KingMax 8GB Super Stick =NEW Microsoft Vista Boost Certified= USB Drive. **Washer and Dryer SAFE!

List Price: $49.75 Discount Price: $15.75

Features:

• NEW 50% Faster Transfer Speeds with Vista Boost
• Worlds tiniest USB Drive
• Washer and Dryer SAFE!
• Worldwide patented PIPTM packaging technology
• USB 2.0 compatible

Customer Reviews:

I Approve [Posted on 2008-09-06]
It was time to replace my 2 Gig thumb drive, and durability was a factor. This little device seemed promising (although as a friend pointed out, it's more of a thumbnail drive than a thumb drive), and it was priced very competitively. I'm glad I bought it.

I laughed when I read words like "stylish" and "sleek" in the marketing description (it's a tool!), but those words are surprisingly relevant. When I use it, it often becomes a topic of conversation, and I enjoy showing it to other geeks (who usually want to know where they can get one).

I've had no issues with the device's reliability or durability, but I haven't stress tested it.

Another reviewer mentioned a couple "negative" points that are worth considering:
1. It does go in horizontal USB slots upside-down from the way I initially guessed--the printing goes face-down. Since it doesn't have the usual USB housing, you can easily insert it incorrectly. Doing so causes no damage though--it's just a minor initial usability issue.

2. Its size and weight make it easy to forget or drop without noticing, so it's probably a good idea to attach it to something else you carry with you.

Those characteristics aren't necessarily problems, but it helps to be aware of them.

DOA within a month [Posted on 2008-09-17]
Small as advertised. Can be confusing on which way to insert when being put in a USB drive (unlike most thumb drives, it will go into a drive either "right side up" or the opposite). Not a big deal if you use only one or two computers, but computer manufacturers do not install their drives in only one direction across the brands. The drive did come with a small rubber plastic case which would have been a great carry option if it wasn't pink...?

The primary reason I am writing this review is that I inserted the drive into a work computer today and "nada". Same thing here at home. Drive has stayed in my wallet, not run through a washer, etc. Obviously unsatisfactory for a thumb drive (even generics are noteworthy for their reliability). Perhaps, this is atypical for this manufacturer-or not-, but less than one month of light use rates the one star I am giving it.

Great product - surreal packaging - terrible lanyard [Posted on 2008-09-25]
The Kingmax 8GB super stick is better than its predecessors, in that it has a hardened form factor. I can't vouch whether it is washer-dryer safe, but the casing does seem sturdier than other models. According to Vista, its memory write speed is 6-7 mbps - the packaging says only 3mbps write, so I'm happy that they understated the speed (or Vista's metrics are inaccurate - unthinkable!). However, the pink external case shaped like a rorsach test pig is just plain ... surreal. It's not integral to the device, and can be discarded (it's predecessors did not have an external case). I think that the marketing committee at Kingmax may have had one too many during happy hour at the local pub. Buy this product - you'll love it - and then lose it. The plastic spring-shaped lanyard easily breaks (thus I lost the drive a day after I wrote the first part of the review). Remove the springy lanyard, and use the the nylon part, and you'll be OK. When you edit a review, you can't change the star rating, otherwise I'd mod this down to a 1.

KingMax SuperStick [Posted on 2008-10-07]
The first shipment disappointed me because it failed to work within a week of arrival. I couldn't format the drive and the problem only worsened to the point where the drive wouldn't show up in my explorer. I exchanged it and have received the new one today.

It comes packaged with a rubber holder in which you insert the drive. It is a light pink and is shaped like the silhouette of a cartoon girl. Two white dots on the front represent buttons and KINGMAX is in white print on the back. Also packaged is a small double ended lanyard with a rubber spring in between. It seems girly to me and so I don't use it.

The SuperStick is small enough to fit in my wallet and I can transfer 120MB of data in roughly 50 seconds. That's about 2.4 megabytes per second. Windows first calculates a large ammount of time at the beginning of the transfer but becomes quickly smaller and more accurate as the transfer progresses.

Tested on a single core processor 1GB RAM, PC with Windows XP SP3.

STAY AWAY [Posted on 2008-10-08]
I bought the kingmax 8gb super stick thinking it was the last flash drive i would ever need. It worked for one day. It will not be recognized on any of my machines, or my work, or school machines. It was a waste of 25 dollars. I dont suggest this product to anyone.

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