Customer Reviews

SanDisk SDCZ4-256-A10 256 MB Cruzer Micro with Skins (Retail Package)

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Yet another entry into the increasingly crowded flash drive market, Sandisk's Cruzer Micro sets itself apart with a great form factor and nice design. It's almost half the size of my Cruzer Mini, which was run over by a car and replaced by this. Instead of a green LED, you get a nicer-looking blue one. The body is plastic like on the mini, and feels really solid.

Write speeds are decent on a USB 2 machine, and livable on a USB 1.1 machine due to the slow interface. You won't get anywhere near the theoretical 480 megabits per second (60 megabytes per second) USB 2 peak data rate due to limitations of the memory controller and memory chips themselves. In testing, I get a little over 3 megabytes/second of read/write speed on a USB 2 equipped computer, and about 600-700 kilobytes/second on a USB 1.1 machine.

The Cruzer Micro comes with about 249MB free out of the box, which is a relief coming from Memory Sticks with 70+ MB missing due to formatting and copy-protection space.

You can also use the Cruzer Micro as the memory portion of an mp3 player that Sandisk is releasing, but seeing as it isn't available anywhere yet, the jury is still out on this added feature.

Why did I dock it one star? In use on USB 2 machines, the Cruzer Micro heats up quite a bit with extended read/writes with large files. This was noticed on both a Sony VAIO laptop and a Dell Dimension Desktop. On USB 1.1 machines the Cruzer did not heat up. It wasn't quite hot, more uncomfortably warm. I always worry since heat is the enemy of many electronics, and other flash drives I've used don't heat up to quite this degree. I did an exchange, and the replacement did the same thing. My Cruzer Mini also did this, so I'm not sure what to make of it.

Aside from the small heat issue, it's a tiny flash drive that looks great and works well. With prices dropping all the time on flash drives, the convienence of transporting your files around is now very affordable. Highly recommended.

PROS:
tiny - memory and mouse stack together on laptop USB ports
cool - blue light when idle, so you know its there
rugged - been through the wash no problem

CONS:
tiny - gets lost in pockets! Put this baby on your key chain.
cool - blue light flashes when busy (disco anyone?)
ragged - caps don't stay on (2 supplied)

After researching SEVERAL drives, this is the one I settled on. Not only was the price truly unbeatable, but the performance is great. As mentioned by others, the writing is a little slow...but as long as it gets on there its fine...who cares 20 seconds or 40 seconds... The ruggedness of it is also very helpful. Being an IT specialist, I carry it on my keyring and keep drivers and setup files on it. It's never let me down, and never cracked, even in the tightest squeezes on roofs or under desks. The blue light is kind of fun too. In short, for the memory size (256 is ALOT more than you think!), the price and the ruggedness, you will NOT get a better drive. Stop looking now...this could be the useful purchase you make - I know it was mine!!!

Among the 3 USB flash drives that I own, I use this one the most. The best feature of this drive is not the size or the capacity. The best feature is the built-in keyring at the end of the unit which enables you to attach this drive to your keychain. This is a feature that I have not seen in any other USB flash drives. This drive is so small and so durable that you can permanently leave it on your keychain to take with you everywhere you go. If a USB flash drive is not easy to carry around, then you will not carry it around; and if you're not going to carry it around, then what's the point of having one of these???

And this really is teeny-tiny. This is noticeably small than all the other flash drives that Amazon sells. Transfer speed is comparable to most other USB 2.0 drives. By the way, you WILL lose the cap at the end; just accept that fact and don't worry about it. On a different Sandisk drive that I own, I've gone without the cap for over 2 years without any problems (got my fingers crossed).

I really like this little guy, the size is amazing and the construction impressive, the same metal sheet that is the USB port turns into the housing and goes right into the keychain loop so it is very strong, this is then overmoulded so there is no chance of it falling apart. The speed is good enough for me, especially at the price. Two caps come with it, a small std type and one that fits right over it so you can use it as a keyring and keep the scratches off. HOWEVER, the caps don't stay on as a previous reviewer mentioned but it is a small thing compared to the rest of the features and something am sure I can sort with a little rubber strip.

The Cruzer Micro has worked well for me for several months. It's compact, easily portable, and works with both USB 1.1 and 2.0 ports. The read/write speed is faster than USB 1.1 flash drives, but slower than many other USB 2 flash drives (by a factor of at least two when compared to the high speed Sandisk Cruzer Titanium). One problem I've had is with the protective cap not fitting snuggly to the drive and can easily come off (happened several times already). Since the cap so small, it's easy to lose.

Overall, it is a well design flash drive. With its compact size, I end up using this a lot more often than my Cruzer Titanium.

I left it in the pocket of my jeans, sent it through the washer and then discovered it at the bottom of the wet clothes when I was transfering the load to the dryer. I thought it was a goner but let it sit for a couple of days to dry out.

Much to my surprise, it worked just fine when I plugged it into my laptop.

Perhaps I just got lucky, but it must be pretty well made if it can survive a spin cycle.

Laundry washed it
Heat Dried it
Data still there
works fine.

I have used the Cruzer for several months now with now problems whatsoever. It has incredible durability, very fast download/upload speeds (assuming you're using it with USB 2.0) and is a very compact size (pinkie finger). I for one actually like the blue light because it reminds me that I need to remove the Cruzer when it's not in use. The USB 2.0 format makes it super compatible with just about any modern computer and the memory size is great for basic documents, pictures and music files. I carry it on my key chain so the only annoying thing is when I need my keys but also need the Cruzer in the computer. Thus you have to remover the Cruzer via Windows which takes about 5-10 seconds after a few clicks of the mouse--very simple but slightly bothersome because of my needs. Also, it's easy to love the protective cap when the Cruzer is in use so keep track of it!

I would recommend purchasing one with more memory (512 or even 1gb) since prices are dropping and deals abound around the internet. But if you are looking for an entry level 256mb portable memory card with USB 2.0 capabilities, this is a great option.

By the way I have a Kingston Data Traveler 256mb and I like the Cruzer Mini much better because the Cruzer is so much smaller and the cap is easier to remove! I highly recommend!

I'm a programmer and I use this memory stick five days a week. I've had it for about 4 months and just added one to my wish list. It gets heavy use during the week, in that I mean that I am copying files to it and from it 20+ times a day. It has a cap and lanyard, but I use the larger (but still small) holder. I've dropped it, stepped on it and toss it around freely. It has been recogonized by Windows XP on five or more different computer systems with no problems (read... the plug and play works).

It is very small, which makes it easy to use on a system that already has USB devices in use, without removing the other connectors. The blue LED is a nice change too.

I paid $75 dollars for mine and think I got a good value.