SUMMARY: We've been seeing these pocket drives around for a while now, but do they really work? And even more important, are they easy enough to use to make them convenient? To find out, come join Mike "Darthtanion" Wright as he takes a look at the X-Micro APEX USB Flash Stick. We'll give it a test run and try to answer these very questions!
I was a bit skeptical about the uses of an item like this when I was first contacted by X-Micro about testing it. After all, it’s just a glorified Compact Flash card, right? Wrong!
With memory stick/compact flash/smart card/etc type media you still have need of some sort of a reader to access the data you store on it. Not only that, but several of the new readers coming out for this type media are just that, readers only. They can’t write any data back to the media. But the APEX device takes care of the whole thing. It reads, writes and is compact enough to be convenient.
So how much space do you need? 128MB for some basic office work? 256/512MB for a collection of MP3 files? 1GB to carry around that movie you just found? The choices are there for you to get the one that is right for your own needs.
Bottom line… If you have been considering one of the pocket drive type devices, you’ve found it. Ease of use, compatibility with both USB 1.1 and 2.0 standards and a variety of sizes make it a sure winner for your transportable data storage needs.
- Pros Small size Fast speeds Write protection Ease of use/installation Multiple carrying methods
- Cons Little pricey
Rating – 9.5/10 and TweakTown’s Editors Choice Award
Editor's Note: Pricing for this device was not available at post, but has since been received so here is the approximate cost in US$ of the different sizes: 128MB $75 256MB $125 512MB $199 1GB $399
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