DataTraveler - HyperX product reviews

Having played with many pendrives, and also seen how zippy the HyperX-grade memory can be, I was really curious to see how well a hybrid could perform. I was surprised at how long it took for a company to realise that to combine super-high-speed RAM chips with a pendrive interface could be a real winner, especially with Windows Vista having that "ReadyBoost" feature where, if it detects that the removable media can work faster than on-board memory, it switches over to the best option for improved overall speed.

First impressions... well the retractable USB plug is snugly fitted inside the case with a fairly sturdy slide release that locks into place at full-extension. This prevents any of those annoying situations where you evert the plug, go to push it into the socket only to find it retracting back, as though afraid, so you have to perform a feat of extreme dexterity to hold the plug extended while also shoving it firmly into place. This was a breeze to use, and worked magnificently, even under rough handling.

Stylish, the matt black, semi-rubberised feel of the case combined with the shiny metallic racing blue trim gives it a real nice look and feel sure to compliment any executive or technician's desk. With the addition of a small keyring loop through the supplied lanyard hole, and a small matching blue metallic carabiner clip, I keep mine clipped discretely to my belt for those on-the-go moments when I need storage within reach but am travelling light. Personally, I can't stand lanyards... always swinging into my way when I lean forwards, or digging into my chest if I tuck them into my shirt.

Now, down to more quantitative matters... the speed and performance. For a start, as I mentioned, this is a very sturdy, durable unit. I dropped this one from heights of up to 6m onto concrete, and it suffered no more than a few scratches and a small dent in one corner. It still operated at peak performance, and hadn't lost any data. Most impressive, since I was expecting *at least* a split case! To really punish it, after all the other tests had been concluded... I ran it over with my car... twice. Still no faulty operation, but it's no longer the stylish status symbol it started out as. Shame that, really.

Speed... well, it promotes itself as being able to do 20megs a sec write and 30megs a sec read... so it was timed using 2 sets of data... a 600meg CD image to test sequential data transfers, and a 1gig batch of assorted files (mp3's, images, Photoshop files, soundclips, and text files). Each read/write test was performed 10 times, and the averages calculated from there. The results were pretty amazing. Keeping in mind that the speeds listed on packaging are usually obtained under ideal, laboratory conditions, and the real world tends to be far from ideal, I usually assess a unit to be 'up to the hype' if it gets 80% or better of published speeds. With the unit averaging a 19.6meg per sec write speed, and a 28.7meg per sec read speed, I would have to say this unit really does deserve the name "Hyper".

Overall, a stunning unit... far from being the cheapest, but excellent value for money. If you want your data to survive almost anything, and still be able to transfer it in or out at top speed, then this is certainly a unit worth considering. As much as it pains me to say, this is even faster than Sandisk's Ducati-branded pendrive... though not *quite* as stylish.