Verbatim TUFF 'N' TINY 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive 97168 (Black)

by Verbatim

• Tiny, rugged USB drive measures 1.19 x 0.5 x 0.06 inch
• Resistant to dust, water and static discharges
• Compatible with Windows 7, Vista, XP or 2000, Mac OS 9.x or higher, Linux kernel 2.6x or higher
• Compatible with ALL USB ports
• Available in 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 GB capacities

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 0.1 x 1.2 inches ; 0.5 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B003DTLWHU
• Item model number: 97168
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (264 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #87 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Data Storage > USB Flash Drives
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 22, 2009

Product Description

Capacity: 16 GB | Color: Black

From the Manufacturer

Verbatim’s TUFF-‘N’-TINY™ USB drive offers secure storage in one of the most compact, durable USB flash drives available.  Resistant to everyday handling, dust, moisture and static discharges, Verbatim’s TUFF-’N’-TINY™ USB drive is small enough and tough enough to handle all the thrills and spills of modern life. Just drag and drop your folders and files...everything from presentations and documents to photos and video clips..  It’s compatible with Windows PCs and Macs and can be used with all USB ports. The TUFF-‘N’-TINY™ USB drive comes with key ring lanyard to attach to mobile phones or key rings.

Rugged design is water resistant. View larger

System in Package (SIP) technology enclosure resists dust and dirt. View larger

Features

Size: The TUFF-‘N’-TINY™ USB drive measures about 1 inch long, a half inch wide, and is about the thickness of a penny!

Durability: This drive is designed for the rigors of everyday use and is resistant to dust, water and static discharges.

Compatibility: Compatible with Windows PCs and Macs, this USB drive is also compatible with all USB connections.

Capacity: The TUFF-‘N’-TINY™ drive comes in 5 capacity sizes: 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB.

Attaches easily to a key ring or fits conveniently in your wallet. View larger

About Verbatim 

For 40 years, Verbatim has been providing technology you can trust with an impressive selection of removable storage media and computer peripherals, including a wide range of CD, DVD and High Definition video products. Verbatim also offers an array of lightning fast desktop and portable hard drives, USB flash drives, stylish, feature-rich mice and keyboards, and a broad range of replacement laser toner cartridges. Buy Verbatim and you get innovation, security, and reliability – and that means peace of mind.

Lifetime Warranty
Verbatim’s USB drives are fully backed by a Limited Lifetime Warranty. If you experience technical issues that out support team cannot resolve--rest assured we’ll replace the
drive! Verbatim stands behind the quality of our products--we’ve done so
for over 40 years!

A Greener Shade Of Blue

Consumers choose to spend their money in more eco-conscious ways, and Verbatim gives them the option to get high-tech without being highly wasteful. Verbatim’s new packaging for USB drives and Memory Cards is greener than ever. Our new package design reduces the amount of plastic used by up to 93.9% on Memory Cards and 90.9% on USB drives by substituting paperboard material for the plastic clamshell. Now, the only plastic part of our packaging surrounds the product, thus optimizing the use of renewable resources and keeping un-necessary plastic out of landfills.

Material Components
The paperboard structure is MWV Natralock™ material. This offers greater sustainability and also greater security and safety than a traditional clamshell package. A tear-resistant layer requires scissors to open but won’t cut the consumer with sharp edges.
These packages offer additional benefits that are a side-effect of going green. They are designed to withstand over 25-lbs. of downward pressure without tearing--which also ensures the packaging cannot be torn off a display hook. Verbatim used this redesign opportunity to eliminate the plastic case previously included with Memory Cards. Since most consumers discarded the case, all unnecessary elements have been eliminated.

More Green Packaging Benefits
Verbatim now adds an icon to packaging meeting our “More Green” standards; we want to highlight the environmental benefits of this new packaging structure to customers and the industry alike. Look for the “More Green” logo on Verbatim products as well as the specific benefits on the back.

