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270 of 282 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Small File Writes are Painfully Slow, October 10, 2007
After opening the package, I popped my DTI/4GB into a USB port and copied a number of relatively small files to it (310 files totalling 5.1 mb). It took a full 2 minutes (that's 44 kBps), which was slow enough to convince me I'd gotten a lemon (I copied the same files to my old Sandisk Cruzer 1 gb in 20 seconds). After a couple emails to tech support, Kingston advised me to return it for a new one.
The new one arrived quickly, but performed identically to the old one. For kicks, I installed Sandra 2008 and benchmarked the device's performance. I found that, for small files (512 B), the transfer rate was barely 1 kBps. I contacted Kingston support again, this time providing more details about my testing and the benchmark results I'd gotten out of Sandra. The tech confirmed that this is a low-end device, that the slowness I was experiencing was normal, and that I probably should have sprung for something in their DTS line (too rich for my blood).
Now the good news. If you don't tend to copy a lot of small files, you'll probably be perfectly happy with this device. Once the file size gets to about 256 kb, writes to this drive speed up nicely. Reads are always fast. And tech support was exemplary. My only other complaint would be that the cheap plastic case does not inspire confidence.
No matter how you look at it, however, this is not a 5-star item by any stretch of the imagination. Not even for the money.
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89 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kingston 8GB Data Traveler - Good USB Drive with Nice Capacity, April 13, 2008
Kingston 8GB DataTraveler USB flash drive - High Speed USB
In terms of meeting it's function, this Kingston Data Traveler seems very good so far, certainly as good as the other smaller capacity ones I own. And the 8 GB capacity on this guy makes it very useful for a lot of large file backups or USB storage and transfer. There are a few things to keep in mind but overall this is a solid product.
Pros:
+ Kingston brand is well deserved
+ Reliable performance
+ Nice capacity of 8 GB has you future proofed as smaller USB drives start to disappear
+ 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)
+ Very light
+ Rear bar to connect a lanyard or keychain
+ USB 2.0 connection is backwards compatible for older computers
+ Very quickly mounts and stops
+ Less scum-ware and needless apps than some other drives
+ Easy to format and enable encryption to protect your data
Cons:
- Cap comes off easily and can be lost; inferior to retractable designs
- Lanyard or extender accessories not included
- Doesn't have the good looks of some drives like the Sandisk Cruzer Micro
- Still somewhat slow speed in copying large files, limited by USB transfer rate
- Same old body is larger than it has to be
- Keychain / lanyard attachment bar is too easily broken
- Pricing here doesn't change to reflect when this item goes on sale elsewhere
This is the same design that Kingston has used for these Data Traveler USB drives since the 1 GB I got quite a while ago.
Transfer speeds are comparable to other drives, but still slower than one would like. Load ups are fast and stops are only a little slower.
In order to enable encryption, there are a few ways but the best may be to use another tool to encrypt the drive after re-formatting it. This way you can test the drive as well as use the encryption you prefer.
The main real competition is from Sandisk, whose Cruzer Micro has a tab to retract the USB connector SanDisk 8 GB Cruzer Micro USB 2.0 Drive with U3 SDCZ6-8192-A11 (retail packaging). That way there's no risk of losing the cap, but there is more chance of getting dust in it. It is more expensive though.
Kingston produces some retractable ones as well.
Kingston DataTraveler 100 - USB flash drive - 8 GB - Hi-Speed USB - black
Kingston DT100/8GB Data Traveler 100 8 GB USB 2.0 Drive
Conclusion
This is a nice capacity in a small USB drive. Just watch the price and make sure you're getting it on par with prevailing prices
Enjoy!
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152 of 162 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exactly what I wanted, November 21, 2007
This thumb drive is exactly what I wanted. Cheap, reliable, and without some kind of vendor supplied crapware that automatically runs when you insert the drive.
I use truecrypt for creating/using an encrypted partition. Works fine, but one word of warning. Format the encrypted partition as FAT. An NTFS partition running on a thumb drive can have dismount issues. Eventually, those issues will trash the partition.
I've run this drive for a month now and it has been fine even though it bangs around in a pocket with phone, knife, change, etc. A corsair drive failed after a few days of this treatment.
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