Kingston Data Traveler 2 GB USB Drive (DTI/2GB) Reviews

• fast, cheap, and no u3 junk - highly recommend

  
  By A3A6QA4LSECDX1 on 2006-09-08
  For the guy who posted above, there is no lanyard included with this flash drive.
  
  I got this a couple days ago. Looking for something that could hold large files to let me switch from a laptop to desktop and back more easily (no more toting a whole external hard drive back and forth).
  
  Other than cost (and this seems to be a good bargain), my other issue when looking at flash drives is speed (also I didn't want any of that U3 crud). I transferred a 490 MB file to the flash drive in just about 3 minutes. That's more than fast enough for me.
  
  The flash drive has turned out to be a silver lining too. After I found out I would not be able to install Linux on my desktop, I found that I can actually install various Linux distros to the flash drive and boot from it instead (search for pen drive linux), with plenty of space still to spare.
  
  

• Exactly what I wanted

  
  By AI8EMB0HUC6Z5 on 2007-11-21
  This thumb drive is exactly what I wanted. Cheap, reliable, and without some kind of vendor supplied crapware that automatically runs when you insert the drive.
  
  I use truecrypt for creating/using an encrypted partition. Works fine, but one word of warning. Format the encrypted partition as FAT. An NTFS partition running on a thumb drive can have dismount issues. Eventually, those issues will trash the partition.
  
  I've run this drive for a month now and it has been fine even though it bangs around in a pocket with phone, knife, change, etc. A corsair drive failed after a few days of this treatment.
  
  

• Excellent Thumb Drive

  
  By AXKFNVCCNQ3YK on 2007-05-12
  I found this thumb drive to be a very good one. It is 4GB, so it holds a large amount of data, and software. It is relatively tough, I have carried it in my backpack and have had NO problems with it. Also, I just bought a new laptop with Vista, and it works wonderfully! However, I also bought a Sandisk 4GB Titanium Drive and it was not compatible with my new laptop. Overall, I love this Kingston drive!
  
  

• Kingston 8GB Data Traveler - Good USB Drive with Nice Capacity

  
  By A17BUUBOU0598B on 2008-04-13
  Kingston 8GB DataTraveler USB flash drive - High Speed USB
  
  In terms of meeting it's function, this Kingston Data Traveler seems very good so far, certainly as good as the other smaller capacity ones I own. And the 8 GB capacity on this guy makes it very useful for a lot of large file backups or USB storage and transfer. There are a few things to keep in mind but overall this is a solid product.
  
  Pros:
  + Kingston brand is well deserved
  + Reliable performance
  + Nice capacity of 8 GB has you future proofed as smaller USB drives start to disappear
  + Durable body and NAND memory stands up to a lot of abuse
  + Compatible with old and new Mac and PC Operating Systems (XP, Vista, OS X)
  + Very light
  + Rear bar to connect a lanyard or keychain
  + USB 2.0 connection is backwards compatible for older computers
  + Very quickly mounts and stops
  + Less scum-ware and needless apps than some other drives
  + Easy to format and enable encryption to protect your data
  
  Cons:
  - Cap comes off easily and can be lost; inferior to retractable designs
  - Lanyard or extender accessories not included
  - Doesn't have the good looks of some drives like the Sandisk Cruzer Micro
  - Still somewhat slow speed in copying large files, limited by USB transfer rate
  - Same old body is larger than it has to be
  - Keychain / lanyard attachment bar is too easily broken
  - Pricing here doesn't change to reflect when this item goes on sale elsewhere
  
  This is the same design that Kingston has used for these Data Traveler USB drives since the 1 GB I got quite a while ago.
  
  Transfer speeds are comparable to other drives, but still slower than one would like. Load ups are fast and stops are only a little slower.
  
  In order to enable encryption, there are a few ways but the best may be to use another tool to encrypt the drive after re-formatting it. This way you can test the drive as well as use the encryption you prefer.
  
  The main real competition is from Sandisk, whose Cruzer Micro has a tab to retract the USB connector SanDisk 8 GB Cruzer Micro USB 2.0 Drive with U3 SDCZ6-8192-A11 (retail packaging). That way there's no risk of losing the cap, but there is more chance of getting dust in it. It is more expensive though.
  
