Design
Despite the "micro" moniker, the Cruzer Micro is only a hair shorter than the Cruzer Crossfire. That said, both of the SanDisk flash drives are tangibly smaller than Lexar's JumpDrive Lightning and Mercury -- an impressive feat, given that they all offer identical capacities.
The Micro is a well-designed device, doing away with the easy to lose, fragile cap that typically covers the USB connector. Instead, the connector retracts into the unit's body, which in our opinion is a great design decision.
Aesthetically, the Micro's look is a tad more professional than that of the Crossfire. It's mostly black, with white labelling and a matching black lanyard.
Features
The Micro's standout feature is by far its support for U3. U3 is a software platform that transforms your USB key into a device that does much more than simply carrying data. With U3, you're able to store your favourite software applications (e-mail, web browser, word processor, music playback software, etc) -- including all software and Windows preferences -- and launch them directly from the drive, on any Windows 2000, XP or Vista machine. This is done without modifying any files on the host PC whatsoever, and once you remove the USB key from the machine, all of your data leaves with you.
U3 is bound to come in super-handy for those that use more than one computer on a regular basis, share a computer with other people or are using a machine without access to admin privileges. The last case is particularly poignant, as if you're on a machine but don't have admin access, you're unable to install any software whatsoever.
A full list of U3 applications can be found on the U3 Software Central Web site. Some are freeware, while others must be purchased after the trial period. There's quite an extensive list there, including Skype, Firefox, Thunderbird, Winamp, and a huge variety of games such as Party Poker. Once installed, the applications are accessed through the U3 dashboard, which uses the familiar design of the Windows start menu.
Another cool U3 feature is the ability to synchronise personal data (e.g. My Documents and browser favourites) and Outlook e-mail with your main machine, ready to take with you on your travels.
Prices of these drives has dropped dramatically since we first reviewed them, and the price of the 1GB is now less than half its original price of $100. This makes this drive an excellent buy.
Performance
Our performance tests involved recording read and write speeds using 32KB, 256KB, 2MB and 64MB files, which are typical of file sizes that are most often copied to flash drives. We recorded read/write speeds of 10075/646KBps, 15953/3371KBps, 16657/5393KB/sec and 16384/6554KB/sec respectively.
These results are quite impressive, with the Micro offering slightly slower read speeds than the Cruzer Crossfire, but faster write speeds. Both still pale in comparison to the more expensive Lexar JumpDrive Lightning, but beat out the Lexar JumpDrive Mercury quite comfortably.
Finally, even though U3 has applications running off the flash disk as opposed to the computer's hard disk, we didn't notice any tangible increase in latency.
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nagg
09/06/2008, 12:45 AM
rating
3/10
freezes up our Dell PC but not Compaq laptop or kids school computers...??? why??? don't really see the point of the software - it's a thumb drive - all we want to do is to transport info between computers - not irun the freaking software on every machine within a 5 mile radius !!!!!!
Pros: retractable, on special so good $$$ for 4GB
Cons: freezes up computers, we feel like this is a conspiracy for every computer we come in contact with to be 'touched' by the sandisk u3 software..... dont' know why it freezes dell... it's not that old, has AMD athlon chip and runs fast ..... wTF???
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Timberwolf131
15/03/2008, 08:42 PM
rating
10/10
Great USB in general. Had the 2GB version for well over 16 months and couldnt be happier.
Pros: Sleek black appearance, matches my samsung slider phone.
U3 extremely useful.
Retractable USB head great feature and impressively sturdy.
Cons: I didnt by the 4GB Titanium version?
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S7i0r
04/01/2008, 01:47 AM
rating
2/10
Im really disappointed with this pendrive! I though that sandisk has quality, but the fact, that my cruser again and again disconnects is really BAD!! My previous traxdata pendrive was much better with 128Mb! I havent found any info about this bug, nad it really disturbs me. It happens while Im defragmenting the drive or copy some data over the size of 3-400Mb.
As soon as I can get an another pendrive from another manufacturer in my preferred size, I will destroy this piece of sh*t. This pendrive is not worth a cent.
Pros: speed, size, design
Cons: VERY bright orange led, the thing that the drive DISCONNECTS! argrhgrhgr Im really angry about that. There was a time as I was trying to copy a single cd to the drive, and finally it was successfull after 40-45 attempts. Really disappointing...
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LReiss
27/09/2007, 12:45 PM
rating
2/10
Warning! License fee not disclosed.
Of all the comments that have been posted, I don't think I have seen any in regards to the lack of disclosure of a licensing fee for the CruzerSync software. I purchased one of these, and one of the things that was appealing was the CruzerSync software that is loaded on the memory. I was quite surprised when I got home and found that the version on the Cruzer is only a 30 day trial version. To continue to use it, you need to purchase it for $39.95. I could not find any information in regards to this on the packaging, or any of the web sites that sell the product. Deep in the SanDisk FAQ web page I finally found a comment about it. I even called the company to confirm that it was only a trial version. They did confirm it. I returned the device. Personally, I find that this is quite deceptive on the part of SanDisk. If the software is only a trial version, it should be stated on the packaging or on the products information web page.
Pros: Product looks good, as described.
Cons: Undisclosed license fee.
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smiracle1
24/08/2007, 12:24 AM
rating
3/10
Nice features, but it tries to access two drives simultaneously (E and F), so if you have your F drive networked where you are working without admin rights to disconnect it, this device will not work.
Pros: Nice software and features.
Cons: Completely useless if you do not have admin rights to add/disconnect drives.
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johnjc
03/08/2007, 02:46 AM
rating
2/10
Acceptable product in so far as it is a reasonably priced USB drive.
Pros: Reasonably priced, especially on sale.
Cons: Bought for advertised U3 progam SignupShield. Noting on package states its extremely limited crippleware. Customer support says "sorry". False Advertising if you ask me.
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Rip the Jacker
07/07/2007, 11:52 PM
rating
8/10
It is interesting to seel how many lamers can't post an objective review.
I have owned many USB flash drives and would currently rate this as one of the best. It is acceptable write and read speed. Good value and bonus U3 software for those who wish to install it Sandisk have taken the safe approach that the drive should be ejected after each session.
Bootup is a little slow due to the virtual CD but still workable. If the U3 software is not needed it can be eaasily removed and you have a standard flash drive. A bootable option would be nice.
Pros: Great value
Compact robust design
Retractable connector
Easily seen activity light
Good file transfer rate
Great U3 programs inc. Firefox/Thunderbird
Security option
Cons: Little wide for some front USB ports
No lanyard with new models
Not bootable (as far as I can tell)
No NTFS or FAT32 support
If security is enabled and PW lost there is no way to recover data
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Mort
06/07/2007, 07:18 PM
rating
2/10
Removed U3 instantly... Still, when formatting it freezes. A quick format succeeds but still disconnects at random intervals (usually while copying).
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Greg
06/07/2007, 08:08 AM
rating
9/10
Great! Retractable connectors pretty sweet and the u3 software is actually cool.
Pros: - U3
- Retractable connector
Cons: - It does freeze up some computers. Looking at Sandisk's site though, there are some things you can do to try to fix it.
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noname00
09/06/2007, 04:11 AM
rating
10/10
Great. I like the U3 software, witch can be removed or deactivated.
Pros: Speed, design, U3 software.
Cons: none so far
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