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SanDisk Cruzer Titanium U3 USB Flash Drive

Author Benny Har-Even
Published 3rd Oct 2006
Manufacturer SanDisk
Price £36.08 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed £42.39 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price Click here
Features Score 10 for Features
Performance Score 9 for Performance
Value Score 10 for Value
Overall Score 10 for Overall
SanDisk Cruzer Titanium U3 USB Flash Drive
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No such worries with the Cruzer though as the USB plug slides in and out via a plastic switch in the centre. A small ring is located on one corner so you can attach it to a key-ring, although this seems a tad flimsy. Alternatively, a slide on clip is provided so you can have it clipped to a jacket pocket. Another option is the lanyard chain provided. When you plug it in, a light underneath the plastic slider switch illuminates – naturally this is blue, and this flickers when there’s disc activity.


Copying a 351MB single file over from a local hard disk to the drive only took 28.5 seconds, giving a data rate of 12.31MB/s – not far off the quotes “lightening fast” 15MB/s boasted off on the package. With a larger 699MB file this actually dropped to 11.65MB/s, taking exactly one minute. We then tried a very demanding transfer of 767MB of images – lots of relatively small files and here the figure dropped down to 7.03MB/s (1m 49 seconds). Still it’s a lot faster than any of the Microdrive based portable hard disks I’ve tested, though of course those tend to be around 8GB in capacity. The read speeds from the drive of the same mixed files was a lot higher at 11.82MB/s and 13.7MB/s for the 699MB file.

If the 2GB drive isn’t big enough, Sandisk does offer a 4GB version, though at the time of writing it had yet to appear on the supplier’s web site. In the mean time though the prices for the 2GB and 1GB are simply amazing. MyMemory claims it has a 30 per cent off offer and the price of £42.39 including VAT for the 2GB drive is eye wateringly low. The 1GB costs a paltry £17.99.


You can get a non U3 enabled from for around £10 less, but with 2GB to play with at such a bargain price you might as well buy a U3 enabled drive even if you don’t think that you’ll need it to start with, as at least it gives you the option in the future.

Verdict

The U3 enabled Sandisk Cruzer Titanium, is compact, rugged, fast and very affordable. As such, there’s really nothing here to find fault with and as such this comes highly recommended.

 

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