• Plastic reduction up to 93.9%*
• Overall packaging weight reduction up to 54.7%
• Almost double the freight efficiency
• Material health increase of up to 274% (carcinogen material reduction by gram)
• Safer for consumers - No sharp edges!

*2009 COMPASS analysis of packaging material systems. Results differ by procut.

Product Description

Penny-thin, travel-tough and water-impermeable, the Verbatim TUFF-‘N'-TINY™ USB Drives offers secure storage in one of the most compact, durable USB flash drives in the world… and it fits in all standard USB ports! Designed for everyday handling and those not-so-everyday disasters, these drives resist dust, water and static discharges. The TUFF-‘N'-TINY™ offers password security for Windows users. Perfect for carrying the files you use every day, the TUFF-‘N'-TINY™ comes with a convenient lanyard for attaching it to your key ring.• Ultra reliable SIP (System in Package) technology encapsulates all electronic components • Capless USB connector resists water, dust, and static discharges • Compatible with ALL USB ports • Password security feature protects sensitive data. • Compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Mac OS 9.x, or higher, Linux kernel 2.6x or higher • Limited lifetime warranty

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

122 of 122 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tiny on the outside, big on the inside July 15, 2009

By Joey Day

Color Name:Purple| Size Name:8 GB|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've had my Verbatim Store 'n' Go Micro 8GB drive for over six months (I bought it before they renamed it TUFF 'N' TINY) and haven't had any problems with it. It has been a reliable, sturdy, and fast storage device, and looks great on my keychain. It's always fun when I plug it in someone else's computer and they go "What the heck is that?" "Did you say EIGHT gig?" "Must've been expensive!"

I was a little worried about buying from a brand name that is not necessarily trusted in the field of flash memory, but my fears were allayed when I plugged it in for the first time and it identified itself as a "Kingston Store 'n' Go", which leads me to believe this device is the product of some collaboration between Kingston and Verbatim, or is an entirely Kingston product that has simply been purchased and rebranded by Verbatim. Either way, I feel better about the device knowing Kingston's name is associated with it in some way.

Just for kicks, I recently ran my drive through its paces using the Xbench benchmarking program for Mac. It clocked at the following speeds:

-Sequential-
Uncached Write: 5.26 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write: 5.22 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read: 4.38 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read: 31.43 MB/sec [256K blocks]

-Random-
Uncached Write: 0.03 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write: 1.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read: 3.27 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read: 29.86 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Update: I've now had my Tuff 'n' Tiny for nearly a year and still continue to love every minute of owning it. It takes a licking and just keeps ticking. If I could add a sixth star to this review, I would.

Another update: Hm, it seems I spoke a little too soon.... After one year and one week, my 8GB Tuff 'n' Tiny has finally kicked the bucket. It has the same symptom many have described here--it just stopped being recognized by all my computers. It doesn't show up on the desktop when I plug it into my Mac; there's no dah-donk sound when I plug it into my Windows PC. I'm willing to concede, as others have suggested, that the super-thin Tuff 'n' Tiny may be more sensitive to static shock than other more well-shielded USB drives. However, given that mine lasted over a year with fairly heavy use, I feel like I did get my money's worth out of it, so I've gone ahead and purchased the newly released 16GB edition of the Tuff 'n' Tiny. If I don't have similar luck with the new one, I'll definitely consider docking some stars from my review and selecting a different brand and a larger more well-shielded form factor for my next USB drive. I'll keep you posted.

Yet another update: I've now had the 16GB model for over a year and it's been working great. (And now that I've updated this review, Murphy's Law states it will quit working in about a week. Haha, keep your fingers crossed for me!)

