Customer Reviews

Sandisk 8GB Cruzer Titanium USB 2.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ7-8192-A11, Retail Package)

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I just received this product, and contrary to other reviews (however, I think one recent review addresses this), this is the new version in which Sandisk is skimping on quality-wise. The performance is slower, the LED is amber (as in the Sandisk Micro flash drives), the material feels much cheaper than the original (really seems like a non authentic Sandisk titanium), and essentially lacks the quality I was expecting when replacing my 4GB cruzer titanium (purposely skipped out on the 16GB titanium that also is available due to the new cheaper manufacturing).

I had another memory stick before this one made of plastic. I carried it around in my pocket for files I wanted to use on both my work and home computer. The old plastic one was wearing out just from knocking around in my pocket and I was afraid of loosing something if it fell apart. This titanium memory stick is much more rugged and has no wear on it at all in the months I've been carrying it around. I also like the retractable USB tongue. The software works well and the installation was completely automatic. No need for any effort on my part. Nice product.

Great flash drive, and very affordable for the capacity. This is my sixth flash drive, not because any have failed, but mostly because of the 8G capacity. I have had 3 different brands and this particular drive is probably one of, or maybe the fastest of all. No cap to lose either and it comes with U3 utilities if you like having those, the password utility is the most used on mine. I use this daily, to breifcase files back and forth from work and home office. Love it.

I've been waiting for the 8 gig version of this for a while. I don't even use the U3 stuff much, but I know some find it quite helpful. I love the storage capacity of the 8 gigs, and the very solid construction feel of the titanium. Plus I got this here for about 15 bucks cheaper than the plastic version of the 8 gig at Best Buy. Cha-Ching!

The Sandisk 8GB Cruzer Titanium USB 2.0 Flash Drive is nice, but the SanDisk 8 GB Cruzer Micro is basically the same drive in a smaller body. While the sleek body of the titanium feels a little more durable, the Micro's shorter body makes it ideal for your key chain.

Like the Micro, the retractable head means you don't have to worry about losing the cap. There is a chance of getting dust in the head, so make sure to clean it from time to time with compressed air. Kingston also makes some retractable USB models as well, but in general I still prefer SanDisk.

This guy has 2, 4 and 8 GB sizes. 8GB is kind of the minimum size I would purchase at this point, since I have a ton of smaller drives already. The case is smallish, but you will have to look to the Micro if you want the smallest case out of regular USB drives out there.

The small slot and ring are not super sturdy, but they are strong enough to secure this drive. The SanDisk Cruzer Slide 8 GB USB Drive, on the other hand, has a nice attachment ring. But the trade-off is it is much bigger than the Titanium or Micro.

I make a point of obliterating the U3 software whenever I get a new drive. That way I don't have to worry about it loading itself every time I insert it. It just slows it down and I don't use those apps anyway.


Pros:
+ Great storage capacity in a brand that honors their warrantees
+ The case is small and attractive
+ The slide-back head means there is no cap to be lost
+ Durable body and NAND memory stands up to a lot of abuse
+ Compatible with old and new Mac and PC Operating Systems (XP, Vista, OS X)
+ USB 2.0 connection is backwards compatible for older computers
+ Easy to format and enable encryption to protect your data
+ Prices are nice on a $ per gigabyte basis

Cons:
- U3 software on Sandisk USB drives isn't for everyone
- Still has a longer body than the Cruzer Micro
- The attachment slot is small and not the strongest
- Not as easy to hook it on to things as the Cruzer Slide
- Still somewhat slow speed in copying large files (about 6-9 MB/s write speeds)

Overall this is a great USB drive with good capacity. If you need something you can easy attach to key-chains and don't mind a slightly larger body, you may want to step up to the Cruzer Slide. If you want the smallest most stylish USB drive you can get, this is it.

Enjoy!

I bought this drive to store important backups and keep them with me at all times on a keyring. I'd had a Transcend and Dane Elec before. The Transcend was okay, but I wanted a metal case this time, with a more robust keyring attachment. The Dane Elec had an incredibly flimsy keyring attachment that broke the first day on my keyring, and a cap that was loose enough to fall off and get lost on the second day.

The SanDisk Titanium solves all those issues. There is no question this drive's build quality is excellent. Speed also seems excellent. Aesthetically, it is good, but not great: the titanium has a mediocre tactile quality. If I was designing the product, I'd consider applying a coating to improve the feel.

