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04 July 2006 |
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OCZ Mini-Kart USB Flash
Drive |
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With the increasing number of gadgets that we put in our pockets these
days, it can sometimes be annoying having bulging pockets.
Therefore, we look for things that are smaller and smaller. A
typical USB Flash Drive is about the size of a small pack of gum.
Sure, it is certainly portable, but it would be nice if it were even
smaller. OCZ has answered that call. They have taken the
next step in making a USB flash drive even more portable than ever by
making it have an even slimmer profile and smaller. How can a
flash drive be even smaller?...have a look ahead. The Mini-Kart is
OCZ's latest USB flash drive. Compared with OCZ's other USB flash
drive called the "Rally". The Mini-kart is smaller, lightweight,
and still gives the impression that it can perform. When things do
become smaller, we usually see some kind of sacrifice or trade-off in
terms of features or performance. Let's find out if the OCZ
Mini-Kart serves its purpose. |
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I like the straightforward approach to OCZ's packaging. The
product can be seen right through the plastic container so you know
exactly what you are getting. At the top right, it clearly labels
that this is the 1GB version. At the back, it describes in a
simple bulleted list the features of this product. This product is
backed with a reasonable 3 year warranty. While the warranty is
reasonable, one begins to wonder why the OCZ Rally has a lifetime
warranty and this doesn't.
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The Mini-Kart seems to fit well in those plastic SD memory cases.
In a sense, this serves well as a kind of protection if you wish to put
this in your pocket. On the other hand, while using this larger
case, it does defeat the purpose of purchasing this USB drive for its
size. |
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Other than being small, there's not much to the design. It is
just a rectangular shaped drive with the USB portion sticking out.
The gold connectors are exposed, but are completely flush with the
plastic area. The OCZ logo and labeling is the only thing that is
preventing the product from looking plain and bland at the front. |
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The back of the drive without the labels does make the product look
plain, but most people will admire at how thing this flash drive is.
A durable string came attached to the flash drive with a very small
keychain ring at the end. Since this flash drive is extremely
light weight (practically about the weight of a quarter or less), there
shouldn't be any worry about the durability of the string. |
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To get a better sense of the actual size of the flash drive, a penny has
been placed right next to it since a picture of the drive alone doesn't
give it justice in terms of size.
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Because the drive is so slim, it pretty much the size of half a USB
slot. Because of this, there shouldn't be a concern of whether you
can fit it in a tight spot where there might be multiple devices.
There is a small blue LED on the side of the drive used as a status
indicator. It blinks when it is in use and is transferring data.
When you typically use a full-sized USB flash drive, the drive will go
into the USB slot only one way. Since the Mini-Kart is so thin,
you will find that you can plug in the drive either way. If the
LED lights up and the computer detects the drive, you will know that it
has been plugged in correctly. If you plugged it in the wrong way,
you will need to flip it and try again.
While inserted into a USB slot, the drive isn't exactly held in place
because it can still jiggle up and down in the slot a bit.
Therefore, it is preferred not to have any obstructions near the USB
slot. |
I first started with the Sisoft Sandra's benchmarking program.
With a 64 Megabyte test, the Mini-Kart was able to read at 13MB/sec and
write at 5.4MB/sec. With another benchmarking program called
HDTach, I was able to reach a read speed of 13.8MB/sec which complements
Sandra's result. Sure, it's not quite as fast as the older
brother, the OCZ Rally, but this is still definitely fast for a small
drive like this. In fact, there are many other larger sized USB
drives that still wouldn't be able to match these speeds.
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The OCZ Mini-Kart is another outstanding products from OCZ Technology.
If you're looking for a compact-sized, lightweight USB drive, that
performs well, this may just be the product for you. This drive is
pretty quick for its size and gets the job done for most users.
Unless you absolutely demand the fastest performance available on a USB
drive, I would consider the older brother, the OCZ Rally.
Otherwise, you can't go wrong with the OCZ Mini-Kart.
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Review by:
richard@digitalreviews.net |
