SanDisk Cruzer 16GB USB Flash Drive

as with ALL flash drives/sticks, please remember that they will all only work for a LIMITED amount of reads and writes, before eventually giving up and not working at all-this is perfectly normal! they simply do not last forever. when your own stick does eventually give up, you will never be able to get your data back - so only ever use a flash stick to transfer files from one pc to another, and NEVER use a flash stick on its own to store important files, unless you have backup copies of the same files already on your computer. I have had 2 flash sticks (different manufacturers) and both gave up in the end, after around 3 to 4 months of heavy usage. add your files to your stick, but do not delete them from your computer. the only other thing I should mention is that flash sticks are very slow in transferring large files both from and to the stick - so with large 16GB flash sticks, you'll need some patience if you work with alot of large files!

Value for 16GB is excellent. But I agree with DarkTrooper, it is very slow. Consider the SanDisk Cruzer Contour carefully if you do big transfers often. Its more than twice the price but 3 to 4 times faster. Allow about 50 minutes to fill up the 16GB Cruzer Micro. (I was using NTFS copying 4.5GB files). If speed is not a concern then grab this. Retractable USB connector and the U3 software no longer auto-installs but prompts you (full marks SanDisk). Plasticky but very light and fairly rugged. Pop it onto your keyring and forget its there.

My dad bought me one of these when I ran out of space on my other pen drive, and when my spare went missing.

It literally holds everything!
Music, Movies, loads!
I have used this for about 10 months now and have loads of pictures, loads of songs, and loads of documents on (All of my work from Years 7-12) inclusive of coursework etc. I haven't even used half of it yet!
It's truely amazing.

I think this is the same version that I have:

It is password protected, so if anyone gets hold of your pen drive, they cannot copy any work files.
It is also 'retractable'. The silver part of the USB folds into the rest of the pen drive reducing the chance of it breaking.
Normally pen drives are relatively easy to break, but as I said, I have had this for 10 months and it hasn't broken once!

It may be a bit of a nuisance being recognised by some computers, but if it isn't recognised, you just remove it from the USB holder and put it back in. No software is needed for this USB.

I would recommend that you buy this:
Honestly, you think you'll never use a 2GB memory stick for example, and you end up using it up really quickly and have to delete documents to make way for new ones - not a problem with this USB.

Definitely worth paying 16.99 for a 16GB memory stick rather than 6.99 for a 2GB one.

With this pen drive you will probably not need another again, the memory is that good - and it is not prone to breakage.

Recommended by me!

It's just what I hoped it would be! I bought two of these because of the great prices, kept one and gave the other as a holiday gift.

The device is recognised without issue on the Mac and PC's, the data transfer is very fast, the retractable mechanism is great (so far so good).

I've got zero complaints so far, and recommend this above the SanDisk Contour. The Contour was extremely fast, but the retract mechanism failed within 2 months, despite limited use. The drive picture here uses a different mechanism and should avoid those problems.

I wanted the pen to keep backup copies of personal files, but it does so much more, like synchronising a 10gb backup in around 60 secs. However, it is all the other features that are worth the price in itself. Just amazing to be able to plug it into another computer and surf the net, using all of my own favourites and even amend and add to them, without leaving a trace on the machine I am using. Also amazing to send and receive email by downloading from the server (rather than using webmail) when using another machine, again without leaving a trace on that machine, and then return to my own machine and synchronise all the files, with my explorer favourites, personal files and email records all updated, as though all of the work had been done on my own machine. Its also amazing to have a complete and free office suite operating from the pen (worth the money in itself). You have to be careful whenever you create new personal folders on your own machine, that you add these folders to the files that should be synchronised (not necessary for explorer favourites) and its a shame that the pen's technology does not enable the synchronising of two machines together, but then you can't have everything! The help file is somewhat limited, although there is more on their website, and a little trial and error is necessary. Its very small and compact and, if you don't want to use any of the stuff I've mentioned and just use it for file storage, then you just say so during setup and you still have a very fast ,neat and compact conventional USB pen.