This high-security product stores all your data and passwords, accessible only with the swipe of your fingerprint. Just plug in the drive, swipe your finger, and you can log-on to any of your stored protected areas in a snap. You can use any Windows PC with your Profile without having to install any cumbersome software or leave any trace on that PC.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good (not great) for PCs, but not compatible with Macintosh, December 27, 2005

By 

Technik (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SanDisk Cruzer Profile 512MB USB Flash Drive (SDCZ5-512-A10, Retail Package) (Personal Computers)

I purchased the Cruzer so I could transfer files between computers quickly and easily. I have a PC and a Mac and was hoping this would make transferring files quicker. Despite what Amazon says, this drive will not work on a Mac. The software that automatically runs when the drive is plugged into the USB port that allows your fingerprint to unlock the drive is Windows only. The Sandisk website lists the drive as compatible with XP/2000/ME only.

I found the ads for this drive to be misleading. When it said "no software to be installed" I took it to mean that no software was needed at all. When you insert the flash drive in your USB port it auto-runs a program called "Cruzer Profile" that handles the locking and unlocking of the drive. Therefore the entire time this drive is plugged into your computer you will need this application running, but it is not technically installed on your computer (it is on the drive itself). I was hoping this was a purely hardware solution to biometrically secured flash (no software required for the computer).

The design is a bit awkward. The cable between the two parts is quite stiff and therefore as soon as you let go of the finger scanner it will again point away from you in just about every USB port imaginable. If you're incredibly unlucky like me your from USB port will leave the finger scanner both upside down and facing away from you. I was ready to make this tradeoff for a pure hardware approach to biometric secured flash. Seeing how this is a software approach like everyone else I cannot figure out why they went out of their way to design it different, but no better.

The CruzerPass application was a dissapointment for me. It is obviously PC only. It only works with Internet Explorer, but I almost exclusively use FireFox. Besides being a bit awkward to set up my biggest problem with it is that it cannot be activated once you surf to the website you want to use it for. I envisioned myself surfing around and when I got somewhere like my bank website, I'd swipe my finger and be instantly logged in. Unfortunately this is not how it works. You have click the system tray icon and select from a list of sites you previously set up. Upon selecting one, it launches Internet Explorer, asks you to swipe your finger and logs you in. So my complaint is that I have to totally change the way I browse now. Instead of launching IE and going to the website I want, I have to use this little application to launch IE for me.

The CruzerSync application (available from their website) also requires a PC to run, but resides on the flash drive. It works surprisingly well and I was impressed with it. It will cause Outlook 2003 and later to complain and stop letting you access your email until you relaunch Outlook. If you're a techie then you'll be interested to know the reason it causes a problem is that it accesses the personal folder file directly instead of using the outlook API. Outlook detects the application accessing the personal file directly and refuses to let you view your email anymore until you restart it.

What's missing?

Many of the biometric flash drives on the market today offer an application that will log you into your PC by swiping your finger. That would be a neat feature for those of us who have to change our passwords monthly. My guess why this feature was omitted: it would require installing a program on the PC.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awsome product, September 22, 2005

By 

Shane Callaghan (Virgina Beach, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SanDisk Cruzer Profile 512MB USB Flash Drive (SDCZ5-512-A10, Retail Package) (Personal Computers)

I recived the product yesterday! It is a verry good item. but I read a review.."Its not a good product for moving music and videos" When you plug in the pendrive you have to swipe ur finger inorder to unlock the pendrive contents it is a verry good pendrive and it doesn't leave any trace on another computer. It is kinda bigger then the micro; But thats ok. I am also submitting some user photos so be shure to check them out!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My new Cruzer Profile, September 19, 2005

By 

That Guy 44 - See all my reviews

This review is from: SanDisk Cruzer Profile 512MB USB Flash Drive (SDCZ5-512-A10, Retail Package) (Personal Computers)

I just recieved my Profile in the mail, and I couldn't be more happy. It reads your finger print with a swipe of your finger, and it often errs on the side of caution: if your finger is close, but not quite right, it denies you access. I don't have enough time to write a full review, but basically, I like it, alot.