SanDisk Cruzer® Titanium (1 GB) USB 2.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ3-1024-A10)

It is safe to say that flash drives have taken over the market -- at least compared to most other removable media like floppy disks, zipdrives and even CDs. Size, reliability and speed are major arguments in favor of flash drives, but also ease of use as most computers these days have USB ports and most operating systems don't even need specific drivers anymore to use flash drives.

With the technology maturing, the fast paced technical development starts to step into background and allow other features like design have center stage. The Cruzer Titanium attempts to meet the needs of demanding customers regarding speed and design.


Note: For updates please skip to the end of the review! (i.e. reliability issues)


MAIN FEATURES

Housing: It's skinny but by no means short as the dimensions of 8.5mm x 20.8mm x 74.8mm (H x W x L) show. The stylish body material is called "Liquidmetal" which is claimed to withstand crush forces in excess of 2000 lbs. The USB drive is retractable with the housing functioning as a shroud for the connector when not in use.
Rating: ****-

LiquidMetal: The name is a reference to LiquidMetal Technologies - manufacturer of Titanium (Ti) and Zirconium (Zr) based alloys that claim to be stronger than stainless steel. While it sounds like overkill, it may give you the assurance that even a pick-up truck may roll over it without crushing it -- in theory. However there have been reports that the housing halves come apart with little or no effort. In my case that was fortunately not seen.
Rating: n/a

Design: The Laser etched graphics and satin finish are a nice touch and almost worth the money alone. The retractable USB connector is good idea to prevent loosing the dust cap, but the device is somewhat on the longish side ans still prone to collecting lint. The distinctive (bright) blue LED is really cool, though single sided placement is less ideal than SanDisk's own MiniCruzer (back). Overall, the Titanium color and slim design with subtile markings look very classy and go well with a sophisticated outfit. (a la "What not to wear")
Rating: ****-

Accessories: Included are both a lanyard neckstrap and a clip to hold it securely in your shirt pocket (or computer bag). I have to admit that I wonder who uses a neckstrap anyway, but if you do the the included version is well made. The clip is different. It appears to be a good idea, but the slide-on design comes off way too easily and doesn't provide the retention I was looking for. Nevertheless, the material has amazing flexural properties as it is very hard to bend for a tighter fit. Hence I am using neither solution.
Rating: ***--

Software: "CruzerLock2" provides 448 bit AES/Blowfish encryption on the flash drive and fortunately does not require administrator rights on the computer to use it. Very good! "CruzerSync" allows to sync Outlook and My Documents folder and keep your data up-to-date. Well, if you need that. "PocketCache" performs scheduled backups despite the somewhat misleading name. Just like CruzerSync I typically don't use either tool as my desktop typically provides the backup of the data anyway. However, CruzerLock comes in very handy! [Either program runs on Windows only.] A data recovery tool is optional and unfortunately not included in the Titanium package.
Rating: ****-

Performance: The Cruzer is Hi-Speed USB 2.0 certified (backwards compatible to USB 1.1 ports with reduced performance) and as such not limited by the interface which theoretically can transmit up to 480 Mbit/s (or 60 MByte/s). Despite using that dream number often for advertisement, flash memory typically gets nowhere close. SanDisk fortunately rates the Cruzer at real performance: 9 MB/s write and 15 MByte/s read. The latter is the online number as the package actually only claims 13 MByte/s.

Sandra 2005 Benchmark
FileSize: Read / Write [MByte/s]
- 512 Byte: 0.36 / (1.5 kByte/s)
- 32 kByte: 10.3 / 0.1
- 256 kByte: 15.4 / 0.76
- 2 MByte: 16.9 / 2.44
- 64 MByte: 17.0 / 7.4

Comparison: Lexar JumpDrive Secure
FileSize: Read / Write [MByte/s]
- 512 Byte: 0.6 / (2 kByte/s)
- 64 MByte: 8.7 / 4.3

Naturally, performance is best at larger file sizes and the Cruzer has no problem exceeding the claimed 13 MByte/s read performance starting already with relatively small files (256 kByte). Writing, however, falls short of the claimed 9 MByte/s even at larger files. So I took a folder with typical data files from my EOS 20D (even mix of 4 kByte and 8 MByte) totalling 200 MByte and copied that to and from the Cruzer. Writing took 55 seconds (3.6 MByte/s) and reading only 15 seconds (13.3 MByte/s). Copying a single large file (WinXP SP2 Offline Install, 266 MByte) clocked in at a very respectable 9.5 MByte/s for writing and 17.7 MByte/s for reading. Overall, I feel that reading performance is great but writing stayed well below expectations under normal use.
Rating: ****-


SUMMARY

Design is the most important feature of the Cruzer Titanium flash drive and it sure looks elegant and classy -- though a little bit on the longish side. Slim metal casing = cool!

The included encryption software works great and is also suitable for corporate use where users often don't have administrator rights. I don't use the other 2 programs, and I would have rather had the data rescue tool included.

Performance is a minor letdown when focusing on the Write speed but reading is excellent. The Titanium sure doesn't beat the typical small-file-inefficiencies either. However, to perform significantly worse than the Lexar JumpDrive Secure when copying very small files was a surprise to me.

Overall, the Cruzer Titanium is cool but handicapped by a few shortcomings: The housing is longer than average and much so compared to Imation's miniscule "Swivel Flash". The blue LED is not only oriented, but also confusingly reversed as it lights up when the drive is not in use and flickers when reading or writing. The included accessories are near useless to me, though I really would like to be able to use the clip (superglue?).

Nevertheless, looks and the slider feature are great and performance in most cases good. Since I got it for $74 there is little to complain about mid of 2005 and it's spaceous and stylish enough to stick with me for a few years to come.

© 2005, theuerkorn


UPDATES

[11-Oct-2005] - I recently lent the Cruzer to a friend of mine who tried to use it on his Windows 98 laptop. While it may have been his fault to not have the proper driver installed, it also revealed a potential problem with the Cruzer's electronics. It apparently broke and Windows wasn't able to recognize the drive anymore. (Error message: "USB Device Not Recognized") It took a few days to have my support case processed. Then the RMA has been issued and Sandisk replaced the item without much fuss. The replacement had a new clip included which now fits nicely. Aggrevating but nice recovery.

[18-Apr-2006] - After a series of unexplained lockups (crashes) of my computer upon plugging the Cruzer in, the Flash Drive itself apparently reached its expiration date and broke the same way. Just this time in the same WinXP computer I have been using it with every day until now. Another RMA has been issued and the replacement is in the works. While Sandisk is very courteous it really gets old to have it filled with sensitive material (work) and send it in broken without the certainty that the data is truly "lost". (Should have used the included encryption tool!) So there goes another star in the rating. Sandisk suggests to always unmount the Cruzer Titanium before unplugging it. The electronics seem much more sensitive than any other Flash Drive I ever used (typically SanDisk or Lexar). (Hence, shutting down the power to it before unplugging might be a good idea. From that perspective it makes sense that the LED is on when plugged in.) -> I received the even replacement 3 weeks later.


FURTHER READING

- Lexar JumpDrive Secure, 512 MB

- http://www.liquidmetal.com/technology/