Over the years flash drives have become much larger, in terms of storage capacity, and more affordable. For the same price of a 256MB USB stick five years ago, you can now buy sticks with a capacity of 32GB such as the Kingston DataTraveler 150 32GB, which is the subject of this review. This drive not only offers 128x as much storage capacity as the drive you would have got five years ago - it's also a lot faster.
The DataTraveler 150 is the largest USB drive in Kingston's product lineup and it's backed by a five-year warranty.
The drive ships in a rather standard plastic blister package, and the only extra is a small keychain ring.
Here's a look at the feature list:
Capacity: 32GB
Dimensions: 3.06" x 0.9" x 0.47" (77.9 mm x 22 mm x 12.05 mm)
Operating Temperatures: 32º F to 140º F (0º C to 60º C)
Storage Temperatures: -4º F to 185º F (-20º C to 85º C)
Convenient: Pocket-sized for easy transportability
Simple: Just plug into a USB port
Practical: Stores cap securely on end of device to prevent loss of cap
Guaranteed: Five-year warranty
Compatible with: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Mac OS X 10.3x.+, Linux 2.6.x+
Oddly enough Kingston didn't list the data transfer speeds and unlike most new USB drives, this stick doesn't support Windows ReadyBoost in Vista. I don't know for sure why ReadyBoost isn't supported but it's not really such a big deal. The performance boost from ReadyBoost isn't that big and if you really want to use this feature it's a better idea to buy a cheap 1GB or 2GB USB stick instead of this 32GB model.
Lets take a closer look at the Kingston DataTraveler 150. The design of the DT150 is rather odd, the memory stick has a salmon colour with a honeycomb pattern. I'll let you decide whether it's a hottie or a nottie but it definitely stands out from the crowd.
Below is a photo of the back of the USB stick, besides a blue LED that flashes when you're transferring data there isn't really much to see here.
The DataTraveler 150 doesn't have a capless design but it can be attached on the end of the device to prevent loss of the cap. Inside the package of the USB drive there's also a small keychain ring which can be attached to the drive.
Kingston DataTraveler 150 32GB USB drive Posted by Thomas De Maesschalck on 2008-11-06 00:50:45 My Score: 9/10
Get an RMA, your drive is faulty.
Kingston DataTraveler 150 32GB USB drive Posted by Anonymous on 2008-11-05 23:58:20 My Score: 1/10
I purchased this just a week ago and it errors out every time I try and copy large files (>1mb). It errors with the message Data error (cyclic redundancy check). I have tried it on several PCs but the same error comes up. It works fine with small files but what is the point with a 32gb device?
Kingston DataTraveler 150 32GB USB drive Posted by Anonymous on 2008-11-04 10:31:38 My Score: 10/10
thank u very much for the review, especially the benchmark, that was what i was looking for!
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