  Kingston produces some retractable ones as well.
  Kingston DataTraveler 100 - USB flash drive - 8 GB - Hi-Speed USB - black
  Kingston DT100/8GB Data Traveler 100 8 GB USB 2.0 Drive
  
  Conclusion
  
  This is a nice capacity in a small USB drive. Just watch the price and make sure you're getting it on par with prevailing prices
  
  Enjoy!
  
  
  

• Handy

  
  By A57G9OTRL7PGK on 2007-05-12
  Good capacity, compact, cheap, from a known company with a reputation for reliability. I bought this as a backup device. It will fit easily not only into a pocket, but also into someone else's fire-resistant offsite file space. Data retention on these devices is supposed to be good, and with a batch of these, I never have to worry about where to keep an extensive backup set - they'll slip into a safe deposit box (unlike a stack of CD's) or into spaces between papers in a fire-proof cabinet. Unlike DVD-R's they have an establshed track-record on long-term data retention and will not be damaged by laying up against other objects in a drawer that may cause minor but destructive warps to a DVD.
  
  
• Small File Writes are Painfully Slow
  By A3OAPBEMR0B3JV on 2007-10-10
  After opening the package, I popped my DTI/4GB into a USB port and copied a number of relatively small files to it (310 files totalling 5.1 mb). It took a full 2 minutes (that's 44 kBps), which was slow enough to convince me I'd gotten a lemon (I copied the same files to my old Sandisk Cruzer 1 gb in 20 seconds). After a couple emails to tech support, Kingston advised me to return it for a new one.
  
  The new one arrived quickly, but performed identically to the old one. For kicks, I installed Sandra 2008 and benchmarked the device's performance. I found that, for small files (512 B), the transfer rate was barely 1 kBps. I contacted Kingston support again, this time providing more details about my testing and the benchmark results I'd gotten out of Sandra. The tech confirmed that this is a low-end device, that the slowness I was experiencing was normal, and that I probably should have sprung for something in their DTS line (too rich for my blood).
  
  Now the good news. If you don't tend to copy a lot of small files, you'll probably be perfectly happy with this device. Once the file size gets to about 256 kb, writes to this drive speed up nicely. Reads are always fast. And tech support was exemplary. My only other complaint would be that the cheap plastic case does not inspire confidence.
  
  No matter how you look at it, however, this is not a 5-star item by any stretch of the imagination. Not even for the money.
  
  
• Bad odds: 28 out of 40 work great; the other 12 do not work at all
  By A2LGWDI1KZNGTI on 2007-07-21
  To be fair, I did not purchase these particular items from Amazon, but rather through the university where I work, for my department. But they were all brand new Kingston Data Traveler 2GB in the original individual hard plastic packaging. I noticed that some of the other readers who purchased several of these items commented on the terrible failure rate, and thought I'd throw in more data. The 28 that do work are great, but the odds of getting a good one are absolutely unacceptable IMHO.
  
  
• Great value
  By A3NGWR5V3GK3Q6 on 2006-11-10
  What's to say about it. It works, great size, and one of the more competitively priced ones at the time. 2 gigs of storage for this price is about as good as it gets.
  
  
• Very Cheap 2GB portable storage device
  By A181WZ2IC9JQNC on 2007-01-01
  I have about a half dozen "thumbdrives" (Lexar and SanDisk) the largest of which is a half gigabyte (512MB).
  
  I found this device is slightly slower than some other of my thumbdrives, using large (10MB+) files in the tests. But, given the large storage capacity, the price is very compelling.
  
  I highly recommend this product.
  
  
  
• Not Window Vista ReadyBoost Compatible!
  By A250M88M3P5783 on 2007-10-15
  I wanted a flash drive for a Window Vista RAM ReadyBoost. As it says "works with Window Vista," I thought it would be used to serve the purpose, but I was wrong. This is the writing I found from Kingston FAQ;
  ' ReadyBoost is a Windows Vista feature which has the ability to utilize USB flash drive storage space to improve system performance. DT1 DataTraveler High Speed does not support Windows ReadyBoost. '
  
  It is simply an inexpensive slow secondary back up tools. It is handy to own a flash drive for everyone. But it has shown a slower file transfer rate than my other media like Memorex 4Gb flash drive sold at $70+, and ultra 2Gb Sandisk memory card, that is almost several months old now.
  
  The reason I give 2 star is because it is low-priced.
  
  
  
• Returning - too slow and other reasons
  By A39G26LKBXB83D on 2007-12-10
  I've had much smaller and older flash drives that have worked 1000 times better and faster than this. I want to find one as good as those but larger. This isn't it. When I copy my "My Documents" folder to my other external hard drives and flash drives, it takes around 4-10 minutes. Copying to this unit takes an hour! And it took nearly that long to delete the folder from this unit! What's that about?
  
