Kingston's Datatraveler is no flash in the pan

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Manufacturer: Kingston Technology
Price: $95 (Go here to compare prices)
Requirements: Windows OSes, Mac OS 9.0-9.2.2 or Mac OS X 10.1 and greater
Web Site: WWW.KINGSTON.COM

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THESE SMALL USB memory drives that use Flash memory are beginning to get very interesting. Last week we wrote about a 1GB module that allows you to boot your PC, and we've just had a chance to look at a range recently introduced by Kingston Technology - the Data Traveler.

The Kingston Data Travelers were introduced last month and are supplied in 32MB, 64MB, 128MB and 256MB sizes. The units come in a metal casing measuring 2.9-inch by 0.94-inches, include a write/read lock, a USB extension cable, a small manual, a cord so you don't lose the thing, and a built-in LED that shows you drive activity.

There's also a CD supplied for Windows 98 - the other operating systems supported will recognise the drive when it's plugged in automatically.

There isn't a great deal to say about these drives except that they're incredibly useful. Say, for example, you have to travel from place to place and do company presentations or show off brochures. Rather than lugging your notebook around, you can place your presentation on a drive like this, and provided that your customer has a machine that supports the software and has a USB socket, you can just simply plug the unit into a machine on site.

There's still a lot of notebook theft going on - you can hang this device round your neck, and travel light on our fabulous non-air-conditioned 98° Fahrenheit London Underground, with the only sweat being the normal kind of perspiration.

Also, for old-timers like yours truly, the kind of capacities these Flash drives are sporting are really rather staggering. It wasn't that long ago that you'd really need to save up for a 256MB hard drive. OK, it was quite a long time ago, but you know what we mean.

What's more, these USB Flash drives are getting cheaper and cheaper, and Kingston promises it will have bigger capacities than 256MB available during the course of this year.

They've started to get so inexpensive, indeed, that some IT companies have started supplying give-away drives to hacks with press releases, PDFs and photos on board. Once you've finished with the hackellateral, you can wipe them and use them as you like. Nice stuff indeed. µ

See Also
Firm intros bootable baby 1GB USB memory stick
Sandisk releases mini USB flash drives
Crucial USB flash reader fixes tangle wire nightmare