SanDisk's Cruzer Titanium Plus flash drive
By Ryan Block 
posted Jan 2nd 2008 8:00AM
posted Jan 2nd 2008 8:00AM
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I bought an 8GB Sandisk cruzer for just $64 at Circuit City.
You can use it to boot windows XP to an Eee (or many other computers for that matter)
And I can almost bet too that it's not actually made out of Titanium.
No, it's metallic-painted transparent aluminum.
Is this sale still active? $64 for 8GB drive is great.
Why would you want online back up of a USB stick? I personally just keep it backed up on my computer. That way if one goes down I still have the other copy and I can't see both the PC and USB stick failing at the same time.
I'd like it. I keep a USB stick on me always with a carefully-picked assortment of portable apps and tools, which changes whenever I find another useful tool to put on it. I find it inconvenient to create a new backup image of the stick every time I make a change, so the online backup would save me time when I leave the stick hanging off the back of somebody's computer. Buy a new stick, fetch my online-stored backup, and I'm ready to go.
or back it up on your own computer, buy a new stick and you're ready to go.
USB stick backups are as simple as copying the contents elsewhere for safe keeping.
-and is it really 4GB when it's got software and U3 BS on it?
Just more stuff to wipe.
People actually use the U3 crap? Plenty of portable programs out there that don't need U3. http://portablefreeware.com is a good site to find them.
I so agree..I have a 1 G Sandisk from 2 yrs ago and that U3 bs drives me nuts! But 4 GB for $60 - time to upgrade!!
U3 removal tool:
http://www.u3.com/uninstall/
As with anything else, read and proceed carefully.
Make sure you tell 'em why you are removing it too.
Hell get a 4GB here in the UK for around £20 these days.
yeah but if you're a security expert then you know that you have to have 2 copies of everything in two seprate places. so if you lose your stick and your hard drive fails then bam you still have the online thing to. also try carbonite it's online back a really good one cost 50 bucks a year
Still does nothing for you if:
a) you wash the USB stick in the washer (because you forgot it was in your pocket);
b) if you lose it in your house (between the couch cushions or such).
or if you lose the cap.
Yes we want waterproof USB sticks that respond to whistles like the old key finder things.
Have washed my SanDisk Cruzer Micro twice and it came out working fine. Once it had the lanyard attached so I actually unknowingly cleaned it :)
cruzer retractable, it doesn't have a cap. 8GB $79 at walmart 6 weeks ago.
Not to be a hater, but doesn't this sound a little like an ad?
I mean, nothing's really impressive about it, not a good deal, no new features... Why's this news?
Slow news week from looks of it.
Because engadget is a B-L-O-G.
If you want news read a newspaper, and even then you will read about old issues just as well.
But it's "Titanium Plus" and it is gold colored ... you gotta pay extra for these *cool* features. It's like the business card thing in American Psycho, us non-top-5% are just not getting it ;)
Does this use the Liquidmetal amorphous metal alloy casing that the previous Cruzer Titanium drives used?
Yes, very nice usb flash drive.
Happy New Year Everyone.
(i'm actually just posting here to access my profile.)
This is really good flash stick.
But it has (at least to me) one *HUGE* problem: blue LED is so FRIGGING bright, that it makes impossible to use it with my notebook - because the light hurts side seeing of my eyes.
Thus, despite solid performance, I cannot recommend the stick due to bogus HMI.
I would buy one if they offered an 8 gig or even better, a 16 gig version.
I have been very satisfied with the 4 gig version that I have, but this one offers nothing new that I would use.
The U3 software is the first thing I remove from a new flash drive.
Not to be a pessimist, but 'six months free online backup with BeInSync' - surely anything that you would normally use as a backup device that comes with a free subscription to ANOTHER backup devices would make me steer clear of the thing? If they don't think it's safe enough to use as a backup device I'll go elsewhere for one...
SanDisk found a way to use up their left-oversupply of 2 GB chips...
I agree. When you can buy a 16gb Corsair card for less than $100 why would you buy a Cruzer? Titanium. You don't need it. You just think you do.