  Also, it is saying it is full even though when I check the size of the folder on the unit it is about 2GB and this unit is 4GB. The pie chart shows it's full but the folder of files on the unit says half that. Again, what's THAT about?
  
  This thing is going back and I'll probably avoid Kingston in my search for a decent flash drive.
  
  
  
  
• Not so great
  By AB8ZHDUBSHKU5 on 2007-05-18
  I read the many good reviews of this product, so I took a shot at it, but I was disappointed. Every time I tried to use it, everything would lock up. I could save small files to the drive okay, but anything large would freeze up my whole computer. I ended up returning the item and am looking for a better product.
  If it works, the price is great. Hopefully no one else will have the trouble I did.
  
  
• Be aware! It ceases to work easily!
  By A3JG4DAZ4VNQYF on 2007-10-09
  I've bought four of these with my friends, in the last 3 months.
  ALL of them have stopped to work. It just stops suddenly. The led on it wont light up anymore, it will no be recognized by windows anymore.
  Even thought Kingston gives you the 5 year warrant, it is really frustrating to have 4 (FOUR) braking in the first 3 months. Try other brands that give you UNLIMITED warrant, because they really believe in their product. Before buying this, take a look at other brands....
  
  
• Good value for space, but slow
  By A1IZU6T9MIGEBM on 2008-06-09
  If your main need is to have something that can make 8 GB of files portable, then this is a pretty good value. If you are looking to use Vista's ReadyBoost function, this drive is too slow. If you are looking to run applications off the drive (like Portable Firefox or Disk Utilities), it is also incredibly slow - and you'll probably want to look for something that has faster rated reads and writes.
  
  For my needs, this turns out not to have been the right drive. For you, well it depends on what you're using it for :-)
  
  
• Highly functional but less than optimally practical
  By A6FIAB28IS79 on 2008-02-03
  Kingston, I've found, is more Mac-friendly than Sandisk or Lexar, and this 4-gig lightweight over-achiever literally shatters capacity and price barriers (remember when you couldn't get 128 mb for under fifty bucks?). No problems with performance--provided you can find the thing or don't inadvertently throw it out with a chewing gum wrapper. Your best bet is to attach it to a key ring, the sooner the better. But now comes the other, admittedly lesser, of the challenges: hanging on to the cover. If you attached the drive to a key ring or lanyard, the challenge is now even greater since the back part of the device won't be available for attachment of the cap.
  
  One solution: spend an extra five bucks for the slightly larger Kingston drive with identical capacity and a retractable USB connection. Problem: it has no ring or hole--nothing to attach a key or neck chain to. Another solution: pick up the deeply discounted Sandisk Cruzer for twenty bucks. Problem: much of the memory is used up by Sandisk's gratuitous programs which, moreover, are not designed for Mac-compatibility.
  
  I'm still waiting. In the meantime, maybe I'll get lucky and come across my latest Kingston that's MIA.
  
  [Later: Transcend makes an affordable retractable flash drive (JetFlash V10) that attaches easily to a key ring and is noticeably faster in transferring files than this Kingston. Moreover, it's Mac-friendly, since its Vista software appears in the drive only if you choose to install it.]
  
  
• Very good drive, but you are better off with the 1GB model for the price
  By A3I1BJIFFM4S21 on 2007-01-04
  This drive is fine. The problem is that there is very little price difference between this drive (the 512 MB model) and a larger drive (the 1GB model). For six bucks more you are better off getting THAT drive which is twice the size of this one.
  
  Other than that, considering the 512MB OR 1GB model, you really have just enough space (for a really good price) to perform all your daily tasks -such as moving Powerpoint presentations (or songs and video) between computers.
  
  Haven't used a "flash drive" before? You pull off the cap and plug the drive directly into your computer's USB port. (You don't need any software or drivers to preload - just plug it in to any computer.) When it is plugged in the computer automatically recognizes it as a new drive right on your desktop. I.e. Go to your "My Computer" section and it now shows up as a new drive. You then treat it like you would any other drive -you can just drag and drop files to it.
  
  One final note: the place where a line attaches is on the drive body itself, and not the cap. This is good because if you attach it to something it won't slide out of the cap leaving you with an empty cap tied to your neck (or keychain) with no drive...
  
