Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive Review

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Corsair has kindly sent us their new 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive for review.

Company information: 

Below is a profile of Corsair that you can also find on their website.

Corporate Information:

 

Products to Meet the Demands of Performance Computing

Corsair has been a leader in the design and manufacture of high-speed modules since 1994. Our focus has always been on supporting the special demands of mission-critical servers and high-end workstations, as well as the performance demands of extreme gamers. While maintaining this core focus, in recent years, we've also brought our expertise, technology leadership and legendary quality and reliability to memory and other technology products for the more mainstream consumer.

Memory That Meets The Toughest Demands

As a pioneer in high-speed module design, Corsair is a trusted supplier to many computer manufacturers. In high-density memory solutions, Corsair has always been one of the first suppliers to achieve advanced qualifications on Intel, Tyan and SuperMicro server platforms. We also work closely with other major server platform manufacturers to release product that is 100% compatible with their latest server products.

What Sets Corsair Apart?

With more high-speed experience than anyone in the industry, we know the importance of design features like tightly-controlled trace lengths, controlled impedances, clock trace design, unbroken power and ground planes, and selectively plated gold. Corsair Memory has developed an industry-wide reputation for quality, compatibility and performance.

Performance Memory For Enthusiasts

Our flagship memory products are the DOMINATOR™ line of performance memory, which is designed for the unique demands of the serious enthusiast community. Featuring patent-pending Dual-path Heat Exchange (DHX) technology, the DOMINATOR family maximizes on performance, minimizes on heat, all the while running with heighten reliability and stability. The DOMINATOR line has set world performance records and won numerous awards. Corsair’s mainstream performance memory solutions are the XMS family. The XMS family includes XMS2 DHX, featuring innovative DHX technology now in the mainstream; XMS Xpert, the first modules with real-time display of parametric data; XMS Pro Series, gaming memory with real-time activity LEDs; and XMS2, high-performance DDR2 modules with black heat spreaders. The XMS Family also includes DDR1 solutions in XMS, available in either black or platinum heat spreaders.

Our ValueSelect memory brings our quality and compatibility standards to cost-effective products for today's most popular desktops and laptops. Value Select is available in DDR1 and DDR2.

We also offer a large range of ultra-reliable server memory for mission-critical servers and high-performance clusters.

Flash Memory, Liquid Cooling and Power Supplies

Corsair has expanded beyond memory modules to offer performance liquid cooling units and blocks under our Corsair Nautilus brand and power supplies under our HX Series brand.

In addition, we offer a line of specialty Flash memory. From our ultra-rugged Flash Survivor™ family to the multi-award winning durable Flash Voyager™ family, Corsair has quickly established itself as an industry leader for USB drives. Our full range of Flash SD cards offer a reliable performance in many capacities for a wide variety of consumer electronic devices.

On the next page we will take a look at the Drive Features..

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Drive Features:

The specifications of the Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive were found at the Corsair website.

Features

•          Auto-Locking – Self locking after removal from computer

•          Customizable PIN – Set your own PIN and make it easy to remember

•          Easy to Use – Direct keypad access and indicator lights make locking/unlocking simple

•          Plug-&-Play with any USB 2.0 certified peripheral computer port (backward compatible with USB 1.1)

•          Plug and Play – Hardware based security works without installing or running software

•          Platform independent – Works on Windows, MAC and Linux platforms without the use of software

•          Corsair 10 year Limited Warranty

On the next page we will take a look What's inside the Package

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What’s inside the Package?

On this page we will take a look at what the Flash Padlock Drive came shipped with and take a look at the drive itself.

Front of Package

Back Of Package

Package contents

The drive was supplied with a USB extension cable (female to male), lanyard and quick start guide.

Test machine:

For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:

Hardware:

•         Motherboard: Asus P5K Deluxe

•         Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.7GHz

•         RAM: 2x 1GB Patriot PC2-6400 DDR2

•         Graphics Card: eVGA  7900GT 512 KO with Zalman vf900 @ 650/1600

•         Sound: SoundMAX Digital HD Audio Onboard

•         Hard disk: 2x 320GB – 1x 750GB SATA Seagate

•         Operating System: Windows XP Professional with SP2

Set-up:

First we will need to setup a combination for our Flash Padlock Drive; the procedure is outlined in our quick start guide so we will not go over it in detail in this review.

