

Product Type: Corsair Flash Drive
Newest Review: ... to come out of the cover. I could have probably glued it in place, or sent it back to Ebuyer / Corsair for a replacement, but as I have ... more
Not as 'tough' as it claims.
Corsair Flash Voyager USB 2.0 8 GB

Member Name: DartingTroff
Product:
Corsair Flash Voyager USB 2.0 8 GB
Date: 07/12/11
Rating:
Advantages: Good looking, sturdy feel, useful hole for putting on a keyring.
Disadvantages: Too big for a normal keyring, and not anywhere near as sturdy as claimed. Cap design not good.
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Background
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I purchased one of these in September 2010 from Ebuyer at a cost of £12.32 (plus VAT).
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Packaging
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It came in the standard retail blister pack. This served to protect the item, and to advertise it's features.
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Look and Feel
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This flash drive is clearly designed for serious use. It has a thick rubber exterior ensuring it is well protected from anything, with a snug fitting cap that will ensure it will continue to function even if it has been immersed in liquid.
The rubberised casing feels similar to a wetsuit, and gives a similar degree of comfort! There is a loop at the rear end of the drive so it can be attached easily to a keyring (exactly where I placed mine!). There is also a small rubber window that is placed over a light on the pcb, so that you can see when the drive is in use.
The size of the device is larger than most - this is because of the thickness of it's protective cover. It's not verily huge, but may get in the way when on a keyring etc.
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Operation
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Installing the drive into a system is straightforward - plug it in, and as long as the system is relatively up to date, it'll see it and install the drivers it needs.
The drive is platform independent. It can be used with Windows, Linux, Mac OS X etc. It comes pre formatted for Windows use, being formatted in FAT32. Therefore some reformatting may be preferred if it is to be used on a non Windows system, or if you wish to utilise the security features that come with Microsoft's NTFS format (again, this was something that I did straight away). Reformatting only takes a few seconds to do.
Data transfer on the device was exactly as you would expect from a USB2 flash drive. I have no issues with it as it is as fast as any other drive of it's kind - after all, it's the same as any other one under the cover - the thing that sets this one apart is exactly that - it's cover.
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Durability
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Clearly, this device is intended to be durable. It's ruggedness is its selling point, and when I first had it, I was very impressed with the quality of it. I have heard a lot of cases of these drives going through the washing machine, or being run over, without any problems.
However, sadly, my own experiences weren't so good. I lost the rubber cap almost immediately - granted, that's my fault, but some sort of retention for it would have been useful.
Worse than that though... the drive worked faultlessly for it's life, but it's life was only about 6 months long. One day I went to remove it from a USB slot, and the cover simply came off the device. I was left with a rubber cover in my hand and a usb flash drive still in the system.
I removed it (carefully!), and placed it back into the cover, and it seemed fine, but from that point on, it continued to come out of the cover. I could have probably glued it in place, or sent it back to Ebuyer / Corsair for a replacement, but as I have a drawer full of different flash drives I didn't really see the need.
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Summary
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A great looking drive, ticking all boxes as far as functionality goes.... but let down on the one aspect that Corsair are trying to push - it isn't anywhere near as 'rugged' as it seems.
Summary: Due to the fact the cover of the unit detached itself within 6 months, I wouldn't buy another.
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