Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony Micro Vault Click 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive with Virtual Expander USM8GL

These new "Micro Vaults" by Sony are fun, attractive, and ultimately, usable flash drives. Sizes range from 1 to 16 Gb, and two formats, standard and "turbo" speed, are available for many of these sizes. The "turbo" version costs more than the equivalently sized "standard" version, but at higher storage sizes. the higher transfer speed of the "tubo" version is desirable because the sheer amount of time required to transfer 16 Gb of data to a stick can be daunting.

The new spring-loaded design of thee units is highly functional. The design keeps the metal USB "prong" protected when not in use, and simply grabbing the device to pull it out of the computer into which it has been placed engages the internal spring, which then retracts the plug automatically upon removal. Build quality feels generally good, particularly considering the fact that Sony has reduced the oftentimes outrageous prices they ask for such accessories. The units have an LED light that flashes through a prismatic lens at the end of the device which is a nice touch to the overall design of the device. I own two of these (a 4 Gb and an 8 Gb version), and am delighted with them both. Check out the 16 Gb versions if you want even more space, but remember the issues surrounding transfer speed and the amount of time required to move that amount of data

Pros
1. Highly functional spring loaded function obviates need for a cap
2. Visually attractive design
3. Transfer speed acceptably fast
4. Available in 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 Gb variants

Cons
1. Price is a bit high compared to other brands
2. "Turbo" edition adds even more cost

I received one of these as a gift to replace a 2 gig drive that I lost. I was excited to get so much storage! But after only a couple of months, the drive stopped working. No computer will recognize it even though the light comes on. Now I've lost all my data and I'm pretty angry. I did not abuse it; it was always kept in a padded thumb drive case.

I bought one of these at Staples for $29.99. I have a PNY OPTIMA PRO ATTACHE 2GB drive from a year ago, and it has been great, but I jumped at the chance to get 4 times the storage at the same price a year later!

This SONY was instantly recognized by 2 XP PCs that I tried it on. It has some software pre-loaded on it, but it's inert unless I activate it, which I won't. I just want pure space! I dragged a 4.35GB DVD video file from one of my external drives and dropped it onto the SONY. It took over 15 minutes, but once it was finished I could play it back through Windows Media Player on my PC. I did the same for another file over 1GB. No problem!

I'm satisfied with the MICRO VAULT. I took off one star because it does feel a little flimsier than my PNY. But for the price and ability to transfer monster 4GB files effortlessly, I would have to recommend it!

There's a guy on here who doubts this thing is durable. I beg to differ: mine just went through the washer and drier and survived with data intact.

My first intent for purchasing the Sony Microvault 8gb drive was to transfer files from one computer to another easily, thinking the 8gb is plenty of room. I bought two of these, one for work, one for home.

Usually I uninstall any of the software that comes with a thumbdrive (ie the Sandisk models), but I am glad I did't overlook the Virtual Expander software for this thumb drive. It compact files much more compact then zipping, allowing for this 8gb drive to store up to 20gb of files, compressed. The compression and decompression is quick and simple on a windows machine.

Pros:
*Small, self storing
*Virtual Expander software expands this drive's capacity

Cons:
*The Virtual Expander software only works with windows
*The Virtual Expander software only works with Sony Microvaults
*No way to automatically back up files with the Virtual Expander, it's a manual process
*If only using for the 8gb capacity, a pricey drive compared to others.