SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive SDCZ7-4096-A10
by SanDisk
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive SDCZ7-4096-A10
Customer Review: As good as I'd anticipated, and more!
Summary: 5 Stars
I already had the older, plastic SanDisk Cruzer 4GB and was fairly happy with it, except for one thing: the plastic casing is kind of flimsy.
The regular Cruzer tends to flex quite a bit, and given that I keep it on my keychain, I had to be very cautious about the way I handle my keys. The only reason I didn't buy the Ti version was because they only made it up to the 2GB model.
As soon as they came out with the 4GB, I jumped on it. This thing is fantastic! I've accidentally flung the thing onto a marble floor and on cement a few times and it keeps on ticking. It's not just an aesthetic, it really is durable (albeit not literally bullet-proof like ones I've seen...).
I've had no glitches (despite the drops), and the U3 software that comes with it is great. I use Carry It Easy, which lets me synch my files between my work machine and my personal machine, which makes ensuring I have the most current files a very simple and quick button click away (although you can also automate it).
Without the U3 software, in previous flash drives I've owned, I've had to manually copy and paste files, which can become daunting quickly when the drives began to rise above 1GB in capacity.
Now, with the U3 software, it's a simple process, files are encrypted and password protected, both by the Carry-It-Easy software as well as the U3 "OS" -- the files are well-protected physically as well, with the metallic case.
It's the best 4GB flash drive out there. The only thing that could replace it would be a larger capacity model in the same exact casing!
Customer Review: Excellent product, even better support
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this drive over a year ago. It worked flawlessly for about 4 months, until I decided to take it for a swim. It was my own dumb fault for not taking it out of my pocket, but nonetheless I did it.
I sent these types of things through the laundry before and they still worked. I didn't think much of it until I plugged into a computer and the light was kind of dim and the bright, then dim, then off. I don't think it had enought time to dry and was still a little wet inside the case. So now I have a dead drive with abour 2GB worth of school stuff on it.
I called SanDisk and told them drive stopped working. They had me do some trouble shooting, then decided it was dead. I went through the warranty process which required proof of purchase (Thank God I still had my e-mail receipt from Amazon!). i also had to describe th packaging it arrived in. I think the reason they though it was a con was because I bought this drive for about $40 when they were still selling in stores for around $80 or more. Once I was to finally assure them it was brand new in the packing they proceeded with the warranty process. I got a new drive in about 5 days and shipped the old one back. my new drive has worked flawlessly since then and has stayed dry.
Since it is a U3 drive, the U3 software does not work with Vista and I always get a prompt to scan the drive or continue. I always continue without scanning. There are no problems with it.
I hihgly recommend this drive. It's fast, reliable, and the support is top notch.
Customer Review: Portable and Indestructible
Summary: 5 Stars
The best USB thumb drive I've owned. Enough memory to meet my needs. I'll probably buy another.
Pros:
- U3: could live without it but having Skype, Firefox (and Favorites), FileZilla, OpenOffice, Yahoo IM etc. configured and ready to go on any Windows PC I pop this into is a "nice to have".
- Plenty of memory for quickly moving big files like movies from laptop to laptop.
- Enough extra memory to install an entire Linux OS installation (I use PuppyLinux) on its own partition. I can boot from this Linux partition right into PuppyLinux and have both an entirely secure OS (firewall and all) and all my apps (OpenOffice, GIMP, Skype, Firefox, Thunderbird, Yahoo IM) favorites, IDs/passwords ready to go. Really pretty amazing.
- I've broken a few of these plastic USB drives so the titanium shell is really appreciated. But, I've lost a lot of those removable caps so the absence of a cap and the retractability is really well done.
Booting these thumb drives to your own custom Linux installation on a random or unknown PC is the best alternative for travellers who rely on various PCs as they move around.
In my opinion, it's the only secure solution short of carrying your own laptop. I like this alternative for banking etc. while on the road. I simply don't trust others to keep their PCs clean of malware or key loggers so I'm hesitant to use friends/public PCs for anything important that would demand a secure solution.
Customer Review: Using the Cruzer on a Mac
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the second Cruzer I have bought. I use the first one to transfer files between Macs, but also between Macs and PCs. As such, I left the flash drive formatted as FAT32. Unfortunately, this imposes a substantial speed penalty when transferring Mac files. The data transfer rate remains the same as when working with a PC, but there is a substantial overhead for each and every file transferred. This is not much of a penalty if you are transferring a few very large files, but really shows if you have a folder or package with hundreds of small files.
I bought the second Cruzer so that I could format it as HFS Extended.
The flash drive comes with U3 software pre-installed. This software may be great for PC users, but it is a nuisance and takes up space if you are just using the drive to transfer files. Getting rid of U3 is pretty difficult as it is in a locked partition, that it seems can only be removed by running the U3 uninstaller. Running the Mac Disk Utility to erase the drive did not get rid of it!! If you want to get the most use out of this on the Mac, then you need to be able to run Windows on your Intel Mac or get to a PC and do the uninstall there.
The slide-out design with no need for a cap is the real winner for this drive, together with excellent quality and reliability.
One small complaint on this version is that it did not come with a lanyard, which I found penny pinching and annoying.
Customer Review: Beware of U3 virus software
Summary: 1 Stars
The hardware is impressive, but unfortunately it ships with the U3 virus software. I'm a software engineer by trade, and I'm amazed that Sandisk includes U3. When you insert the USB stick into a new computer for the first time, Windows will pop up a notice saying that's installing the U3 virus. Guess what happens when you give this USB stick to your boss to transfer some files? After he plugs it in, he yells at you, saying he doesn't want any damn software installed on his laptop. Telling him it's the U3 virus doesn't make it any easier.
Also, when you plug it into a Windows machine, two drives show up. This is due to the U3 virus trying to do auto-run. I tried to plug the USB stick into a photo kiosk at my local drug store to upload some photos. Because the first drive is empty (out of the two that show up), the photo kiosk will say there is nothing on the stick. Good job there, U3 virus.
Finally, I got so sick of the U3 virus, I ran the "uninstall" feature, which presented me with two options. The first option said it would take 99 minutes to complete. The second option said it would delete the U3 partition, which I believed referred to the first partition I mentioned in the above paragraph. I chose this second option, and it deleted everything off my USB stick. Then I had to pay $150 to have my data recovered.
Do not tolerate the U3 virus. Delete it immediately, or perhaps get a USB stick from another company.