  And finally, I think this is a great present for non-techies. My parents have finally become converts and they use a drive like this all the time.
  
  
  
• Fantastic
  By A2I16SKF3RHED6 on 2007-05-22
  This is great! 4GB for $36 and change... plus I ordered it on Tuesday and received it on Thursday on Free Super Saver! How'd they do that?
  
  I transferred EVERYTHING crucial I needed fom my old PC to the new one in two trips. Now I'm using it as ReadyBoost on my Windows Vista piece of junk.. but that's another story.
  
  
  
  
• For Mac users... do not buy!
  By A35RUGXLDYT78T on 2006-11-29
  Description does not include important fact that this is not Mac compatible. Once used, it cannot be formatted except on a PC. I couldn't even check to see if it worked to transfer files, although I did see many "zero KB" files, so I don't think it worked. All I know for sure is once the files are deleted the device will not show as empty until it is connected to a PC.
  
  
• Too slow to be usable
  By A25481X9NE56RB on 2007-01-09
  This takes forever to transfer a large number of small files. It was given as a gift but the recipient could not use it, because of this flaw. Stay away from this product!
  
  
• Failed after 2 months
  By A34NSBEMRK7Y7G on 2007-08-05
  Hey Amazon, why aren't you posting this review? Third try...
  
  Stick stopped working after 2 months of use, and has gone back to Kingston for replacement.
  
  
• No Driver for Windows Vista
  By AHZD94FMF5BKY on 2007-07-12
  I don't understand why there is no driver that works with Vista. I have much older, cheaper flash drives that work just fine.
  
  
• Ultimate Portable HD
  By A3I92N6EHQI3IP on 2007-05-05
  It is amazing how much the prices have fallen on these portable USB thumb drives. It is also amazing at how much some manufacturers are still charging for their models which have only a fraction of the drive space compared to the Data Traveler. I use an intel Mac Pro and when I plugged in this new device it was instantly recognized by OS X and the icon appeared on the desktop. The very first thing I tried was to copy a 550MB file to the device and it would not work. I canceled the copy operation and immediately went into Disk Utility and repartitioned the device to OS X Journaled. The device comes from the manufacturer formated in MS DOS 16 bit. Once I repartitioned to OS X Journaled, the file copied over beautifully with no problems. So, if you are a Mac user, be aware of this fix as you may have to implement it. The other thing to note is that it is a bit slow in copying files. You can copy to the device relatively fast, but when copying off the device to another hard drive, it seems to take quite a bit longer. It took over 11 minutes to copy a 550MB file from the device to another desktop Mac. That's pretty slow, but for the price and the size of the storage capacity, I am not complaining.
  
  
• Had to be reformatted
  By A3LX22NYQLSUCH on 2007-05-01
  At first, trying to write any files bigger than about 100k caused my Mac to hang. I had to reformat the drive to solve this, and since then it has worked okay.
  
  Unlike my previous USB drive, the cap is not attached and could easily get lost. There is a small carrying strap included, but you have to attach it yourself.
  
  
• Simple
  By A1KT1GWCW8F80 on 2008-01-13
  I recently got a laptop to do photo processing/storage when on the road. It accepts 4gb SDHC memory cards with no problem, but my older desktop does not. So, I can either 1) copy data to an external HD, burn a DVD, or copy smaller quantities to 2gb SD cards and transfer to the desktop...or 2) use my USB card reader with the 4gb SDHC card for the desktop...or 3) just use a simple flash drive to transfer from one to the other.
  
  I'll go with the flash drive :-)
  
  The removable cap will fit on the other end so you don't lose it when in use. But, if you use the optional included little keyring-on-a-string, you may eventually cut the string with repeated use.
  
  
• Great Product; terrible vendor.
  By A2Y3VH23J33MAX on 2007-09-09
  I ordered 30 of these drives from "eek Technology" for the students of the school computer lab where I teach. The bill came to $426, $263 for the product and an outrageous $163 for shipping and handling. When I complained the order was cancelled. Yet "eek Technology" still defended their shipping and handlling bill as legitimate and reasonable. These 30 drives could be shipped in one shoe-box size package for far less than $163. I later ordered 30 of a similar Kingson product from another company who billed me $15.03 for shipping and handling -- an honest charge. So, beware of grossly inflated shipping charges by companies who apparently think it is OK to bilk their customers for extra money on the side.
  
