Customer Reviews

Super Talent Pico-C 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive STU4GPCS (Silver)

5 star:		(120)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(43)

 

 

If you're in the market for a super tiny USB drive that will easily fit on your key chain... look no further. USB drives can't get much smaller than this one is. It's truly hard to fathom that this tiny and thin piece of metal can hold 16GB of information. If you don't need 16GB of storage, it also comes in 4GB and 8GB capacities. And if you want it with "bling"... there's a special gold plated version (I'm so not kidding! :)

I came across this USB drive while reseaching drives to upgrade to. My old 2GB Sandisk titanium was nice but is heavy, big, and didn't fit very nice on my keychain. I think what sealed the deal for me (what made me buy this pico) was that it is also water-proof and that the read/write speed is fast (200x). I've had mine for a few weeks now, and it truly is what it seems. I haven't dunked it in water yet, but I'm sure one of these days I'll forget it in my pocket and put it in the washing machine. It's just a matter of time really... and I hope it still works afterwards.

Pros:
-Super duper tiny, thin, and light... I mean miraculously tiny!

-Good build quality... made from metal and not plastic.

-Pretty fast... it took about 8 minutes to write 4GB of information on it... reads even faster.

-Water-Proof (I didn't test it, but I'm going on faith that it is)

-Affordable. This drive is very reasonably priced. I got my 16GB Pico for about $40.


Cons:

-Metal Surface is easily scratched

-Fits tightly in USB drives... sometimes you got to use a bit of force to get it in.

-Actual capacity is really 15GB... due to formating (this happens to all drives, the use-able capacity is always lower, I'm not going to get into the technical details)

-No LED light to indicate Read/Write... but you wouldn't really expect one on such a tiny drive. It'd be cool if it did have one though, ha ha.

Conclusion:
If you want a super tiny, fast, and durable USB drive... this is it. It does it all, and looks good too. You will be amazed at how small and light it is. And hell, it's even supposed to be water proof. What the hell more do you want? Gold plated? Yeah, you can get it in Gold too :) Buy it now... and amaze your friends. (No, I don't work for "Super Talent", I promise you)

I got this memory stick a short while ago, been using it normally and quite happy with its size and speed. But yesterday the most incredible thing happened. I had forgotten it in the pocket of my shorts. I had put the shorts through a 30 minute wash cycle at 40c. Finding that a stain on the shorts wasn't fully gone, again I put the shorts (with the stick in them) through a 90 minutes cycle at 60c. Remembering the stick much later, I found it caught in the washing machine's rubber gasket. I left it overnight to fully dry, today I have been using the stick normally. All the data was there, and it still reads and writes as usual. Its like it never went through the washing machine!! AMAZING..

Bought drive in July of 2009, used frequently as my work as a computer technician demanded it. The drive is very small as advertised, but believe it or not, it's pretty difficult to plug it into computers since it's so tiny. Also, its connection directly into the port is wider than normal USB Flash Drives, so you need to use some decent force to get the drive into the port correctly. So small + difficult to place into ports with a very tight fit, makes it less easy to use. I can't just stick it into the port unless I have it lined up perfect and I have room so that my fingers can push it in. This doesn't work when I have to reach behind older machines to access their ports, like servers, etc.

Appearance-wise, it's shiny but gets scratched very easily and finger prints stay. It doesn't just scratch, but the kind of scratch that tears the little shiny film on the outside till it shatters and break off, similar to old glue. Over a long period of time, it really loses that sheik look, with all the scratches and finger prints.

I used it to store software installers, drivers, and documents, all for work. It was filled up to about 14 of the 16GB most of the time, but never completely full. I would say that I used it daily, only to backup a few files, but never anything hardware enduring. The biggest file I ever backed up was a disc image (700MB), and I never ran any portable programs directly from it. I kept the drive on a small key ring with my keys as a key chain, so it was banging against my keys most of the time. I read other reviews, one saying that the drive also kept on a key chain had lasted two years and was still going strong.

Well, today mine just stopped working. I plugged it into one computer, to backup a few drivers for a new NIC card, Safely Removed it when I was finished, then connected it to a new computer (without ever placing in back on my key chain), and it could not find the drive correctly. I tried on multiple computers and multiple OSs, even ran some tests on it. To put it simply, the drive failed.

