Home > Consumer Reviews > Corsair 16 GB Flash Voyager GT USB 2.0 Flash Drive - CMFUSB2.0-16GBGT

Major disappointment.
Not an SLC memory module like all previous GTs but MLC cheaper and slower memory. If formated under fat32 (default) has mediocre write speed. Nothing to resemble GT. To be honest, read speed is very very good in any situation.

But what is the point for 16Gb not being capable of files larger than 4GB (i.e. backups, DVD images etc). So one must format NTFS. Write times rise x3!! For small files, it's a tragedy. A sizeable directory that required 1 min to be written to the 8GB GT, needed 11 min to the 16GB (pseudo)GT.

Disgraceful. See "askcorsair" site, where they offer refund to all that purchased before March 30.

Panouli,
Salonika, Central Macedonia, Greece

Write performance of my 16 GB GT unit is only maximum 8,9 MB/seconds with very big files. With small files, it drops to even less than 2 MB/sec. This is completely unacceptable for device of this class. Running Portable Firefox 3 off this USB disk is several times slower than off my old Kingston Elite 1 GB (the Elite writes small files in big quantities up to 10 times faster). Read speed is good at 29 MB/sec.

Looking around the net and Corsair support forum there seem to be quite lot of disappointed people. This product seems quite a rip off to me, nothing like fast 8 GB version (that used different kind of flash memory).

Corsair representative in their support forum claims that write speed of 16 GB GT device should be about 13-16 MB/sec, but I don't believe there are so many faulty devices out there, many people are reporting in 7-8 MB range as mine.

My first encounter with a Corsair product and complete disappointment.

This is a high capacity drive and is best suited for large files. For reading it's performance is outstanding, I clocked at 27-30 mbps. The write performance is disappointing and very much subpar when writing many small files in succession. However when writing larger files, it is OK and in some cases a bit better than other similarly large devices, including those made by Corsair.

I think some people have assumed that "GT" means some particular performance in smaller capacity GT drives. GT to me means a Corsair drive that is better than the non-GT corsair drive IN THE SAME CAPACITY. This is exactly that.

Performance measurement of flash drives is very difficult to do fairly. A drive can have excellent performance for some of its address range and several times poorer performance in some other. Also, it can have different performance across different file sizes and formats. Many flash manufacturers make statements of high performance that are really maximums for some limited part of the drive. This is deceptive and Corsair has not made such claims. So, when comparing this to another drive, be careful of the claims and concerns as they might not apply to your use.

I am satisfied with this drive though I think there is room for improvement too. I'd like to see a 16gb that performs as well as the 8gbgt but is 16gb. This is not that drive but it definitely performs better (overall) than the less expsensive Corsair 16GB in the non GT configuration.

If you are on a budget, or if you wish to store a very large number of small files on a large device then I would recommend the non-GT 16gb corsair. If you are storing large files and want to access them quickly (for example software installs) then this is probably the best drive for the buck you can get.

It does what it says: holds 16GB. But I'm afraid the GT designation is meaningless, at least on the machines I've tried it - the access speed is a pretty constant 1.5 MB/s, the same as most vanilla USB flash drives I've tried. I'm pretty sure my hardware isn't the sticking point, as my relatively prehistoric 1GB Lexar JumpDrive happily transfers at over 5MB/s.
I've tried reformatting it as NTFS, and that made no difference at all. If I'd known it would be just as slow as a regular drive, I'd have saved $30 and got the non-GT version.

I have owned the 8GB version, and the 4GB version. I think this one was made differently because I get lower read/write rates than my 4GB. I still enjoy the fast speeds, but I think I might buy the Non-GT version (Blue) if I keep going with this series. I definitely like the covering for protecting this thumb drive. It's easy to grip, easy on the eyes, comes with a lanyard, but I just keep it in my pocket with the lanyard attached so I don't worry about it falling out. I don't use the TrueCrypt that comes on the thumb drive pre-loaded. I formatted it, and put PortableApps on it. Very responsive thumb drive with a blue LED that doesn't drive me crazy. The Blue LED isn't as bright as some I've seen. I sometimes get frustrated with three things: the covering is pretty bulky meaning it's hard to put into computers with 2 USB Ports stacked on each other (like every single Dell computer), so you either end up taking the other USB out, or putting it in slanted if you can fit it. The second con that I see about this thing is the cap. You can't attach it in any way. So if you lose it, that's it. The last thing I don't really appreciate is not having a "read-only" toggle. Viruses these days are so rampant, and I hate not being able to "suit up" before plugging it into a suspicious computer. If this drive had a read-only toggle, I would definitely have to give it 5 stars, and it would be my number one choice of thumb drive without reserve.

Overall: A little upset that it didn't perform as fast as the previous Voyager GT series. Great look and feel. Very portable and also keeps out all the dust and grime from daily use. Never had an error reading/writing to this. Wish it had a toggle for read only. If you're looking for a thumb drive that's priced decently, holds a ton of information, and can survive 15 months in Iraq, this is the thumb drive for you. Field tested, Soldier approved.