Flash comes Cheap

I was standing in line at a department store the other day waiting to check out.  They stick such cool stuff right there at the check out counter don't they?  Magazines devoted to the inner lives of celebrities we'll never meet and I don't care about, Hannah Montana suckers and toys so that your kids throw a fit, and 99 cent bags of chips.  Oh, and those lovely little energy shots.  As I'm eyeballing it all trying to figure out what to blow my money on, I saw a flash drive.  It was a little flat black 1GB made by iLogic.  It was only $9.92, so I snatched it up.  Why do they do that?  Why not just make it a full $10.00?  Oh well, that's a rant better reserved for the blog I guess.

So I get home with this little goober and spend ten minutes trying to pry it out of that ridiculous blister packaging.  I finally got it out and looked it over.  Nothing special, just a little gig flash drive with iLogic written in white down the side.  I know what you're thinking; why only a 1GB?  Because it was there, that's why.  They didn't have any 4GB or 8GB sitting there.  Just this one.  That's why. 

So I was sitting there looking at it, thinking that I just wasted ten bucks on something that I'll probably only use a few times then it'll end up in the Criss Angel glass I got from Vegas with the rest of my tiny computer components.  But then I had an epiphany.  What better way to transfer video files and stuff to my work computer than to use a flash drive that was too small to hold a bootleg copy of Spore?  Most of my flash drives are filled to the brim with stuff that I use on the fly, so I reserved this one as my emergency transfer drive.  And with that use established, I figured I would write a review on it.  So I plugged it in and started HDTach to see what it was capable of.

I'm testing this on my laptop PC, which is equipped with a 1.4Ghz processor, a 160GB Seagate HD, and 1GB of system memory.  On the quick benchmark I was getting typical speeds.  With an average of 14.3Mbs and holding steady as a rock.  But it's during the long bench testing that USB 2.0 shows its true colors.  Many people prefer USB over Firewire because it's supposed to be faster.  That is true, in a sense.  USB 2.0 is rated at 480Mbs, but only reaches those speeds in bursts.  It sends data in short spurts, effectively slowing the transfer rate.  So let's see how it did in the long bench.

iLogic vs Kingston DataTraveler	iLogic vs Plextor PlexFlash
Long Bench Results	Quick Bench Results

Even on Long Bench testing I still got the same numbers.  Data transfer isn't all that quick on this particular flash drive, but compared to the Kingston DataTraveler and the Plextor PlexFlash it did pretty damned good.  So I searched through my laptop for a file that was large enough to transfer onto the drive for timed results.  Using a 700Mb video file I proceeded to send it to the iLogic for a timed test.  It took approximately 1 minute and 46 seconds to fully transfer the file. 

My conclusion is that for emergency backup for smaller files, this little sucker could come in handy.  It has a limited storage capability, but I have found great use in it when it comes to transferring files to my desktop, such as pictures I have been working on or the like.  And at the very least, you could load the damned thing up with pics and video of your family and mail it to your dear old Granny.  It's the gift that keeps on getting reloaded.

	REPORT CARD : iLogic 1GB Flash Drive category rating comments Quality 3 Has a non-slip rubberized coating, but lacks that extra padding for fall protection. Innovation 2 By today's standards, very limited.  But great for quick files to be transferred for on the go. Performance 3 It gets the job done, but at a slower rate than some.  Aesthetics 5 I'm always going to give flat black my love.  It's the way to go. Value 4 It's only $10... good enough for a stocking stuffer   FINAL VERDICT: 3 out of 5 stars

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