So, it's a nice drive, being that it's so small and pretty fast, but it only lasted four months and I have no idea why. It simply stopped working. I never even got the drive wet, only ever clanked against my keys, that's it. Lasted four months. My previous flash drive lasted 2 years and was supposedly of "worse quality".

I really hope this was helpful, the drive's nice, but never store anything on there without backing it up somewhere else, otherwise you'll end up like me and lose 14GB of files needed for work.

Pros:
Really small size can be a good thing depending on your preference. I have it on my keychain and it doesn't add much so I, personally, like its size. It's also suppose to be waterproof and very durable. However, I haven't had it long enough to say how durable it is.

Cons:
It is kind of hard to put into most usb slots. Once you use this drive on the same usb slot, the slot itself seems to get loose. I noticed that my other usb drive slide into the usb slot a lot easier after using the Pico-C.

I suggest you read reviews on other sites. My drive lasted for 2 weeks than I got reading errors and I couldn't use it anymore. If you use it on your key chain it will look ugly and dented within a few days. My drive has been in 'repair' for more than a month with super talent and I am still awaiting replacement. Don't buy it.

I purchased a 16 GB and 8 GB version of this product. They are very small, highly portable, attractive looking, and have good speed (10.5 MB/sec write speed as measured by Robocopy). This is substantially faster than my old Sandisk Cruzer Titanium 4 GB at 8.4 MB/sec. The problem comes when you try to plug in or remove the unit from a USB port. It goes very hard either way. And because of the slick metal finish, you can't get a good grip on it. It is so hard to remove that I literally snapped the little metal chain the comes with the drive trying to pull it out. Comparing this drives USB connector to my old Cruzer (which plugs in quite easily), it is plain to see that the connector on this unit is substantially thicker than standard.

The only way I can recommend the SuperTalent Pico-C is if you are going to use it with one PC, and it has an easy-to-access port on the front. After you have added/removed the drive several times, the port becomes "broken in", and gets easier over time. But if you will be using it with multiple PC's, I do not recommend it. I am returning both of mine to Amazon.

I bought this flash drive because I didn't want to use my 4.0 gig SanDisk Cruzer Micro anymore. I thought this drive looked nice and it had decent reviews.

The first thing I noticed when I got the drive was that it was very difficult to insert and remove the drive from the USB slot. It is a VERY tight fit. Although the drive did work....for a while.

The flash drive was fine for about 2 weeks and then started acting up. The flash drive would be inserted in the usb slot and my computer would say that its disconnecting, then reconnecting, disconnecting etc. This was happening not only on my desktop but also my laptop and friends computers as well.

After cleaning out my drive, reformatting, and virus scanning it still does not work. Its to the point now where my computers say that the drivers could not install themselves when the flash drive was inserted into the slot.

It's very aggravating having a USB flash drive which is supposedly made to last a long time and be durable only last a few days. Now I am back to using my SanDisk Cruzer Micro.

My friend handed me a 32 GB flash stick the other day.
I had to look twice... actually three or four times. I could hardly believe it.
This thing is TINY. It is only a little longer than the diameter of a nickel (25c coin).

<< PROS >>
The things that stood out for me were:

- It functioned well (as expected, insert and go)
- Read and wrote at an acceptable speed (sorry, haven't done a speed test yet, although speed will vary depending on your computer, so not sure useful a speed test would be)
- Much faster than all USB 2.0 external hard disks I use
- It feels very solid -made of sturdy metal, not plastic like most
- It is super, super small
- I understand it is waterproof (not that I have tested this!)

<< CONS >>
Yes, there is a negative with this device. Sadly.

I was using it on a 2010 MacBook Pro notebook. When I first tried to insert the one my friend handed me, it was so hard to insert that I passed on using it. The first few attempts seemed to require so much force (relative to what is normal) that I thought it might damage the port. The friend assured me it is usually quite hard to insert, and to make sure it is "really" flat. So I tried again, with some hesitation. I took a close look whilst inserting it and noticed it was in fact slightly bending or flexing the little "tongue" inside the port. Essentially the device is a tiny bit too thick to fit comfortably into some (perhaps all) USB ports. Less than half a millimetre shaved off and it would fit okay, but as it is it did require a disconcerting amount of force. As far as I can tell the port is not damaged [[SEE UPDATE BELOW]]. The port is, however, noticeably loser when I insert other USB devices. Not so lose that it is an issue.

