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Reviews will stay in this journal. I may still ask for advice in this journal, as well.

However, anything else - especially stuff in my life, is moving to my blog: http://score5ot.blogspot.com/

Yeah, there's not much in there yet...

My Kingston UFD died today, after the connector getting bent about a month ago..

I opened it up, and looked inside. This is a quick sketch in Paint of the connector now...

I tried using my soldering iron, but couldn't get it in the area, and couldn't get the broken wires hot enough to melt the solder... Any suggestions?

I can't find my old Lexar UFD to steal the connector from, or I'd remove the whole USB connector from the Kingston drive and solder down the Lexar's.

I've googled like hell today, looking for a free OBEX file transfer program for Windows 95 (long, long story - it appears Nokia uses OBEX for IR file transfer, and the PC Suite is too big and requires Win98). Here are my requirements (quite simple, really):

It needs to fit on one floppy disk - I DON'T want to mess with ZIP spanning, and floppies are the only way to get data on and off of this computer (no CD drive).
It needs to be somewhat easy to use.
It needs to be able to list files on the device (I don't know how hard that is).
It needs to grab files from the device, but not necessarily send them to the device.

If anybody can think of a program that can meet my needs, PLEASE REPLY!

Cost: $28.00 (ZipZoomFly.com, 2005-05-03)
Approx. $0.11/MB

Package: Drive only

Included software: SecureTraveler

Drive features: Minimal

Drive speed: USB 2.0
Read: Fast (11MB/s theoretical)
Write: Fast (7MB/s theoretical)

Cap retention:
New: Excellent

Physical durability: Very good

Electronic durability: Good, but read the update

Physical Size: Thick, but still fits in a dual-stack port.

Power consumption: 100mA according to Windows XP SP1, but my Belkin USB 1.1 hub (which I can't get WinXP to recognize as a powered hub - only as an unpowered) doesn't have enough power to drive it, even though it is rated as 100mA per port when in unpowered mode.

Upshot: This'll get updated, but here's what I have to say now. It seems like a VERY solid drive, with many good design characteristics. However, ZipZoomFly has an error on their product page for this drive - they say it includes a lanyard (which was one of the reasons I chose this particular drive - I'm never going back to storing the drive in my pocket), but it does not. Actually, I'm going to go on a limb and say that Kingston changed the product itself, because Kingston's page has the same description, except without the "with lanyard". FWIW, it's not like it'll cost a lot to get a lanyard for it...

Update 2005-06-04: The drive is broken :-( The USB connector got bent about a month ago (I HATE laptop USB ports...), and the connector finally broke on the inside. Read my latest JE for more... FWIW, I'm NOT attributing this one to poor engineering, but rather carelessness on my part. A friend who had a 512MB SanDisk Cruzer Mini did the same exact thing to hers. Mine lasted for a month after it happened, so not so bad...

Cost: $34.99 - $10 MIR = $24.99 (Office Depot, 2004-12)
Approx. $0.10/MB

Package: Drive, lanyard, two extra caps

Included software: CruzerLock v1.1 (SanDisk is now offering a larger software bundle)

Drive features: Minimal

Drive speed: USB 2.0
Read: Fast
Write: Slow
No manufacturer theoretical speeds available

Cap retention:
New: Good
After 1 month: Poor
After 3 months: Very Poor

Physical durability: Good

Electronic durability: Good

Physical Size: Very slim - fits in a dual-stack port

Power consumption: >100mA (requires a powered port)

Upshot: I would buy another of these, but I would be much more careful with the caps. Those figures on cap retention are with load balancing all three caps, and they still wore down that quickly. Also, the power consumption worries me a bit. Durability testing didn't go long, because the drive got stolen.