  
• Disappointing ergonomic design kills it
  By A3J3BRHTDRFJ2G on 2007-12-23
  The Kingston DataTraveler family of drives should be a great product. The pricing is excellent compared to the storage capacity, and they work very well in regards to compatibility with PCs and USB ports.
  
  Where the Kingston drives fail miserably is in their user ergonomics. First up is the cap. The cap is on tight - real tight - and that is good, since it helps prevent it from getting lost. However, the shape of the cap - tapering in the same direction you'll need to pull it - combined with the tightness, and therefore the effort needed to remove it, makes it very difficult to grip long enough to get it off. Kingston could have overcome this easily by including some grooves, ribs, or some flares or depressions to enhance your grip, but inexplicably they didn't.
  
  The fatal flaw for me is the keychain loop on the rear of the drive. For me, the USB drive is all about mobility. I like to be able to carry 4GB of data around with me; it's fantastically handy to port that much storage. But, and this is a big "but", you MUST be able to make sure the data stays with you. Who wants to lose their data? No one does that I know of. And this is where the drive lets you down. The loop for hanging it on a keychain is far too weak to hold up to even light duty use. Mine broke within 6 days of use, and it was shocking how little effort it took for the loop to break. A very gentle tug of my keys from a backpack pocket, an act that my Lexar Media 1 GB JumpDrive Sport USB Flash ( JDSP1GB-231 ) (Retail Package)has endured for nearly 2 years without complaint, and yet the Kingston snapped its loop completely off. To further add insult, it now has 2 very sharp barbs where the loops were, requiring me to perform some surgery on the drive just to make sure it doesn't pose a danger to fingers.
  
  I'm headed back to the Lexar JumpDrive Sport family, which I appreciate even more than I did now that I've seen the failings of the competition.
  
  
• Woops! Corrupted information
  By A7RJ19XG5PDRU on 2008-02-02
  Yeah, I really wanted to like this product. Kingston has a great reputation, and this seemed like a slam dunk. At 4 gigs I was able to back up my entire work directory on my laptop (to avoid having helpdesk help me by accidentally deleting it all like they sometimes do). It seemed fine ... until I tried to use the files on there. About 40% corruption. Tinkering eventually got me 100% corruption, with no visible files on the drive and Windows showing it as full. Format time! It looks like I got stuck with a bad controller on my drive.
  
  
• Drive Survived Drowning
  By A3GO8NSI31RDK on 2007-03-09
  I already loved this drive - small, easy, big enough for everything I needed, not too expensive. Then I washed it in the pocket of my jeans. Washed full cycle, dried on high. I plugged it in, assuming it would be junked. It lit right up and worked like a charm, with all contents intact. Way to go.
  
  
• Not perfect but satisfactory
  By A3S5QQTF80HG9W on 2007-05-29
  This flash drive works smoothly as expected. But I am little disappointed after finding out that it does not comes with a software to secure the content with a password. Also the cap is a simple (and somewhat feel cheap) cap that can be lost easily.
  
  
• Painfully slow - almost useless for large amount of data
  By A2WER6C7Y0T4D2 on 2007-11-29
  I frequently have to transfer large amounts of data (500MB+) between computers in the office and my home computer. Prior to buying this drive I burned CD's since that was the only way to get the data back and forth. After looking into USB flash drives I thought this would make my life a lot easier but I was wrong. Transferring large amounts of data is so slow that burning a CD is a lot faster. To give you an example, I just tried to copy 700MB (8,500 files in 150 folders) from my hard disc to the flash drive and it is taking about 1.5 hours to transfer all files. That makes it unusable for my purpose. By the way, I'm using it under Windows XP.
  
  According to Kingston's webpage they have (more expensive) flash drives with data-boost technology which are faster (e.g. DataTraveler II Plus). Maybe I should've done more research before buying.
  
  Update: Compressing all the files into one large zip-file (300MB) reduces the transfer time to roughly 5 minutes. So I guess the drive just doesn't like transfering many files (8500 files).
  
  

• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard
• Windows Live OneCare 2.0 (Up to 3 Users)
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition FULL VERSION with SP2
• Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009
• Quicken Deluxe 2009

• Kingston DTI 4 GB USB Flash Drive
• Kingston Data Traveler 1 GB USB Flash Drive ( DTI/1GB )
• Coby 1.5-Inch Digital Photo Keychain (White)
• V-MODA Bass Freq Earbuds - Bling Bling Black
• Maxell Noise-Cancellation Headphones