Customer Reviews

SanDisk SDCZ2-128-A10 128 MB Cruzer Mini USB 2.0 Flash Drive

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As others have stated, this little drive is really great. It's fast and convenient. I have one thing to reiterate, one to clarify, and one to suggest.

Reiterate: This thing is plug-and-play on various platforms. I have plugged it in to a bunch of machines. Desktops, laptops, Windows 2000, XP, and even Mac. Every time it has installed itself and been another hard drive within about 30 seconds at worst. USB 2.0 is definitely faster, but it's fine with 1.1.

Clarify: I have plugged this into the backs of machines with pretty tight, recessed USB ports with no problem. Of course having a hub or port on the front of the machine is better, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Suggest: If you want to synchronize your flash drive with a directory on your hard drive, go to Tucows and get an application like SyncBack. I setup a cruzermini folder on my hard drives at home and work and now I synchronize them to my cruzer mini drive. It's really handy. Keeps everything up-to-date.

I use my laptop on a daily basis. A Flash Memory Drive makes it very convenient for transferring files from my PC to Laptop and from my Laptop to other Laptops.

- I am using Windows XP which detects the Flash Drive upon Plug-In.
- Be sure to check that your computer/laptop is USB 2.0 compatible. It makes a huge difference in transfer speeds. It is backwards compatible but if your computer does not support USB 2.0 then it may not be worth paying more for a USB 2.0.
- Just remember that after you are done using the flash drive, you have to "remove hardware" by clicking on the icon on the lower right hand side of your desktop. Do this before pulling the Flash Drive out of the USB port.

As stated in other reviews - this product works as advertised. I use it to transfer files between a PC and Mac at home, and transfer documents between home and work. It works great, and seems to transfer considerably faster when connected to my USB 2.0 card.

Minor quibbles are that the hard plastic cap has cracked in several places. They do supply three caps in clear, smoke, and day-glo yellow. A polypropylene cap would have been more durable.

The USB connector for the 128 MB version is closer to the side with the "Cruzer" label. It might not fit into some recessed USB ports like you'll find on many PC's. I've purchased the 256 MB version as a gift, and it's half the thickness, and is barely thicker than the width of the connector; the 128 MB version is twice as thick (and a little bit shorter). (As an aside, one USB flash drive that fits well in recessed ports is DiskOnKey - sold under their own brand name as well as Targus GoAnywhere, and FujiFilm.) Amazon was directly selling the 256 MB version of the Cruzer Mini a week before this review at a great price, but it's no longer listed (only third party sellers like Circuit City).

The only problem I had was when about 70 MB of capacity suddenly disappeared, and I had to reformat the drive to restore full capacity. I understand this isn't that unusual with flash devices - especially if they've been disconnected while writing. It didn't lose any information that was already on the drive though.

I used my Mini Cruzer for both work and school, and I used it on a daily basis. It was fast, small, and very convenient.

However, you might notice that I am writing in the past tense, because my cruzer just died on me the past week after after five months of use. Of course, it is still under warranty and I will be sending it back to Sandisk this week, but I lost a TON of data that I was not able to recover. I normally keep a back-up, but when the memory stick dies before you are able to back-up your data, life can get pretty bad.

Make sure to keep good back-ups!! Do NOT rely on this or any other memory stick to be fail proof.

Nothing spectacular - just good, reliable performance in a surprisingly small package! If you need to transport or backup large files (such as audio or graphic files), this will do the job that a floppy disk can't handle. More convenient than burning a CD, assuming you have a CD burner. Installs INSTANTLY on PC's running Windows XP. Needs an easily downloaded driver to work with Windows 98. Oh yeah, you (obviously) must have a USB port, but if your computer doesn't, you need a new computer more than you need this flash drive.

12.8MB file took 20 seconds to transfer.

33MB Directory with 88 files took 1 minute 55 seconds.

Sandisk has produced a wonderful product with its 128mb mini cruzer. Simply plug it into your USB port and it's ready to go - with windows XP there is no software needed. My laptop recognized the device immediately and it could be accessed through XP's "My Computer" as external drive F:. It was as easy as kiss my hand to store text, music, or photo files to it,to retrieve them and to erase them when desired.

The device itself is about a dime's width and 3 dime's length.The body is a smart looking metallic polished silver and when it's plugged in, the back of it lights up green so you know that it is working properly. Comes with 3 different colored caps to protect the USB connection and a neck/wrist strap for convenient carrying.

Easy to use. Fast and efficient as a USB Flash Drive. A well priced wonderful product from Sandisk. I bought one for myself and two as Christmas gifts.

my cruiser just went through a full wash cycle, followed by 30 minutes in the dryer.

i plugged it in and it works! no kidding.

This is a great product, just plug it in and you're ready to go. Compatible with all machines (automatically detected by XP, simple driver installation with 98) and is a much easier way to carry data around than burning CD's or expensive zip disks. It does feel a little fragile but mostly because it weighs almost nothing. The back end lights up when plugged in and flashes when transferring data.
One nice thing about this particular stick is that you can snap the cap on the back end of the stick so you don't misplace it when plugged into the computer. It comes with a lanyard to go around your neck but that seems a little silly to me and I just carry it in my pocket.
Data transfer is extremely fast with usb 2.0, a 5 MB file only takes a couple seconds to transfer.
The sandisk cruzer is also very skinny and unlike some of the larger ones only requires you to have one usb port open. For example, I can have the sandisk in one port on my laptop and an external mouse plugged in the port immediately below it. I've never had a different brand but several look like they would block two usb ports while only actually using one.

When I say "poor build quality" I don't mean it's falling apart at the seams, I mean that the paint chips off easily and the cap (even though they provide 2 extras) gets loose after a couple days. But the drive itself is great, and while I have qualms about the appearance of the product, the actual construction is solid, and has survived many a trip on to concrete. And the password protected encryption program runs straight from the drive, which is a plus (on some USB Flash drives, you have to install a program onto a computer to get your private files) but... if you use this on a school or office computer at which you lack local administrator privliges, it will not run. But still useful to keep snoops out of personal files. All in all, a great stocking stuffer for the student or geek in your life!