Crucial Gizmo! 256MB USB Flash Drive Review

Viper Lair’s Hubert Wong reviews a 256MB USB Flash Drive from Crucial:

There is a three foot USB extension cable, as well as a strap for the flash drive. One end of the cable is used to install into your PC, and the Gizmo! plugs into the other end of the cable. This is handy if your PC is situated in such a way that plugging in the Gizmo! is inconvenient. To be honest, I find the cable to be a little short as my PC is located under my desk, and the cable barely reaches the back edge of my desk. The Gizmo! flash drive is the same size as the previous model, and weighs almost nothing. One thing I like is the location of the hole to loop the carry strap. Crucial puts this on the Gizmo!’s chassis, rather than on the cap so if you’re going to lose anything, it’ll only be the cap and not the drive.Talking with Crucial last year, one of the criticisms of the first Gizmo! was that it was only an USB 1.1 device. I had hoped that later versions would be USB 2.0, but alas, this incarnation is still based on the USB 1.1 interface. It will work in a USB 2.0 port, but not at USB 2.0 speeds.

. . . A couple of other areas where the Gizmo! shines is pricing and warranty. A lot of manufacturers offer up to one year of coverage, but Crucial’s warranty is lifetime. Considering the quality of their products, I doubt many would have to tap into the warranty, but it’s there. At about 66$ USD, it’s competitive with similar products, but has the software and warranty to go with it. If only it were a bit lot faster, we’d put our full support behind it.
Pros: Good warranty and price. Some security via software.
Cons: USB 1.1 makes it slow.
Bottom Line: It doesn’t have the storage capacity of writable CDs, but it’s easier to carry around, and will work in almost any PC with a USB port (OS dependent). If only it weren’t USB 1.1….

Viper Lair
Crucial Gizmo! 256MB USB Flash Drive