The OCZ Roadster comes with this leather strap, you can attach this to your Roadster so you won't lose it or you
can attach the Roadster to your keys. It's small enough to carry it with you all the time.
The leather strap features the OCZ logo.
Now we're going to do some benchmarks. The test system used to benchmark the OCZ Roadster is my Dell Inspiron
6000 notebook.
ATTO Disk Benchmark
The first benchmark is ATTO Disk Benchmark. I used this program to transfer 8MB in blocks from 1KB to 1MB to the
Roadster. For files above 64KB the write speed is roughly 2.55MB/s and the read speed is close to 10MB/s. For files under 64KB the transfer speeds are slower but this is pretty normal.
SiSoft Sandra
The next test is the Removable Storage benchmark from SiSoft Sandra:
Benchmark Results
Combined Index : 865 operation(s)/min
Endurance Factor : 8.0
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.
HD Tach
The last test I'm going to use is HT Tach's Quick bench.
The burst speed of the OCZ Roadster is 10.1MB/s and the average readspeed is 4.7MB/s. One of the weird things is
that the first 300MB or so the memory give a readspeed of 10MB/s, this then suddenly drops very quick to under
1MB/s. Compared to a generic 128MB flash stick the OCZ Roadster performs quite bad. My generic flash memory stick
has a burst speed of 19.7MB/s and an average read of 14.3MB/s.
The random access time of the OCZ Roadster is also really high. 107.6ms is a lot more than the 8.7ms
of my generic flash drive. I guess the low performance is the price you pay for the small form factor of the
Roadster.
Conclusion:
If you're looking for an ultra-portable flash stick the OCZ Roadster is a fine choice. When I first saw it I was
amazed that it's so small. However, you have to pay a price for the small size of the Roadster. I'm not talking
about money but about performance. Compared to other flash sticks - which are bigger - the OCZ Roadster performs
quite bad for a USB 2.0 flash drive.
Despite the below average transfer speeds I'm still giving the OCZ Roadster a good rating because of its fine design. The Roadster is stylish, durable, ultra small and very light. It's the perfect keychain USB memory stick.
The price of the OCZ Roadster varies from shop to shop but you should be able to get it under $30. When I started
writing this review I noticed NewEgg offered it for only $15.99 after a $8 mail-in rebate but two days later this
offer wasn't available anymore. For $30 this flash drive is a bit more expensive than its (bigger) competitors
but for $15.99 this is a very good deal.
The Good Stuff:
Extremely small
Very portable
Capless design
3 year warranty
Comes with a USB extension cable
The Bad Stuff:
The USB connector gets hot - not hot enough to burn your fingers but its pretty warm.
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