( 14 reviews )
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Posted: Mar 9 2009
First of all, I have to admit, this flash drive is one of the fastest I've ever used. Just simply sitting at your computer and moving files back and forth, you get a sense of how speedy it is. For those needing numbers, SanDisk rates their Cruzer Contour drive at 25 MB/sec read and 18 MB/sec write speeds. The drive has been a pleasure to use in general cases, if not a bit cumbersome to pull out every time. It's when you try to get fancy that some faults become apparent with the pre-installed U3 software and SanDisk's fimrware. One of the first things I noticed was the design of the Cruzer Contour. It's a big unit compared to others, so you won't be hanging it off your keychain anytime soon. You wouldn't be able to anyway because the drive itself doesn't have any holes for a key ring to go through anyways. Instead, SanDisk included a pouch with the drive which has a clip so you can attach it to things. The Contour also doesn't have a cap for you to lose. It relies on a neat mechanism where pulling back on the drive case reveals the USB plug, then pushing it forward fully exposes the end. Pushing the case forward and then back conceals the USB tip and it gets closed off by a little hinge door. This improves pocketability greatly and sort of explains it's size. The drive comes pre-installed with SanDisk's U3 portable software. Some of the software is pretty useful, including McAfee's Anti-virus. The U3 application loader can be a bit annoying sometimes as it loads itself up automatically and sometimes I've noticed that it may crash (depending on the system it's run on). If you're not inclined to use the included software, removing U3 is easy enough, if you know where to find the directions. And if you want the software back later, you can go to the U3 site and download the installation files. Or, if you so choose, you can load free, open-source applications from places like PortableApps. A big point to note about the drive is that it is not useable as a bootable flash drive. (Or at least after a great many attempts, I couldn't manage to get my system to boot from it.) SanDisk warns that some of their drives can not be used this way, therefore, if you plan on loading Linux or placing a bootable Windows repair set on this drive, you might want to look elsewhere. Overall, the SanDisk Cruzer Contour is a nice drive to carry and transfer data. It's fast and the hardware seems stable. The unit is a little big, but manages to include a useful mechanism to protect the drive and not rely on caps. The included portable software may or may not be to your tastes, but it's easy to remove and/or replace. Just don't buy this drive if you plan on carrying your favorite Linux distro and hoping to use it to boot up on various computers. Otherwise, it's a good buy, especially if you can get it for $20 and under.
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Posted: Feb 13 2009
This flash drive has worked very well for me so far (i got it today), at first its hard to open, but once u get used t oit its fine. some things i like about it: It looks GREAT! has a nice capcity, but the U3 and readyboost doesnt work with vista, wat i did was delete EVERYTHING on the drive when u FIRST get it. then i re-formatted it with the default Fat32 type. and it works fine now! i only rated four starz u=instead if five because of the hassle to do this all. :) but overall VERY good flash drive! by it! =]
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Posted: Feb 13 2009
Others had a problem with the retracting mechanism... I've used mine a lot, and lent it to ppl and haven't had a problem. Others find the gravity blade retraction mechanism unique (read downright kewl) and the metal flap over the business end is unique. I don't like the extraneous junk the drive came with. In fact I had to uninstall the U3 utility (in XP) before it would work on my 2 vista machines. -They claim newer U3 versions work with Vista, but what a waste of time. Reformatting with NTFS wasn't enough. Gave the stick a bad review because of bloatware.
