While it's a cheap and affordable piece of technology it's also a rather large error to ever buy one of these. If this had happened to just ONE drive I'd probably have said it was a fluke. But THREE drives with in a week of each other is a pattern and why I'll never buy one of these things again. All three of the 8 gb flash drives from this company I bought self corrupted, wiped out all the data on them, and made me loose 3 months of research papers for collage. I'm so far beyond furious at them, and there was no recovering any of the data. I was forced to try to remember three months worth of research and work and start fresh. It wasn't just inconvenient I found out later it was because they use the cheapest materials possible so CARRYING one of these in your pocket can in fact break the internal connections and destroy the drive. I've been using flash drives for over 10 years now, I have owned nearly 30 of them in that time. This was the ONLY time I've ever seen a flash drive to this or ever be made of such shoddy materials that it breaks from carrying it around.

Notsalony

USA

I was in the market for a new flash drive to store my data files on and use them while on the go. I have a bunch for 2gb and 4gb drives, but wanted to take the next step up. After doing my research I settled on the Kingston Datatraveler. The reviews were very positive and I am happy with my purchase. Kingston is a well respected and trusted brand and with good reason. They make high quality products. My first impression when receiving this flash drive is the size. It is compact and tiny. But in a good way. This makes it perfect to take with you on the go. A major plus is that it is compatible with old and new operating systems (XP, Vista, Windows 7, OS X). It is easy to transfer files and the 8gb size is provides ample space. However, I was slightly disappointed with the transfer speeds. It took a long time when copying large files to the flash drive. I was admittedly surprised (and a little disappointed) by the slow transfer speed. As such, I am deducting 1 star from my review. If speed is important to you, I would recommend other drives, such as the Sandisk Cruzer. Update: 10/1/2013. After almost a year of heavy use this little Flash Drive is still going strong. Due to its longevity and value, I would bump up my original review of 4 stars, to 5 stars. When the time comes to buy a new Flash Drive, I shall be re-purchasing this bad boy.

mw10

New York, NY

Bottom-Line: I couldn't ask for a better portable memory product than the ***DataTraveler 8GB 2.0 G3 Flash Drive*.** The ***DataTraveler 8GB 2.0 G3 Flash Drive*** is remarkably small (about 3 inches long), high capacity yellow and white USB Flash Drive with a storage capacity of 8.0GB (about 7.68GB after formatting). On one end of the drive is a male USB connector. Close to it large circular green LED that blinks when the drive is sending or receiving information. A color coordinated plastic cap covers the USB port end of the drive, and a small flimsy lanyard can be attached at the end of the drive. The lanyard has a small ring at the end that can be attached to a key ring. There are no drivers to install, and the drive is compatible with both *Windows Vista* and *Windows 7*, as well as Mac OS X. **ReadyBoost Anyone?** ** ** I purchased the ***DataTraveler 8GB 2.0 G3 Flash Drive*** in order to take advantage of *Windows 7 Enterprise Edition's Ready Boost Technology.* But what is *ReadyBoost*? It is a technology whereby you can increase the RAM capacity of the OS without having to install more SDRAM. *ReadyBoost*--introduced with *Windows Vista*) is disk caching, pure and simple (remember *Windows* Swapfiles?; in other words nothing really new here), only instead of using a hard drive to cache data, *Windows 7* can utilize removable storage such as USB flash drives, SD Media Cards, Compact Flash Cards, and the flash memory technology. By utilizing a *ReadyBoost*-capable flash memory device for caching W*indows 7* can service random disk reads with performance that is typically 80-100 times faster than random reads from traditional SATA hard drives. And that caching routine applies to all disk content, not just the page file, or system files like Dynamic Link Library's (DLL's). When a *ReadyBoost*-compatible device is plugged in a computers' (or monitor) USB or media card reader, the *Windows *AutoPlay dialog box offers an additional option to use the flash drive to speed up the system; an additional ***ReadyBoost*** tab is added to the flash drive's properties menu dialog box wherein the amount of space to be used can be configured; denominations from 250 MB to 256 GB of flash memory can be assigned, and *Windows* 7 then creates a pagefile on the drive in that amount. *Ready Boost* also automatically compresses any data written to the pagefile with a 2:1 compression ratio, so that an 8GB cache could contain upwards of 16 GB of data. *Windows 7* can utilize up to (8) flash memory devices for a maximum of 256GB (512GB with compression) of additional memory. In order for Windows to use the device it must have at least 1ms or less access time; must be capable of 2.5MB/s access (read) speed, and; 1.75MB/s write access speed. * * **Mt Viewpoint** ** ** I love this drive! Light and transparent, the ***DataTraveler 8GB 2.0 G3 Flash Drive*** fits easily into my breast pocket or one of the numerous side and or interior pockets in my laptop case. But because the drive does not include a shirt pocket clip I cannot carry it that way, which is just as well. Unlike other drives I have had in the past the USB port cover fits snuggly on both ends; I have yet to lose one. But, like I stated at the outset, I bought this drive specially to use with *ReadyBoost*, so out of the package I slipped it into one of the front USB 2.0 ports on my desktop computer. The ***DataTraveler 8GB 2.0 G3 Flash Drive ***easily met the* ReadyBoost *requirements and the resulting AutoPlay dialog box allowed me the set the drive up with the technology. I utilize 4GB of the available 8GB. *Windows 7* took less than a minute to create the cache file, afterwards the ***DataTraveler 8GB 2.0 G3 Flash Drive*** became just another drive letter the 3.55GB of available space to read and write from! A quick look at Task Manager did not detect any increase in physical memory and that is to be expected. I couldn't ask for a better portable memory product than the ***DataTraveler 8GB 2.0 G3 Flash Drive*.** Small, affordable, lightweight, versatile, and extremely utilitarian, the ***DataTraveler 8GB 2.0 G3 Flash Drive*** is my new** **my new best friend. If you need a small, versatile, hi-speed, large capacity USB Flash Drive, look no further than this *Flash Drive* by *Kingston*** ***Technology.*

