ATP EarthDrive 4GB USB Drive review
Performance
ATP's website doesn't list any performance details for the EarthDrive but because most small USB drives I've tested in the past weren't really performance champs I didn't set my expectations for this drive too high.
Test system:
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 processor with OCZ Vendetta HSF
- Asus Commando motherboard
- ASUS EN7300GS/HTD 256MB
- OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-9200 2x 1GB memory
- Seagate 320GB HDD
- CoolerMaster Cosmos case
- PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 PSU
- Dell 2407WFP LCD display
- Operating system: Windows XP SP2
This benchmark is used to test the average and burst read speed of various sections of the ATP EarthDrive. The drive scored an average read speed of 30.8MB/s, burst speed of 32.8MB/s and random access time of 1ms. Overall these values are pretty good for a USB drive.
ATTO Disk Benchmark
Next up is ATTO - this little utility was configured to transfer 8MB of data to the drive in blocks from 1KB to 1MB. This shows how fast the drive can read and write files with small and larger filesizes. Just like the tiny Super Talent Pico I tested a couple of months ago the ATP EarthDrive has rather slow write speeds. The EarthDrive's write speed tops out around 9MB/s when transferring files of 1MB or larger, while larger USB drives like the Kingston DT150 achieve write speeds of over 20MB/s. Especially when transferring small files the EarthDrive is very slow, but fortunately, the read speed is very good.
Conclusion
If you want to feel green the ATP EarthDrive may appeal to you, the drive is available in capacities from 1GB to 8GB, it's waterproof and very small. The housing of the EarthDrive is made from biodegradable plastics and a portion of the profits will go to American Forests, an organization that plants trees. The read speeds of the drive are pretty fast, but like most small flash drives I've reviewed the EarthDrive has rather slow write speeds. At press time, the 1GB, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB EarthDrive sticks were selling at Amazon for $17.99, $24.94, $29.99 and $39.99, respectively. There are places that sell them for less, but overall these drives seem to be more expensive than average.
The Good Stuff
The Bad Stuff
I give the ATP EarthDrive USB drive a 8/10.
Previous Page (1/2)Added: November 30th 2008
Product reviewed: ATP EarthDrive 4GB USB Drive
Reviewer: Thomas De Maesschalck
Score: 8/10
Page: 2/2
