I am an avid photographer and am therefore constantly taking photos and storing them onto the hard drive of my now aging computer. Unfortunately my computer does not take too kindly to this treatment and therefore opens my photos with the speed of a snail. I have subsequently turned to USB flash drives as a solution for storing my photos. Having fully filled a USB stick that I bought last year I decided this weekend to buy another in an attempt to free up my computer memory and trusting the SanDisk brand decided to purchase this flash drive.

The Product ~

The SanDisk Cruzer 8GB USB Flash Drive is a very small and rather plain looking memory stick which fails to have any of the bells and whistles that some of its opponents display. The stick is black in colour with a red retractable push button which upon pushing forward displays the silver flash connector ready for plugging into your machine. The beauty of the push feature is that unlike having a protective cap to the key which so often can get lost the drive can be protected by simply clipping the connector into the plastic sheath.

Whilst I am not a technology buff I can confirm that this flash drive is compatible with both Windows 2000 and I believe it is also compatible with Mac. It can store any number of files including photos, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. This is handy not only from a storage point of view but also during times when it is necessary to move and transport files between computers such as PowerPoint presentations. This flash drive also has a number of other features including Cruzer Sync desktop synchronisation, antivirus software, Signup Shield password manager and Skype.

This flash drive has an 8GB storage capacity which makes it ideal for day to day tasks. It also means that dependent on the size of the file and the quality of the digital photo this flash drive can store in excess of 6,000 photos.

Guarantee ~

This flash drive ensures you, the buyer peace of mind by being covered by a two year manufacturer's guarantee.

Price ~

This USB Flash Drive comes with four storage options these being 4GB, 8GB and 16GB and the price of the flash drive reflects this. I bought my 8GB flash drive from Argos last weekend and paid £19.99 for it with a saving of £3. However it can also be bought from a number of online retailers including Amazon for less.

Usage ~

The SanDisk Cruzer 8GB Flash Drive is not unlike any other flash drive to use and this is made easy with the plug and play characteristic. To use, simply click the connector forward using the sliding button and plug into the USB point of your computer or laptop. The computer should then instantly recognise that the key has been plugged in and flash up with the 'What do you want to do' message. Failing this you can simply locate the key by clicking on the 'My Computer' link on the start panel and selecting the disk.

Upon opening the stick you will notice that the end glows a light orange which is an indicator that it is being used. To move and copy files onto the flash drive you can simply use the 'Save as' feature upon opening a document and select to save onto the removable flash drive or simply copy and paste your chosen files onto the stick.

When you are satisfied that you have copied all your required files onto the flash drive you can simply double click on the small green logo on the bottom tool bar menu and then 'disconnect' the stick. The orange light will then stop and the drive can be removed and the connector slid back into the protective sheath.

My Experience ~

Upon purchasing my new flash drive last weekend I set to work copying and transporting all my recent photos onto it. What struck me first upon opening the stick was that it has a small amount of memory already used on the drive filled up with the antivirus software which is pre-saved onto the stick. However, this being considered it did still leave me with 7.71GB of memory.

The stick was easy to use by simply plugging it into the machine and transporting the files onto it and the orange light was a good reminder that it was still in use. Since the weekend I have stored around 500 photos onto the stick and have hardly used any memory however it is easy to check how much memory is remaining by simply right clicking on the 'removable device' option on the menu and then selecting properties. This will then give you the current capacity of the flash drive shown as a pie chart of space remaining and space used, a simple and effective way of illustrating the request.

Upon using the stick is very small and can therefore be hidden away out of sight with minimum effort, however I have had to put mine in a designated drawer with a sticky label to ensure it doesn't get lost.

As with all memory sticks it is advised that you never use just one form of media to store important documents and therefore it is also worth backing up files onto CDs for additional security.

My Summary ~

Overall this is a highly useful and smart looking little tool which although small has a great storage facility, as they say the best things come in small packages. I would definitely recommend it and I have hence scored it 5 stars out of 5.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review.

This review is also posted on Ciao under the same user name.