And as a bonus, here are benchmarks from Xbench for the 16GB model:

-Sequential-
Uncached Write: 8.99 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write: 8.29 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read: 4.51 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read: 20.02 MB/sec [256K blocks]

-Random-
Uncached Write: 0.18 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write: 0.97 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read: 3.19 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read: 18.73 MB/sec [256K blocks] Read more ›

72 of 73 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars It's dead Jim. February 20, 2010

By J. Settle

Color Name:Purple| Size Name:8 GB|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm afraid I have the same story as several of the reviews below. I've had the drive for a few months and now its dead. No activity when its plugged into several different computers. Disk Utilities on Windows, Mac and Linux don't even see the drive. It has become a tiny paperweight I'm afraid. Which is sad because if it had held up, I'd really have loved the thing. It's a great size and I like the SIP setup. I can actually stay on keychain. Of course, if its dead or I can't trust it to not make data disappear what good is is?

Edit - June 20, 2011:

I suppose that since my review is now one of the most helpful I should update it to tell where the story went from here. After the frustration of the first drive dropping dead, I read through the reviews here which noted it had a lifetime warranty. So I emailed Verbatim and got a RMA email. I taped this drive to the letter and mailed it off. A few weeks later I received a brand new drive. It has been on my keychain since without issues. This one has held up fine and actually serves as a copy of my "off-site backup" holding an encrypted copy of my documents and such. It is also good enough for the occasional "let me grab that file from you and take it with".

However, given the issues I had with the first one dropping dead without warning I do make sure that everything on the drive is also stored somewhere else. It is the ultimate in convenience since it weighs next to nothing and there's nothing to break. However, I wouldn't put the only copy of a thesis on this or something. Make sure that if you get one and it stops working it is only a "oh darn" type situation and not a disaster.

I've updated the review to 3 stars (since the first drive was a 1-star and its replacement is a 5-star).... Again, I wouldn't trust the device to be bulletproof with data but we've been dealing with that issue since the days of floppies. I think this is a worthy drive if you're careful. I wish I had the 32-gig instead of the 8 but you know how that goes.

Edit - July 10, 2012:

So while the 8 Gig Purple drive still has a place on my keychain and still works (I just had it plugged in), I've also added the red 32 Gig model. Since taking up photography I've needed to have more space for my "emergency, if all else fails" backup and the red drive has filled in that role. The purple drive still has a place on the keychain however since the red drive is encrypted. The little 8 gig moves files around and is handy and the red drive is there just in case all of my other backups fail. Both seem to be working fine so as I said in my last update it really seems to vary if these drives last or not. They still do not hold the ONLY copies of any of my data, but are tiny and convenient and as long as they work they're great. Read more ›

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Should have listened to the negative reviews March 17, 2010

By ninja crepes

Color Name:Purple| Size Name:8 GB|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really should have listened to the negative reviews.

I work on both a Mac and a PC (windows nt & vista). It's 6am and I've spent a few minutes getting about 2Gb of documents together to work on at the office on my pc and was MID transfer when the tuff-n-tiny suddenly ejected itself.

This has absolutely never happened to me before. No, it didn't get jostled, there wasn't an earthquake, the flash drive was in my laptop and I was looking at the transfer progress waiting for the estimated time to process. everything was absolutely still--and voila, self eject complete with warning message that a device had been improperly removed.

I then actually removed the drive from the computer, reinserted it now I get the error message 'The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer'.

I've had it opened and out of the package for all of 10 minutes. And already-a major issue.

update--thought i'd reformat the drive on my PC at work...no dice. the laptop doesn't even register that there's a device in the drive.

Verbatim's getting a call from me then the damn thing's going back to the seller/Amazon.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars High Failure Rate December 17, 2009

By Scott

Color Name:Green| Size Name:4 GB|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really like how small the Tuff N Tiny is; I keep it on my keychain and really like it. Unfortunately, it's not very reliable. My first one failed after 6 weeks. It completely died. Verbatim sent me a replacement and that one failed after a few weeks. The Verbatim replacement process was pretty good. I called up and after some verifying that it was dead, they gave me an RMA # and I sent it back. They sent a replacement about a week later.