1.0 Introduction

What has been for years the mostly used system for the transport of the data is almost entirely disappeared. It has left the place to the CD and the DVDs, with an ever bigger capacity and ever lower prices, with the possibility of to memorize in a disk a quantity of data that 20 years ago we could imagine with difficulty. Comfortable, versatile, but how many times has you scratched the dvds for the hurry or because the bag was too much bulky? And how many times the quantity of data you had to transport was very inferior to the real capacity of a dvd? Ok, there are the rewritable disks, but the speed of burning is reduced and to cancel them (completely) it is still a very slow operation.

These are only some of the factors that explain the boom of the USB flash drives, that represents today the supports more simple and fast for the transport of the data. The advantages? Not little. The possibility to cancel and to write the data endless times, the very little dimensions of the supports and the small cost, makes this solution the most diffused and desirable for the one who needs to transport data in economy and in all safety, with a real least encumbrance. It's true, also the flash memories have an ended life as all the electronic devices but the maximum value of cycles of writing is so high that will be difficult to assist to the death for old age of a flash drive. Clearly the story changes if you totally make an inconsiderate use of the flash drive: if you undertake deeply you will succeed in destroying also these devices, but who uses them for necessity should well know as to treat them.

Crucial has recently extended its own line of flash drive introducing the "Overdrive" based on the best of the current flash technology. The new drives have an identical form to the precedents, but they are recognizable over that from the name, also from the colors: in fact it is possible to choose among white or shiny black for the new models overdrive. To a difference of color it also corresponds one light difference of technology. In fact the black version also includes a safety software for the protection of the data and it is a bit more expensive.

1.1 Gizmo! Overdrive, the small splinter

The new Overdrive, based on NAND chips as their predecessors, have declared speeds of 25MB/s in reading and 13MB/s in writing, speeds more than doubled in comparison to the preceding generation and to the greater part of the pen drive in commerce.

Official Technical Specifications

• Write speed up to 13MB/s (80X);

• Read speed up to 25MB/s (160X);

• USB 2.0 flash drive;

• Dual-channel controller for high-performance data transfer;

• Small form factor — 64 mm by 20 mm (68 mm by 20 mm with cap);

• Rapidly flashing LED indicates when data is transferring;

• Plug and Play — no drivers required;

• Security software provides password protection, 256kb Blowfish-level encryption, and hide function;

• Available in 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB densities.

General System Requirements

• Microsoft Windows 2000 and above;

• Mac OS 9.1 and above;

• Linux kernel 2.2.19 and above;

• Available USB 1.1 or 2.0 USB port.

System Requirements for Hi-Speed (USB 2.0) Performance

• Microsoft Windows 2000 and above;

• Mac OS 9.1 and above;

• Linux kernel 2.2.48 and above;

• Available USB 2.0 port.

System Requirements for Security Software

• Microsoft Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4) and above (security software is not supported for Mac or Linux).

The Crucial Gizmo! drive is available on Crucial's Web site in the following densities: 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB.

In the next page we will give a visual inspection of this Crucial Gizmo! Overdrive 2Gb sample.

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Visual Inspection

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