LaCie iamaKey 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive 130870
by Lacie
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List Price: Our Price: $22.95 You Save: $19.04 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of LaCie iamaKey 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive 130870
Customer Review: Looks nice, sturdy, but horrible write speeds.
Summary: 2 Stars
I have the 8GB iamakey, I keep it in a keyring with 6 other common door lock keys and a Leatherman Micra, it is very well built, looks great, and everybody loves it for the looks. And because to the usage and environment, I can warrant that it is sturdy and with rock solid mechanics.
However, this thing is SLOW... VERY, ABSURDLY AND INCREDIBLE SLOW. I have had it for three months now, and since day one, and straight out of the package, it writes at an average of about 490KB/s... Yes, that's right 490 KILOBYTES PER SECOND. I believe my parallel Zip Drive of the nineties was faster!!! I have tried different operating systems and filesystems, nothing changes.
Sometimes it has bursts of about 12MB/s, but that's very rare, like at the beginning of a copy or at the end of the transaction. I use it only to carry installers and utilities when somebody else asks me to check their computers, or if somebody wants an ISO of a Linux distribution. Read speeds seems acceptable at 20MB/s.
But, be warned. For copying large files, forget it, unless you are OK with waiting a couple of hours for multi gigabyte files to be copied.
I'm now looking for a practical flash drive that allows me to copy big files quickly, and I will keep this one as a over glorified keyring attachment. I would like to receive a new one that works as expected in this day and age, but I have read in these comments that Lacie has a disastrous customer support service. I won't even try.
Two stars for the looks and sturdiness. Minus three stars because I don't consider this a decent flash drive, just a cool thing that connects to computers and happens to hold data that some *very* patient guy copied over the night.
Customer Review: LaCie's newest USB flash drive disguises itself as a key
Summary: 5 Stars
In what may be the slickest design for a USB thumb drive yet, LaCie's iamaKey brings 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB of storage to a drive no thicker than your house key. Measuring just over two inches in length, this little guy features USB 2.0 transfer speeds, PC and Mac compatibility, and the ability to blend right in with the other keys on your key ring.
The first thing you notice when you pick up the iamaKey is the build quality. The device feels rock solid. Its simple construction is also quite beautiful. No plastic, no blinking LED's, just a thin metal casing adorned with a lightly imprinted company logo. The connector end is about half the size of a standard USB cable. These new thin connectors do away with the metal casing surrounding the USB contacts. It is best illustrated by the profile photo I posted in the images section. As far as performance goes, I was able to transfer 1GB of files from a LaCie 1TB external hard drive in about three minutes. This time was about one minute faster than it took to transfer the same files to the old SanDisk drive it was replacing. Another great thing about this drive is how small the connector end is. I was able to plug it into my MacBook Pro along side all the other USB cables. This is something I could not do with my previous USB drive because it was wider than a normal USB cable. With savings of time and space, what more can you ask for?
If you are looking for a stylish device to replace your old, boring USB flash drive (or a great stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday season), look no further. At a price that will not break the bank, this smart little device is one of the best USB drives I have had the pleasure of reviewing.
Customer Review: Finally, a flash drive I won't lose!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've stopped counting the number of flash drives I've lost, because they break off my keychain. I looked around forever for a drive with a sturdy way to attach it to a keyring, since the plastic you see on most drives is bound to break, in time. Finally, I saw this little guy. I was worried initially that it, too, was plastic, but it's not. It's also thinner than I was expecting; it's about half the thickness of a standard usb plug, since it eliminates the piece that goes around the actual usb connection. All in all, if you glanced quickly at my keys, you wouldn't know there was a flash drive on there.
I use the drive to move small files back and forth, mostly for work and school, so I don't have any complaints about the write speed. If I was moving lots of multimedia, it might be a different story. If this drive dies, I'll buy another just like it, because I know I won't run the risk of losing my data by actual physical loss, which in my experience is far more likely than loss due to failure. And, of course, I back up my data in more than one place.
I love this thing. My only complaint about the design is the small clear plastic cap that fits over the end: that fell off and got lost by the end of the first day, and believe me, friend, your experience will be no different. Losing the cap was almost a relief, since it was a pain to remove and replace, anyway. The contacts on the drive are well constructed, so I'm not really worried about damage to the contacts or to the drive, without the cap.
Yes, it costs more than other flash drives of the same size. But it's cool looking, well constructed, and you won't lose it!
Customer Review: OK when it worked.
Summary: 2 Stars
I was a big fan of Lacie, not because they make quality/dependable hard drives like Western Digital, but because it looked really cool.
You cannot purchase a hard drive on looks because they hold your life! Photos, movies, documents, Hard Drives are made to be there when you need it, you can't go and spend money on something that wont work when it holds such importance. I however did not think it through. At my young age of 23, I was able to live through the dreaded Maxtor years. They made hard drives cheap, we (my parents) bought them. Unfortunately they did not work after a few months, people lost everything and swore off Maxtor and chose to shell over the cash to purchase the ever so dependable Western Digital. Years have passed since then and I assumed all hard drives are dependable. I was wrong. I purchased both the ImaKey and a Black Lacie 1tb Hard drive with a sweet blue light. The Imakey died after about 7 months. I'm too scared to use my 1tb Lacie because it may go and I am not ready to lose all my files.
Be warned, don't purchase a hard drive because of the "cool" factor. I won't do that again. Granted it was extremely cool when I had it and I received numerous compliments.
The transfer speed was ridiculously slow. For 8gb, the time it would take to fill it was preposterous. My other hard drives are dependable and a lot faster. I don't care to get compliments from a flash drive, I'll get a regular one that works from here on in.
How shallow and vane I was...
Customer Review: Cool but... Dead in 6 months - LaCie won't honor warranty
Summary: 2 Stars
While this drive is very cool (albeit slow as everyone else has pointed out), it's completely worthless when it dies within 6 months (purchased June 18). I've seen several other posts here of the same issue: just decides one day to never mount again. And even though there is a 2-year warranty, LaCie doesn't want to honor it because I can't provide a serial number.
For what it's worth, there is NO serial number on the key itself. Apparently the S/N was on the disposable packaging, which as you may guess, was thrown away back in June.
So, for a product that has a 2 year warranty, and has only been on the market for 6-9 months (so there's NO WAY ANY OF THEM could be out of warranty), and that I have a receipt for, LaCie still won't honor their warranty (at least so far). I'll edit this review if in fact they do decide to honor the warranty, but this loophole/runaround is inexcusable and I'd avoid this purchase again because of it.
UPDATE - FEB 2010
Finally after about 3 weeks of arguing, LaCie agreed to let me send it back so they could "look" at it. On January 5th I received a new, in package, 8GB key.
While I'm happy I finally got resolution, I'm not happy with the experience, and I can say that even today (Feb 20th) I still haven't used the key. I simply feel less than overwhelemed with it now. But you can bet that I didn't throw the packaging away this time! Just in case.