Other than this one flaw, this device is so handy I have purchased one myself.

Perhaps the only negative is that It is so small it would be very easy to lose. So I highly recommend putting it onto a chain or keyring.

I have searched on the internet for other tiny USB flash drives, and this is the best one I could find... so go for it!!

UPDATE: I have now received my own Pico-C flash drive. I have only tried inserting it into the same USB slot I had trouble inserting my friend's one into. It goes in easily enough, but that port has been altered & loosened. The USB port still works. Just slightly disconcerting when first using this device on a nice Macbook or other laptop. I have no hesitation recommending this product.

UPDATE - 17 Jul 2010: Okay. So today I inserted a USB cable to my video camera, into the port I've used this flash drive on. Well, the port is quite noticeably loser. The wire feels like it would easily slip out (and it does) if I move the laptop too suddenly. In the other ports the cable feels firmly in the port, gripping into it. So, using this tiny flash drive on my Macbook Pro has had some permanent impact. My recommendation? Use it on only ONE port and always on that port. Once the port is "damaged" to accomodate the slightly too thick design of the flash drive, it stays that way but does not appear to get worse (so far).

The other option is to buy a short USB extension (6 inch) such as this: 6 Inch Fully Rated USB Extension Cable A-A. I have now purchased one. I recommend getting this WITH your Pico-C drive. I would particularly recommend this if you have a Macbook Pro. It's a handy cable to have with a Macbook Pro anyway, because Apple in all its wisdom, has put the USB ports way too close together, which means that sometimes they can't all be used a once.
OR if you have the use for it, a mini hub might also do the trick - Belkin USB 2.0 4-Port Ultra Mini Hub F5U407
I see on a few other reviews people commenting that it has made their USB port loose. Not sure if they had Macbooks or something else.

UPDATE - 20 Oct 2010
Well, I have to recommend Macbook users DO NOT get this device. It has damaged the port I used it on (only plugged it in 3 or 4 times max). Anything else I now plug into that port easily comes out. The port is very loose. On 17 Jul I suggested getting a 6 inch extension to get around this issue. But really, this defeats the purpose of having such a tiny USB flash drive. I now lug around a 7 inch long USB flash drive.
I see other people have made a similar complaint, that either it simply won't insert into their port (I suspect it will if they force it, but not recommended) or that it takes force to insert it. I see at least some of those people are Mac users.

I have now reduced my rating to two starts. Down from four.

- Jonathan Evatt
International lecturer, Yoga & health mentor, and award-winning author of Peace, Power, and Presence: A guide to Self Empowerment, Inner Peace, and Spiritual Enlightenment

I've had mines since October 2008. It worked okay for a while (slower with bigger files), but I did have an incident where it corrupted my files. It was okay because I had them backed up & I just reformatted it & went on being careful not to put anything important on there. After 5 months it died on me. I have a lot of flash drives some have lasted me since 2001 & are still running. I would expect better performance & life expectancy for something that was indestructible.

USB drives are essentially commodities. You can often get a perfectly fine USB drive for free. It will do pretty much most of what you need. No complaints.

However - a USB drive is one more thing to keep track of. As a student, I have all my school files on one USB drive. This drive is often misplaced. Just as a favorite pen eventually gets misplaced and often lost, USB drives are likewise portable enough to "get legs". Furthermore, they're often left in the USB port. If said port is in a university PC lab, say goodbye to said USB drive.

The Pico's true value is in being both unobtrusive AND easy to "pair" with another indispensable accessory: your car keys. As a keychain, the Pico adds almost no additional bulk. It won't add an extra ring, or fray, or scratch your dash, or transform your keys from pocketable to unwieldy. Other USB drives can do these things.

Think of it as another key: house key + car key + LIFE key. Only the Pico drives have gotten small enough, and sturdy enough, to be comfortably added to your key set.

The metal case is confidence-inspiring, especially because the integral keyring loop is metal itself (it won't wear out before the drive does). Of course it will scratch, but nothing stays shiny forever.

As for performance, it works fine. I don't especially value super-fast transfer speeds. This one seems to do fine. In any case, transfer speeds don't matter if I don't have the drive with me in the first place.