Customer Reviews

SanDisk SDCZ2-1024-A10 1 GB Cruzer Mini USB 2.0 Flash Drive (Retail Package)

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I was using an older 128 MB flash drive as the file system for e-mail on two older laptop computers. This allowed me to keep my mail synchronized on my primary home system and the one I take on travel. The problem was that I outgrew the 128 MB, and since both of my systems were older circa 2001 laptops that used USB 1.1 and ran under Windows 98 SE none of the gigabyte flash drives would work with it - all of the others required either USB 2.0 and/or Windows ME or 2000.

This drive, however, is backwards compatible with the older USB 1.1 interface, and a Windows 98 SE driver is available for download from the manufacturer's site.

Download and installation of the new driver went perfectly. It was literally done in a few mouse clicks. I plugged the drive into each machine and it was immediately recognized by both my Sony and IBM laptops. I also tried this on a Windows 2000 system and it was immediately recognized and assigned as a disk drive without drivers.

Not only does this device work as advertised with no problems, but it also leaves room for a second USB device on laptops that have adjacent ports (my Sony is configured like this). My old flash drive required me to use an USB extension cable in order to have room to plug in my mouse, so the form factor is yet another feature I like about this particular model.

One final feaure I very much like - you can encrypt files on this device, and since I am using it as an email file system the privacy and protection this affords me is important.

Highly recommended if you want a high-capacity flash drive that will work on older Windows 98 SE systems, or just a reliable and easy-to-install flash drive for any system. It will not work on Windows 95 and below systems (none of the flash drives of which I am aware will).

I bought the 1GB Sandisk USB drive primarily to transport data to and from work and other sites. Since it's my first such drive, I can't attest to its speed versus other models, but it seems plenty fast for my needs.

The CruzerLock software comes loaded on the drive itself which obviously uses up some of your usable memory. Through a nice interface, the software allows you to select files on the computer's hard drive and encrypt them. The result is automatically copied to a subfolder on the Cruzer called \Secure. You can also ignore the software, and use the Cruzer as another hard drive and copy unencrypted data wherever you like on its file system.

The encryption method and strength is not documented which I suppose is just as well because you're trucking around the software and keys to decrypt the data with the data itself anyway leaving only a password which could be defeated through brute force between an intruder and the raw data. I'm not usually a security hound, but for ultra sensitive data, I'd use another (or an additional) encryption scheme and not store the encryptor/decryptor for that on the Cruzer itself though that would certainly be less convenient. There are lots free and cheap encryption products out there!

By the way, I also tried moving data between a Windows OS and a Mac OS, and it worked great though the encryption software is just for Windows so you have to use other encryption means or store unencrypted.

I really like the formfactor of this Flash Drive. The 1GB is plenty hefty (although we all could use more right?). It's pretty fast on the read and write too. Since something this simple doesn't have a lot of points to review, I'll lay it down in good v. bad:

Reasons it shines (in one case, literally)
1) Light, yet has a sturdy feeling.
2) Light (LED) - on the opposite end from the USB connection, which indicates current status. ALL keys should have this!
3) Did I mention it's fast? Make sure you are using USB 2.0
4) Plenty large enough for taking pictures to the printers, emergency backup, personal boot drive, and many other things.
5) Small. I carry 4 things in my pockets most of the time. 1 pocket has the Fisher Space Pen and Leatherman Micra. The other has my moneyclip/leather card holster style wallet and my car keys. Generally, I only ever carry one other thing on occasion and it's this key Flash Drive. It's so sveldt you'll never notice it (so be careful not to lose it!)

Reasons you may not want this particular unit (although it's very nice!)
1) The engineers believe that a sub-1mm piece of plastic has enough strength to hold it on to a lanyard. Bad Engineers! Bad!
2) No metal-based connector for attaching to a keychain.
3) The plastic end cap it chintzy and doesn't snap on very well or hold very tightly. For some reason it's also see-thru instead of completing the design of the key to make it look as one piece.
4) The software that comes on the key is fairly laughable. You'll probably want to use your own encryption/security on any files here. I think you have to pay for that from Sandisk. You'd think they would either include that software or make an encrypted space on the drive.

