Customer Reviews

SanDisk Cruzer Micro 512 MB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ4-512-A10, Retail Package)

5 star:		(104)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

All guys have a minimal set of items that are always with them, for me these are: keys, wallet, glasses, and cell phone. Since the number of items in the set is directly proportional to the comlexity of a guy's life, adding an item to the list requires life-altering benefits in return. For example, adding a wedding ring brings with it a wife, 2.7 kids, and one more anniversary date to remember. As convenient an USB drive may be, it doesn't meet the requirement to become a "minimal set item".

So I took a look at the existing 4 items and determined that my keychain is the thing that can be "enhanced" with a USB drive, and for that the small and rugged Micro Cruzer is the best choice out there. At just over 2" long, it is only slightly longer than a standard house key, and that length includes the integrated key chain ring. Combined with .75" width and .3" thickness, it is one of the smallest USB drives you can find on the market.

You can find smaller USB drives out there, but they are simply too fragile. The Cruzer Micro has a brushed stainless clam shell steel body that extends from the keychain ring to the USB connector in one continuous and seamless slab. And over this steel body is a thick plastic jacket that has a slight rubbery texture to it. Two USB connector covers are included, a thick one and a slim one - choose your level of protection. The thick one pretty much sleeves the entire drive and make it impervious to anything this side of tank treads.

Add to this tidy and tough package the speed of USB 2.0, 512MB of storage, and a very bright blue status LED, it's a complete package that simply outdoes any other USB drive out there, including the Cruzer Titanium, which incidentally looks more like a mini cigar sleeve than a proper USB drive. Dont be a poser - be a guy - buy the Cruzer Micro.

For those of you complaining about the tight fit when using your keychain, here's what to do: take out the black neck strap that came with your Micro Cruzer. There is a small metal ring at the attachment end. Take that ring off and attach it between your Micro Cruzer loop and your main keychain. Now your drive can hang freely on your keychain.

For those of your complaining about the loose cap, I put a generous dab of rubber cement inside the cap. Leave it til its fully dry. The cap should fit very snug when reattached. Crude, but works. If it becomes loose again, repeat.

I am an owner of the Sandisk Cruzer Mini 1GB and I am absolutely satisfied with the performance and quality of the product except for some minor issues with the plastic covers becoming slack and falling off after a while. I recently Purchased this Cruzer Micro 512MB and it is just great. Very small and neatly designed to fit into about any USB port. The different coloured skins give a nice finish. Data Transfers are fast with USB 2.0 and overall Quality of the product is excellent. Sandisk Drives also come with encryption software to keep your stuff safe. Amazon also has the best Prices on Sandisk products. Always a pleasure purchasing from Amazon.

I bought this at RadioShack when they were selling it for $40 and offered $20 in rebates. So, of course it was a GREAT deal!! I've found other reviewers' comments about its speed to be true. It's not the fastest, and it seems to be slower copying multiple files than copying one big file. But, if you're just using it to transfer documents from one machine to another, that shouldn't be a problem. I don't consider it a major drawback. And its small size is a great plus!!

Some people complained that the cap is too loose, but I've found it to be fine. And it even fits on the butt end of the drive, so you can keep it attached while you have it plugged into your computer. You'll be less likely to lose it that way. If you do think the cap is too loose, the drive ships with a tight sleeve (which others have mentioned) that won't fall off.

This drive is pretty durable, too. I bought mine a little less than a month ago, used it a lot, and then couldn't find it. I had accidentally left it the front pocket of my shorts. I finally found it today after it had gone through the wash (and dryer). I thought it might be toast, and my EE friends were telling me the static from going through the dryer might have fried it. But I plugged it into my computer, and it works fine.! The files are readable and undamaged.

Overall, this drive has been a great buy! I recommend it, especially if you don't have high expectations on it being super-fast.

What an amazingly flexible little device. I removed the strap, so the 1/2 GB data atorage attaches to my keyring using the little metal loop. The drive is narrow enough that it easily plugs into the multi-port on my desk.

I use it mostly to download large files where bandwidth is available, then install them on other machines where only dial-up is available. Also, when I'm working on a large document or Microsoft PowerPoint demo at work, I can bring it all home in my pocket rather than lugging a laptop.

Should you own this? It's a pretty simple question if you'd like having the storage of 500 floppy disks on your keychain. It's available anytime, anywhere you need to save or retrieve all that data.

Ok, I got this about a year ago when it was handy to take things to and from work. It worked great for me. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that the cap came off very easily and soon was lost . . . and it also came with another type of holder that too was easily lost. The stap that you can use to keep it around your neck broke pretty easily. I ended up finding the slide in case that came with it, but then I found it broken in my pocket not too long afterwards. It was kinda annoying being given a product that had so many breakable parts. I was just glad the drive itself wasn't so easy to break, but then I wasn't going to take chances given how crappy the rest of its packaging had been.