My biggest gripe is that the metal case makes a loud "clacking" sound as it bumps other things on my keyring: swiss army knife, car key, etc. I solved the problem by wrapping the drive and some of the other items with several layers of thin strips of electrical tape, but I don't like to think about the gummy mess I will have if it sits in the sun awhile on a hot day. In addition to the tactility mentioned above, a good coating could also improve this aspect of the drive. Sonically, I might be happier if I'd gotten the regular Micro Cruzer, which has a plastic case. I also imagine a kind of flash drive condom, that would mute the noise, but I have not found one yet. Leave a comment if you know of something: the flash drive cases on sale here at Amazon and at WalMart are far too bulky for a keyring.

I immediately removed SanDisk's U3 software from the drive using a download from SanDisk's web site running under Parallels on my Mac, and formatted the drive as Mac OS (Extended) using Apple Disk Utility. I have a couple of encrypted disk images on the drive for source code and other sensitive files. Free software named Mathusalem, which offers both encryption and compression, is used to perform some of the backups to the drive.

For my next boutique flash drive, I may look at Transcend again, but for now, the Titanium Cruzer gives me a reliable, sturdy drive I am proud to carry. It definitely isn't junk, and ought to satisfy you if you want eight gigs of storage you can really trust.

Im a systems admin for a large company and i am a big fan of thumb drives. I started out with a 32 bit one a couple of years ago and have purchased them bigger and bigger as they have become available. Now today there are some bigger than 8gigs but those other ones cant compare to the way this one is built which i feel seperates this one from the rest. They all hold data, pictures etc etc. But the metal body and sliding usb puts this one above the others in my eyes. If your looking for a sturdy drive were you dont have to worry about it melting from the heat or cracking when you drop it or even losing the cap. Buy this one.

I actually got this 8GB Cruzer titanium to replace the 16 GB Cruzer titanium I recently purchased. While the 16 GB was slow, horribly slow, this 8GB USB is marvelous! It's fast, reliable, and there is plenty of space. I use the U3, mainly to run Firefox and it just zooms, even with lots of add-ons. Saving files is fast as well. The LED is blue, which is nice and soothing and the casing is exactly the same as the 4GB Cruzer titanium (which I also have and absolutely love). There is no cap to lose and the retractable mechanism is smooth. On top of it all, it's really small and easy to carry. It did not come with a strap, but I attached a small clamp and can easily and safely attach it to my clothes and not even notice it. It's a great product, fast, solid, easy to use, well worth the money!

I have a number of Sandisk Flash Drives this one having the larges capacity, 8GB Sandisk 8GB Cruzer Titanium USB 2.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ7-8192-A11, Retail Package). I use this drive for maintaining financial data, Church e-mail traffic (a lot of e-mail messages), Church Membership Roster, and other miscellaneous information from my church. Anyone that uses a flash drive knows that one of its greatest features is portability. For example, I can record financial data at church, then take it home and use Excel to manipulate the data into financial reports and take them back to church.

I purchased the Titanium drive because it adds physical security to the drive. I've already managed to drop and step on the drive with no ill effects.

Why Sandisk? Brand loyalty more than any thing else I guess. I have other brands but I like the size of the Sandisk Flash Drives and the retractable USB connector. Amazon prices (this includes prices from Amazon Featured Merchants) make them competitive with brands having similar features.

As I need additional flash drives I will buy Sandisk Flash Drives with appropriate capacity for the task at hand. If you are looking for a flash drive, check out Sandisk before you buy.

I bought one of the older titaniums (512MB version) several years back and was very happy with it. But it started to be a little temperamental in detecting consistently when plugged in. After trying out 3 or 4 other flash drives since then, it turns out it's a common problem with Windows XP. I won't fault it for that, and it still works even 5 years later.

I decided to come back to the model recently, and give it a try again with their latest 8GB model. So far, I'm very impressed. Works just as well as the original, and still very sturdy. I have no first-hand proof of it's advertised run-it-over-with-a-car level of crush resistance, but it's certainly not flimsy. Speed is very good and the USB connector retracts for durability. I hate loosing caps all the time, so it's a must for me. I wish they would come out with a 16GB version, as you can never have enough storage space. Very happy with the product. No complaints.