Home > Consumer Reviews > Kingston DataTraveler I - 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive DTI/4GB

After opening the package, I popped my DTI/4GB into a USB port and copied a number of relatively small files to it (310 files totalling 5.1 mb). It took a full 2 minutes (that's 44 kBps), which was slow enough to convince me I'd gotten a lemon (I copied the same files to my old Sandisk Cruzer 1 gb in 20 seconds). After a couple emails to tech support, Kingston advised me to return it for a new one.

The new one arrived quickly, but performed identically to the old one. For kicks, I installed Sandra 2008 and benchmarked the device's performance. I found that, for small files (512 B), the transfer rate was barely 1 kBps. I contacted Kingston support again, this time providing more details about my testing and the benchmark results I'd gotten out of Sandra. The tech confirmed that this is a low-end device, that the slowness I was experiencing was normal, and that I probably should have sprung for something in their DTS line (too rich for my blood).

Now the good news. If you don't tend to copy a lot of small files, you'll probably be perfectly happy with this device. Once the file size gets to about 256 kb, writes to this drive speed up nicely. Reads are always fast. And tech support was exemplary. My only other complaint would be that the cheap plastic case does not inspire confidence.

No matter how you look at it, however, this is not a 5-star item by any stretch of the imagination. Not even for the money.

This thumb drive is exactly what I wanted. Cheap, reliable, and without some kind of vendor supplied crapware that automatically runs when you insert the drive.

I use truecrypt for creating/using an encrypted partition. Works fine, but one word of warning. Format the encrypted partition as FAT. An NTFS partition running on a thumb drive can have dismount issues. Eventually, those issues will trash the partition.

I've run this drive for a month now and it has been fine even though it bangs around in a pocket with phone, knife, change, etc. A corsair drive failed after a few days of this treatment.

I found this thumb drive to be a very good one. It is 4GB, so it holds a large amount of data, and software. It is relatively tough, I have carried it in my backpack and have had NO problems with it. Also, I just bought a new laptop with Vista, and it works wonderfully! However, I also bought a Sandisk 4GB Titanium Drive and it was not compatible with my new laptop. Overall, I love this Kingston drive!

Good capacity, compact, cheap, from a known company with a reputation for reliability. I bought this as a backup device. It will fit easily not only into a pocket, but also into someone else's fire-resistant offsite file space. Data retention on these devices is supposed to be good, and with a batch of these, I never have to worry about where to keep an extensive backup set - they'll slip into a safe deposit box (unlike a stack of CD's) or into spaces between papers in a fire-proof cabinet. Unlike DVD-R's they have an establshed track-record on long-term data retention and will not be damaged by laying up against other objects in a drawer that may cause minor but destructive warps to a DVD.

Kingston, I've found, is more Mac-friendly than Sandisk or Lexar, and this 4-gig lightweight over-achiever literally shatters capacity and price barriers (remember when you couldn't get 128 mb for under fifty bucks?). No problems with performance--provided you can find the thing or don't inadvertently throw it out with a chewing gum wrapper. Your best bet is to attach it to a key ring, the sooner the better. But now comes the other, admittedly lesser, of the challenges: hanging on to the cover. If you attached the drive to a key ring or lanyard, the challenge is now even greater since the back part of the device won't be available for attachment of the cap.

One solution: spend an extra five bucks for the slightly larger Kingston drive with identical capacity and a retractable USB connection. Problem: it has no ring or hole--nothing to attach a key or neck chain to. Another solution: pick up the deeply discounted Sandisk Cruzer for twenty bucks. Problem: much of the memory is used up by Sandisk's gratuitous programs which, moreover, are not designed for Mac-compatibility.

I'm still waiting. In the meantime, maybe I'll get lucky and come across my latest Kingston that's MIA.

[Later: Transcend makes an affordable retractable flash drive (JetFlash V10) that attaches easily to a key ring and is noticeably faster in transferring files than this Kingston. Moreover, it's Mac-friendly, since its Vista software appears in the drive only if you choose to install it.]