Kingston DataTraveler 100 - 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive DT100/16GB
by Kingston Digital
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Kingston DataTraveler 100 - 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive DT100/16GB
Customer Review: Well Made, Good Value, But a Little Slow...
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a nicely made flash drive with plenty of room for lots of big files. And, it is a good value for the money compared to other 16 GB flash drives. Also, I like the retractable USB connector - it slides in and out easily via a little tab on the side. And, once extracted, a little indent clicks in so that the connector will not be forced into the drive when the drive is inserted into a USB port.
On the negative side, it doesn't have an LED indicating read/write access. This is a minor issue to me, but thought it deserved mention. Another con, however, might be a bit more of an issue for some people. This flash drive is a bit slow compared to two others I have. I ran some simple benchmarks, copying files to this drive as well as two others: a 2 GB "no name" flash drive (drive "A" in the results below) I got for free at a computer store as a promo about a year ago, and a Lexar 256 MB drive (drive "B" below) that is a least two years old. I copied two sets of files as detailed below & timed the results with a stop watch. No other folders / files were on the drives when I copied the files. I conducted the tests twice on each drive - the times given are an average. (I did not conduct any read tests, just these write tests).
File set "1": 2 folders, 1 containing 192 files / 20 MB, the other 72 files / 8.63 MB
File set "2": 1 folder, containing 23 sub-folders w/ 495 files / 31.7 MB
And, the test results:
Drive "A" (No Name, 2 GB)
File set "1": 18 sec.
File set "2": 27 sec.
Drive "B" (Lexar, 256 MB)
File set "1": 26 sec.
File set "2": 50 sec.
This Kingston 16 GB drive
File set "1": 30 sec.
File set "2": 75 sec.
As the results of this admittedly fairly unscientific test show, this drive was the slowest of the bunch - almost twice as slow as the 2 GB drive for file set "1", and over twice as slow as the 256 MB drive on file set"2".
So, if speed is an issue for you, you may want to look elsewhere (and perhaps spend more money as a result). But, since I needed space over speed, and I wanted to spend as little as possible, I still gave this flash drive 4 stars.
Customer Review: Excellent value
Summary: 5 Stars
The Kingston DataTraveler 100 16GB Flash Drive is an excellent value.
Utility is the name of the game with flash drives. If you are concerned with how "fast" a flash drive writes, you might be better off focusing on far more expensive units. If you are simply interested in moving data to and from your flash drive, the Kingston offers excellent value. The five-year warranty is comforting, but you should always remember that the person who keeps only one copy of critical data is a fool. Always have one or more backups of your important data!
16GB is a huge amount of space for most people. I love the convenience carrying years worth of email and/or documents on a flash drive, though I do recommend that it be encrypted just in case you lose your flash drive.
I've tested mine with video on Windows XP and Vista systems and have had no difficulty with playback using various players. Music and audio files, likewise, have not been a problem.
Unit construction feels flimsy, but I haven't had a DataTraveler fall apart yet, though it feels like they could.
The one criticism I have is that the lanyard loop is recessed into the plastic shell, which makes using it with a keyring difficult. Not everyone wants to use it with a lanyard and Kingston seems oblivious to that. So, if you want to use this one on a keyring, you'll either wind up at the hardware store looking for a device to attach it with or using some strong fishing tackle to make a loop that can be attached to the keyring. A major design defect in my estimation, but it doesn't detract from the primary function of the unit.
Overall, an excellent value.
Jerry
Customer Review: Just wow.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was browsing through Amazon.com one day looking for USB flash drives, and was astonished at what I saw. A major-brand 16GB flash drive for $25? I simply couldn't believe my eyes, especially considering the fact that I've seen the same size drives go for $80 or $90. I received it as a Christmas gift this year (2008,) and it's got to be the best storage device I've ever had. I have been able to transfer tons of videos, programs, and music with no problems at all, and it's really nice to not have to worry about running out of space with most things I need to transfer. I'm unsure about older versions of this drive, but mine has a small LED that indicates when the drive is being read from/written to, which is a must, in my book.
I have very few gripes about this drive. Sure, it's not as fast as many smaller flash drives out there, but the capacity and the price more than make up for its speed. I don't even mind the tab that's used for extending the USB connector, as some people are concerned about. It seems solid and is designed with a low profile to minimize the possibility of accidentally opening the drive. I have a few SanDisk Cruzers that I wish were designed this way.
All in all, I recommend this flash drive to anyone who has the need for large mobile storage at a better-than-reasonable price. I'll probably buy a couple more of these sometime this year, as a matter of fact. The price and functionality cannot be beaten!
Customer Review: No cap to lose, but also comes with no goodies.
Summary: 4 Stars
Pros:
-Retractable connector/ no cap to lose!
-5 Year Warranty
-loop hole for attaching lanyard & possibly a keychain
-small, but not as small as my Sandisk Cruzer
Cons:
-No LED indicator (major grief for me)
-No extras (lanyard, software)
-Feels cheap
-decent read/write speed
-decent price (have found better after the fact)
You can find drives just as dependable and large for cheaper prices...shop around. You may think "geez, it's only $30 though." Well I just picked up another brand from another store for $15(with rebate).
I liked how the USB connector can remain hidden until pushed out (assuming the spring mechanism never fails).
It should be mentioned you really get no other goodies with this drive, including software for security or syncing, lanyards, key rings; so store it somewhere you won't lose it.
As stated on other reviews. The file system is FAT32. If you aren't using this drive for anything other than Windows XP and Vista, then re-format it to NTFS for faster file moving.
Sidenote: it will work as 4GBs for Windows Vista Readyboost...very nice!
Customer Review: Kingston 16gb DataTraveler
Summary: 4 Stars
Not too much to say as it is what is, a USB 2.0 flash drive. It works great, as do most other Kingston memory products I have used. Two things I would change (read - things I didn't like):
1)The LED that lets you know when the drive is in use is barely visible (partly from poor placement, and partly from being quite dim,) and only flashes when data is being transferred. It would be nice if the LED had a steady slow flash rate to acknowledge that is is connected to the computer...just in case you are having some sort of computer issue and need verification that it is connected (or was somehow disconnected,) then when transferring data it would switch to a rapid flash rate.
2) It would've been nice if the pocket in the top of the drive for attaching a lanyard (which was not included) were deeper. I happen to have a lanyard laying around from another drive and I struggled threading it through the pocket. A deeper pocket would've made the action much simpler.
Outside of these two things, I believe it to be an excellent product that I should have in service for many years. You can't go wrong with Kingston products!