TheBard

Aurora, IL

The three years I've had this little guy without any problems is a pretty good testament to it's quality and efficiency.  I've had several over the years and this is the only one that still works perfectly.  One of the best features it has is that it *doesn*'t have a push button to retract the usb jack.  I hate the retractable feature many usb drives have because it makes it harder to plug into tight ports, and pushes back when you try and stick it in the port. This drive has a lid and the jack is permanently stuck out, and has a hole on the top so you can attach it to a key ring or a lanyard if you want to.  It also loads and transfers files very quickly on my computer.  The price is competeitve and amazon always has good sales on this brand/type so you can pick one up without breaking the bank.  It works on both pc and macintosh computers as long as they have usb 2.0 ports, no formatting required.

Blossyn

Chicago, IL

I bought two of these, one for myself and another for a friend.  These are incredible useful to have around especially given the larger capacity.  Technology has evolved from the time that floppies were used to transfer files between friends, to zip drives and jazz drives, to writable CDs and DVDs, and I believe at this point a large capacity usb flash drive is the best option for storing and transfering documents, images, music, and videos.  Another good benefit to these devices is the newer and faster USB 2.0 conectivity.  Particularly in situations when transfering large amounts of data, the faster usb 2 connection can make a considerable difference.  Note however that this is still compatible with computers which only support usb 1 devices, it will simply function at the lower usb 1.0 speeds. Overall this is what it ought to be, a small dependable, attractive, large capacity usb flash drive.  Note that the cap may get lost if you're not careful; it does allow you to store the cap on both ends which is a nice feature.

TechNYC

New York, NY

I bought the Kingston Datatraveler I (8 GB) USB 2.0 Flash Drive a few months ago and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I've tried other flash drives in the past and keep coming back to Kingston because the quality is unbeatable. The biggest pro for this flash drive is that it comes with a cap, as compared to some other flash drives that you have to slide out that don't lock into place, which makes them harder to insert in some computers with USB ports in awkward positions/places. The design of this Kingston Datatraveler makes it easy to insert. I tend to carry it around in my purse when not using it (another reason a cap comes in handy), where it probably gets beaten up more than it should, but I've never had any issues with corrupt data. The files I generally transfer are around 350mb to 550mb and while the transfer speeds aren't the best I've ever seen, they definitely aren't anything to complain about.  I've recommended these drives to many of my friends when they were in the market for a new flash drive, mostly due to the ease of use, the extremely affordable price of them, and the fact that they're the most reliable flash drives I've ever had.

friedapplepie12

Bland, VA

Very Nice flash drive, last for longer, robust and easy to use... I am using it for more than 3 years..never had any problem. One time forgot to remove from the pant pocket, my wife washed, great it is still in working condition. If you would like to have a robust flash drive my suggestion is go for Kingston flash drive..

rajimori

Stockton, CA