Then I lost it. Yeah it's small and i'm clumsy. But I found it again when the ganitor gave it to the department office claiming "They found it in their vacuum cleaner." GREAT! $50 down the drain. But wait... it worked! Well that's impressive.

Then I lost it again. Yeah it's small and i'm clumsy and absent minded. I left it this time in a pocket... and it found its way into the laundry. Washer + Cheer with color guard in a load of white + hot water = dead drive. Wait... it still worked? Wow.

I did this one more time and it went through the dryer. Ok, so i'm the clumsiest and most forgettful soul, but it still worked after that too! I was tempted to microwave it and run it with my dishes in the wash just to see how well it would hold up then too, but i didn't. Industrial vacuum cleaner, washer, dryer . . . still winking away with its little blue light. I was very impressed that it still worked. Now if the rest of the packaging could be as durable.

It was 512, perfect size for me to take Microsoft office files back and forth and even keep a small program installed on it. It is small, thumb drive and no larger than any other USB plug. I bought a Banzai 512 to replace this during one of the times that I lost it. The Banzai requires a USB extension to operate as it is too big and takes up about 3 USB slots just because of its awkward shape. This is a great little device that i've had for a while now (3 months w/o losing it again) and I use it the most.

I also won $5 on a bet that it wouldn't work after being vacuumed up.

I bought this a few years back for its size and back then the 1 GB flash drives were still kinda expensive. My favorite feature is that it fits perfectly in that small right-hand mini pocket in your jeans. I sometimes forget I have it in there. This became apparent recently when I forgot to take it out of my jeans and it got thrown in the washing machine. I didn't find it for a week even though I checked the washer; I didn't check the gasket that goes around the door (it's a front loader). After three washes, one of which was the super-hot extended cycle, I finally found it sitting in a puddle of water somewhat faded and wet. I dried it off and plugged it in my laptop and immediately copied my files over. I couldn't believe it still worked. I wanted to wait awhile to see what happened before I put new stuff on it. I'm glad I did because after a few days it died on me. When I plugged it in I got an error message saying it needed to be formatted. This was a few weeks ago and after formatting it I haven't had any problems. If you are looking for a flash drive, I really have to recommend these. Unlike some other flash drives, these have a metal case surrounded by a plastic/rubber skin making them more durable.

This thumb drive is killer awesome. It is strudy and big enough to be missed. Unlike the newer tiny easy to lose cheaply built drives SANDisk is making now. This drive can take a whipping and keep going strong.

I am a disabled dude and makes no difference if I am walking or in my wheelchair this drive can take the odd shocks, drops and falls that are an everyday part of life for me. The newer SanDisk drives are these tiny metal things wrapped in the cheapest plastic their is. The plastic used in the newer SanDisk products is just one step up from sandwich bags making them utterly useless.

This drive is well built the way a quality product should be. This drive is fast easy to use and easy to hold for a cerebral palsied dude. The new SanDisk drives are so small if you have a mobility impairment like cerebral palsy the drive is so small they are hard to grip and harder to place in the USB slot. Sometimes really small is too small. Too bad SanDisk did not stick with this winning disabled friendly design because it beats cold all the other junk they produce now.

Too bad the 2 Gig SanDisk products are not engineered to the high standards this version is. This version of the SanDisk drive is awesome the newer small things they make are almost worthless.

Pros: The design is perfect. Small, very sturdy, nice LED, keychain ring, nice price.

Cons: Being an usb2.0, it is nearly unusably slow. Writing lot of small files takes FOREVER, meanwhile you can have your dinner comfortably (half an hour or more!). Average USB 2.0 drives do this about 3-4 times faster. Dealing with large files is better, but also much slower than competition. I absolutely NOT RECOMMEND it if you regularly want to move lot of data in a copy'n'go style.

I had purchased this model in the 256 MB size and wanted the small capacity in a 512 MB model. What I got was apparently a newly designed, slimmer model than the previous cruzer micro. The rubber is gone, making the device extra slim, the thickness of a USB connector and as long as two quarters placed side by side. It's small enough to fit in one's wallet, and very nice. If you liked the rubber grip of the old model, this one still comes with 3 rubber "skins" of different colors to customize your micro. The blue light is now green.

The transfer speed is much better than older flash drives (64 megs) and saving small files like word documents or a few music files is basically instantaneous, though large files (>10 MB) take a while to save. The Sandisk Cruzer titanium has a better transfer rate if speed is critical, however it is about 4 times the volume and costs twice as much. It just depends what is important to you.