These are great USB sticks. I'm not particularly impressed with the gold color etc, but I love my 4GB Titanium. I saw on TV too they tested these and a few others in a bit tongue-in-cheek manner - they taped them to the bottom of a boot and then they ran up a rocky hillside, through a swamp (it was totally submerged and the guy was running on it) and then shook the water out of it and plugged it into a notebook and it worked... not too shabby for a non-waterproof stick.
Keep mine on the keychain and that works very nicely.
I would like them to make a USB Flash drive with a built in STUN GUN - charged via USB.
I have a black 4gb cruzer that I got on sale for $25 from Staples. I purchased it originally for readyboost, but I love it so much I'm just going to buy another 4gb for readyboost. It's tough as heck, has no cap to lose and is exemplary in it's performance compared to other flash drives i've dealt with. I think many people are missing the point of online backup and lost and found services on a flash drive. Many people store very important information on their flash drives...documents, programs, passwords, etc. and then lock them down with encryption etc. Sure you probably have the info on your PC or Laptop as well, etc. but it's nice to know that your backup is redundant and online - ie: being on your portable key drive and also online, so just in case you lose your flash drive on the way to wherever, chances are you can grab your files back online. The lost and found service isn't so great and depends on alot. If a real thief gets a hold of your drive chances are if it doesn't work right away it's in the garbage soon, rendering the L&F useless. While neither service necessarily warrants the price of the drive, they're at least nice additions for people who would make good use of them. BeInSync is a really good service with FAST transfers.
I don't particularly like their Cruzer design for two reasons:
1) The USB connector will sometimes not lock correctly and will retract into the case when I'm trying to insert the stick into my USB port.
2) Even retracted, there's nothing protecting the USB connector in your pocket, so lint and other junk in your pocket can get jammed up into the connector.
A much better design is the integrated flip-around cap like that used by Ativa. Still as compact as the Cruzer, but the cap locks in place on the back when in use and fully protects the connector when in your pocket.
Ever heard of Gdrive!
google it!
ps- it is free!
Yes, thats very useful when I am somewhere without net acess.
So tell me what is the point of having a six months free online backup with BeInSync???
I was talking about the free backup and not the flashdrive.
BeInSync is much faster than GDrive. If you're serious about online backup nothing free is acceptable. Personally, I'm ok with free services, but people who use these things for work as a necessity (gov't, military, some serious IT, etc. etc.) need more robust solutions. For an analogy, lets use vehicles; BeInSync is like a MB SL65 AMG and GDrive is like a Kia Rio...sure, they both get the job done, but the Benz gets it done ALOT faster. You don't really want to have to sit there and wait hours longer than you need to, to backup your data. And as a frame of reference, that's how MOST online backup services justify any kind of subscription, speed and reliability.
Let's compare it with syrup running down an incline, now maple syrup runs faster but apple syrup is cheaper of course.
Guys, I'm using the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium USB drive. (not the Titanium Plus as shown here)
Anyway the drive's casing is made of 'Liquidmetal' check out liquidmetal on wikipedia :)
It's an excellent drive. I love the built in U3 software... it's really a life saver.
Btw, these devices have no caps... the USB connector is retractable.
Why pay $60 for 4GB? Ooooh, metal, wow. - I bought an 8GB for $70 not long ago. I'll stick with my plastic. Of course, if you want to be extra cheap, Micro Center now has their self-branded 8GB stick for only $30!!! Plus, the store gives you a one year warranty so just save your receipt and then if you fry it, just take it back to the store for another one. I've been using their cheapo flash cards for years and have never had a problem....
Guys,
You're not just paying for the Metal (Titanium). These drives are really high speed. 15MB/sec Read and 9MB/sec Write. Awesome stuff.
Also, the cheaper drives don't have U3 and no one should really be using a thumb drive w/o U3 these days...
Cheers.
Not to show off or anything, but this pales in comparison to the 120 Gig USB flash disk picked up this Christmas (Yep - You heard/saw correctly - 120 Gigs of USB goodness) - Of course there are stability issues (goodness going down....), but common - 120 Gigs! :D
Just shows what the Chinese Flash makers are up to hey :) Photo's by request:)
PS - There are alternatives to U3
Where do I find it!!!