Anyway, It's not perfect, but you can find it for half a C-Note after rebate some of the time depending on the fluid memory market pricing. So, I'd say this rates a 3.5 on my scale, I'm rounding up to 4 since you can usually pick it up at a reasonable cost.

I have been thinking of buying a USB drive for quite sometime and although there are not many choices for 1GB, this one seemed the best (in price, reviews, performance etc) in various websites. If this was available in micro version (smaller one), that would have been just awesome.

Anyways, here's my experience with this storage device:
- comes with a standard SanDisk CruzerLock software on the disk itself and I found it very convenient to use it for encrypting my files from the hard drive. I've also tried copying the data without using the encryption feature and it works flawlessly.
- backwards compatible with USB 1.1 also, though it might need a driver (from the CD or the website). usage with 2.0 doesn't require any driver
- thin enough to plug another USB device next to it. I've tried it with Logitech USB webcam and they both plug just as well
- compatible across Windows and Mac OS. tried and tested.
- can't vouch for the speed but it works fast enough for me. Obvoisly, Sandisk --> hard-disk is much faster.


I generally use it to move music/photos etc and sometimes copy emails around. has served me very well. Initially I was sceptical about 1GB space and was thinking of buying 2 Sandisk 512MB Micro devices, but this one works just fine and turns out much cheaper too.

-- updated on 02/10/05
This is so great and best in the market that I just bought another one of these. They work pretty good as a gift also to all your techie relatives and friends (thats what I did with the last one:) ).

I know lots of people love this device, but I've had a bad experience. With a brand new Dell D610, I isolated a problem that if I used this device and the optical drive, then on shutdown or hibernate, my machine blue screened. After about a week of xcopy'ing files to the device, I noticed that they didn't seem to consume the same amount of space as on my hard drive (by a big factor), and I could not delete files from the device. Upon trying to return it to J&R, they don't accept returns on computer products.

Be careful when a vendor other than Amazon is shipping your device because if you get a lemon, you may be out the money.

I really like this device. 1GB on the go is excellent.

But I warn anyone, that this device has a problem that will mystify you.

Specifically, it holds 1GB of files, but if you fill the root directory will 1GB of MP3 files - it will not work!

It will hold approximately 420MB of MP3 files and you will get a message from windows that the device is full.

I suspect this is some kind of limited addressing that SanDisk has on a folder or device level.

If I copy folders and folders worth of files, I can fill it to 1GB.

But, unfortunately, my MP3 player, doesn't understand folders.

(Blech! - they say nothing about this limitation, anywhere!)

Alex

I recently purchased a 1 gig cruzer and it's great for backing up files, but the plastic loop used for the neckstrap ripped right out. Data-wise this is a good product, just don't leave it hanging from the supplied strap.

It works. That's about it. You plug it in and you have a 1gig drive to take your data with you. I use it to take my music from my home computer to my office, and make it work like a music cd. Plug it in to my office computer and windows automatically plays the music. This is nice. I don't have to copy the music to my office computer. And since the music files are on this flash drive, it is noise-free from the hard disk or from the CD rom. However, the reason to give it a 3 stars is that it is slow. My co-worker has one from Memorex. The Memorex is a whole lot faster than the sandisk. Copying files to the Memeorex takes a fraction of the time it takes with the Sandisk.

I just purchased this product at Office Depot at a check out lane. This thing is a screaming eagle. It transfers files effortlessly and immediately. You can stick it in your pocket, wallet, or anywhere else you want to put it. Just plug it into your USB port and away you go. Like the other reviewer said, it's no bigger than a pack of gum and it's lightning fast.

When I first tried to transfer files to this flash drive, I discovered that I could transfer some files but not others. It turned out that the files I could not transfer had dates containing slashes in the titles. When I called the SanDisk company, a very helpful technician told me how to solve my problem. The drive was formatted for PC's, but I was using a Mac. The technician told me how to reformat and I had no further problems. No instructions about formatting came with the product.