The procedure to access the drive once it has been programmed and locked is very simple, first we press the “key” button and the red “locked” light will flash, then we enter our “code” and press the “key” button once again. The “Unlocked” green light will now light up indicating the drive is unlocked and ready to use.

If you choose not to setup a security code the drive works like any other flash drive and you can start using the drive immediately.

The Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive was plugged into to a USB 2.0 port. Windows XP immediately recognized the drive and installed it ready to use within seconds.

  Device Manager

   

My Computer

Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive Properties

Software set-up    

Windows XP Professional is installed on the computer along with Service Pack 2 for Windows XP.

No drive software was required for this configuration.

We will be using the following software in this review:

•          Sisoftware Sandra 2007

•          HD Tach

On the next page we will take a look at performance.

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Performance:  

On this page we will take a look at the drive’s performance compared to other High speed USB 2.0 Removable drives.

The USB capabilities of the Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive are as follows: High speed USB 2.0/USB 1.1 compatible.

HD Tach and Sisoftware Sandra 2007 benchmarking utilities will be used for the performance tests.

For these tests, Write caching was set to Optimize for quick removal. However it is recommended to read the safe removal notes under the options.

Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive write caching options

HD Tach RW:

Options selected for first HD Tach test

Benchmark results

HD Tach results (8Mb zones)

•          Random access = 1.1ms

•          CPU utilization  = 6% +/-2%

•          Average read = 28.5 MB/s

•          Burst Speed = 29.3.0 MB/s

For comparison we have made the following table: 

Second Test

Options selected for second HD Tach test

Benchmark results

HD Tach test 2 results (32Mb zones)

•          Random access = 0.7ms

•          CPU utilization  = 2% +/-2%

•          Average read = 32.8 MB/s

•          Burst Speed = 33.9 MB/s

For comparison we have made the following table: 

Sisoftware Sandra RW:

Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive

Sisoftware Sandra results

•          2MB test Read 28023 kB/sec

•          2MB test Write 6451 kB/sec

•          64MB test Read 28399 kB/sec

•          64MB test Write 6554 kB/sec

For comparison we have made the following table: 

 

On the next page we will take a look at the functions and use of the drive. 

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Use and Functions:

On this page we will take a look at the drive’s use and functions.  

The Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock Flash Drive is a well designed, very secure and portable drive that is very compatible with Windows file transfer options as well as other Operating Systems; however for this review we will only delve into Windows because that is the Operating System most widely adopted/used.

Examples are as follows:                                                            

Drag and drop copy                                                                                                         

Send To

On the Next page you will find the conclusion...

Positive:

• Solid construction

• Very Fast flash drive

• USB Connection for universal compatibility

• No software needed for securing data

• Well designed and easy to press buttons

• Works with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems

• Large Blue LED indicator enables user to see that the drive is in use

• Green and Red LEDs to indicate if the drive is unlocked or locked

• You don’t need to setup the security feature if it’s not needed

• No setup software required just plug in and go

Negative:

•          The drive could have a more ergonomic feel

Conclusion:

The Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive has well designed buttons for quickly entering your security code. Being cross compatible with three Operating System types you can use the flash on almost any system that has a USB port. The drive has its own built in security so no matter where you use it you won’t need to install any software. The overall performance of this drive is very good compared to other manufacturers’ portable storage products. Finally the price as tested was $39.80 USD which makes this drive very attractive for securing your data.

To sum this drive up in one sentence… “The Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive is well designed drive with fast read and write times that keeps your important data secure no mater where you use it”.

You may discuss/comment this article below or in this forum thread.

Special thanks to:

We would like to thank Corsair for providing the Corsair 2GB Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drive used in this review. Corsair remains evolutionary in data storage technology and is one of the most recognizable names in the data storage industry.

Special thanks to Karen Thomas of Thomas PR for shipping the review sample.