http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/ Engadget Comments for SanDisk showcases new Ultra Backup / Cruzer USB flash drives http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 10:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 10:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 12:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 12:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 11:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 10:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 10:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/
disclaimer: I built my own flash chip memory reader & take apart file systems for fun, so if the controller chip goes bad, I know the data wouldn't be totally gone.]]>Jan 5th 2009 11:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/
That said, I've been using a 16GB flash drive as a portable briefcase that syncs with a directory on my computer. That whole (internal) drive is backed up on an external HDD, so the point is convenience, not safety. That's a bonus though; as long as my flash drive is plugged in, my project files stay current, even if something gets borked before my nightly backup runs.

The funny thing is the price premium though. SanDisk is suggesting DOUBLE the $ for the backup version. Well supported, free, portable sync software is readily available to achieve the same thing (without the fancy button of course).]]>Jan 5th 2009 11:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 12:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/I wish I could say i do believe so
but so far, from what I have experienced, i have to say i don't think its a safe way
Flash Drives only good for Transfer
hence this one seems pretty decent with 18mb write speed]]>Jan 5th 2009 11:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/but so far, from what I have experienced, i have to say i don't think I know how to reply
Full comments are not for replying
hence this one seems pretty stupid"
There, I corrected it for you]]>Jan 5th 2009 11:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 10:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/]]>Jan 6th 2009 3:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 10:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 11:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 7:39AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 3:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/
Silly me.]]>Jan 5th 2009 10:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 10:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 11:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 11:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 11:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/sdk_cruzer_angles.jpg]]>Jan 5th 2009 11:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 11:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 5th 2009 11:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 12:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 1:00AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/1 - Those who have no idea what U3 is. Those people get it installed on their system thanks to the trojan-like behavior of the U3 on the stick. But they'll never use any of the features because they don't even know it's there.
2 - Those who know what it is and hate it with a passion. Like myself. I found it on the drive and the first thought was: Format it, gone. But, no. Just like a trojan, you can't just format it away. You have to Google uninstall u3 and go get the official removal tool (Windows only).

This hardware looks nice, terrible shame to sully it with this below-par software.]]>Jan 6th 2009 8:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 2:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/And talking of which, since I have had it disabled for years because I'm not completely insane to that extend I thought I just missed it, but I always assumed that at some point 10 years ago MS would have done an auto-update to disable it and would have added a hidden menu with lots of 'are you sure' popups to re-enable it, but I guess they didn't? What The Hell!

U3 == the activex of the removable devices world.
]]>Jan 6th 2009 3:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/
And come on ... look at their software store homepage: http://software.u3.com/

That looks like something a scammer designed in the 90s. The design is nice in some respects but the rest is just a terrible old joke.]]>Jan 6th 2009 7:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/
WTF? I hate marketing idiots. Shoot them all after we kill the lawyers.

]]>Jan 6th 2009 8:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 2:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/05/sandisk-showcases-new-ultra-backup-cruzer-usb-flash-drives/Jan 6th 2009 3:27PM