Posted By Laura in In the Home, Review, Technology for baffled parents | 1 comment

I would like to tell you how fabulous this little USB stick is. How fast it works, how sturdy it is.

But sadly I can’t.

Because I opened the pack, put it on my desk, and it disappeared. Quicker than you can say STICK it had vanished into the clutches of a grasping teenager.

“Oh aces, thanks Mum, I totally need this to get my I.T. in tomorrow”

And so it was gone.

Oh I have seen it again. When it has been dutifully cleaned and placed carefully onto my desk.

Briefly.

Until the 10yr old saw it and said

“Oh, aces, thanks Mum. I need to take my videos off the laptop, this’ll be way quicker than the wireless connection”

(HOW do 10yr olds know this stuff??)

And when he handed it back, No.1 son took it again, and then the photographer husband stole it from No.1’s bedroom to move some archived images about.

So I just went and rummaged and retrieved it for myself. And now I’m writing fast before it gets nicked again.

So. Bearing in mind this thing has been knocking around in a school bag and a 10yr old’s bedroom (and no doubt a studio floor) for a couple of weeks, I think we can answer the sturdy question. It is. Not a scratch is upon it. It’s about the size of a packet of chewing gum, and I really love the fact that the USB tip springs in and out, which totally removes the old lost-cap issue. I was a bit concerned that the end would fill with school bag crud, but it doesn’t seem to be the case (maybe my dire threats have gone some way to protecting it there though). It’s not flashy (ba-dum-tish) in its design, but it’s not silly either. It just does exactly what it needs to do. It doesn’t feel brilliantly sturdy, I’ll admit – it’s a le-e-e-tle bit plasticky. But then, at this price point you’re getting serious speed and storage, not prettified designs.

Because don’t get me wrong – this thing is FAST. Son No.1 transferred an entire I.T. project onto it inside 2 minutes. I know this, because it was the two minutes AFTER his need-to-leave-NOW-to-get-to-school-on-time last week (*grrrowl*). Apparently you need a USB 3.0 port to get that speed – USB 2.0 ports will work, but it’ll be like working through thick mud in comparison… I’m going on a geeky 13yr olds word, here, obviously. And really, what is my aged brain to argue with his superior knowledge?

I also like the fact that it comes pre-installed with SanDisk SecureAccess, a portable file encryption and cloud storage utility from YuuWaa. Most handy. If I were ever to, y’know, get to use it.

For the geeks among you, it has a 190MB/s read speed. No.1 son tells me this is about 600 x faster than the speediest USB 2.0 flash drives, and THAT’s why you should upgrade to USB 3.0 if you haven’t already (listen to him. The boy Knows Stuff).

Write speeds on the Extreme flash drives varies by model. For the 64GB version we have, it’s 170MB/s but the smallest 16GB model is only rated for 55MB/s (still double what you could expect from a traditional USB 2.0 drive).

So. It’s strong enough to withstand my brood, it works fast and reliably, and it looks cool enough for a 13yr old to wave around in front of his mates. It’s £52 for the whopping 64GB version, but to be honest, the 16GB is probably more than big enough for most domestic needs, and that’s under £17. Fabulous.

SanDisk Extreme® USB 3.0 Flash Drive available from Amazon amongst other places, from £17.