SanDisk Cruzer Micro 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive SDCZ6-016G-A11 Review.
"A REAL review of the Cruzer Micro 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive" 2008-12-11
By Gary A. Creighton (Mesa, AZ United States)
Let me make a true review of this PRODUCT. I'm sorry to hear that people were disappointed that they didn't get the drive for a penny. I'm also sorry to hear that a reputable company is getting flak for a problem that wasn't caused by them.
And, a reminder, you can get this drive for only $7.00 by signing up for the Amazon Credit Card. Amazon credits back $30 for having signed up for their card. Not quite a penny, but...
First, I already have a SanDisk Cruzer 4GB unit. The thing I initially disliked about the Cruzer U3 is the fact that they come with built-in software which is supposed to allow you to boot the drive from the USB drive and run specialty applications from it (Called the U3 Launchpad).
If you didn't understand that when you bought the drive, and you weren't aware that you could remove that software, you might hate the drive.
If you do use U3, you will have to pay for most applications. But, if you want to ensure that some presentation you made in PowerPoint will be able to be viewed at your next interview... you get a U3 PowerPoint viewer and boot from your USB drive on their computer (without PowerPoint) and VOILA (hopefully).
However, some say that that booting proceedure is certainly less than reliable (this may have changed since I bought my 4GB version; so don't take that as gold-standard knowledge).
However, if you take the extra initiative to go to their website and download some software, the software will REMOVE that self-booting application junk and you will end up with a full-sized 16 GB USB drive that mounts on just about any XP system and above without any special drivers needing to be loaded.
http://communities.sandisk.com/sandisk/board/message?board.id=u3&thread.id=730
WARNING! If you copy stuff to the drive, then remove the U3 Launchpad, you will lose the stuff you copied to the drive. Back up whatever is on the USB drive before you remove the U3 Launchpad.
I mount my 4GB USB Drive on 5-year-old XP Professional computers at work which have been frozen with a program called 'DeepFreeze' (meaning that, each time they boot, will always revert back to their original condition).
Even though they're like that, the drive has never not mounted properly on any of the 13 different computers in the Tech Room even though they were frozen BEFORE I tried using this drive.
I've never had the drive do anything strange (like not mount properly) and it has always transferred files incredibly fast.
So, for those who want to be able to boot mini-applications like PowerPoint, if you have the money to purchase the applications, then this might be the drive for you.
Second... Once you have removed the auto-boot U3 Launchpad software (which is very easy to do), you'll also love this drive.
If you found that you, later, want the U3 Launchpad feature, download the U3 Launchpad Installer:
http://www.sandisk.com/driverdownload/drlogin.asp?driverId=163
Click on 'Don't Register' (or register) and download the 1.19MB installer (as of 12/10/08).
....
Also, there might be an added feature for those who might want it:
I have not yet tried doing it, but some out there are successfully made this USB drive boot from XP. Your computer needs to have a BIOS setting such as 'Boot From USB' that you would choose before you booted the computer; but if it did, and you installed the Operating system properly on the drive, it could boot from the USB drive.
http://communities.sandisk.com/sandisk/board/message?board.id=u3&thread.id=2114
http://www.google.com/search?q=bootable+usb+flash+drive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US
"Nice, fast little drive" 2009-02-14
By J. Kurrle (Iowa)
This is a nice fast little USB drive. I have had the 8MB version for quite a while, so I knew what to expect.
The drive retracts into the housing, so there is no cap to lose. Speeds are very fast, as far as USB drives go. Capacity is good, 16GB is more than enough for most people right now. The central slide in the case hosts an LED inside which turns on when the drive is being accessed.
The drive comes with preinstalled software, that does things like make it easier to browse the drive and a simple backup program for your critical files. You can uninstall the software from within the program's control panel if you don't want it, however.
For the sticklers out there, this really isn't a 16GB drive. The capacity is closer to 14.9 GB, but is called a 16GB drive because it's over 16,000,000,000 bytes. (A real 16GB drive would be 17,179,869,184 bytes). Still, for most people, it's more than enough space.
I personally like this line of drives and will continue to buy them as the capacity increases. They are fast, reliable, and convenient. That's all that matters to me.
"Amazon's fault?" 2008-11-29
By R. Groves (Charlotte, USA)
I deleted my previous 'review' after receiving the following in my email from Digital Media Source...
"We at Digital Media Source apologize for any inconvenience. Due to an error on Amazons part they somehow reduced our listing price to .01 on the 16GB Sandisk Cruzer (from $35) yesterday morning. While we noticed the error within a couple hours of this occuring there was by that time over 1750 orders placed for over 6000 units!! This for an item which we only usually sell a few per day. (we only stock 20-30 units!!!) Obvously any rational buyer would realize a price of .01 on a $35 item must be some sort of mistake. We do not have the inventory nor the finacial means to honor these orders at that price. We are a small family run company. A 180K loss would put us out of business. In fact we wouldn't even have the finacial capability to obtain 6000 units. While we apologize for any incovenience this may have caused we had no choice but to cancel theses orders. Thank you for your understanding and we once again apologize for any inconvenience."
Thanks Digital Media Source (5 stars for the explanation). Amazon, how about cheering up some customers?
"Excellent value for a 16-gig flash drive" 2009-01-23
By Matthew D. Nelson (Kansas City, Missouri USA)
I agree that the U3 software is not for everyone. If you seek a flash drive for storing media, e.g., music and/or photographs, then you can easily disable the U3 software upon inserting it into a USB drive. (The U3 software may be restored should you decide that you need it at a later time.)
That being said, having access to a frequently used software application, e.g., Mozilla Firefox, and preserving the manner in which you have configured it is extremely nice, especially if you spend time working on different computers. Your preferences, shortcuts, and bookmarked Web sites all remain in tact.
My jaw dropped when I found this particular item on Amazon. For the past three years, I have been using a 4GB SanDisk Cruzer. I have been repeatedly considered purchasing a larger Cruzer but have been reluctant to do so because of the prices that major retailers, e.g., Best Buy and Office Depot, command for 8GB and 16GB models. A quick check of several Web sites confirmed my suspicions: Amazon's price of $34.95 (as of this review) is a steal when compared to the sites of said major retailers, who sell the exact same Cruzer for $79.99 or more.
Upon opening the Cruzer's shipping materials, I suspected that the flash drive might be counterfeit as the plastic packaging seemed to be more minimal in nature that what I expected. It also noticed subtle differences between my 4GB model and this new 16GB model.
Fearing that I may have purchased a counterfeit Cruzer, I visited an Office Depot in order to compare the flash drive that I had received versus the ones being sold at a brick-and-mortar store. Sure enough, SanDisk has changed the manner in which it packages its flash drives in order to use as little packaging as possible. My few other misgivings were addressed, too, one of which concerned the SanDisk logo on the packaging. (Apparently, SanDisk has refreshed its corporate logo a bit.)
In summary, I cannot believe that I was able to purchase a bonafide 16GB SanDisk Cruzer for approximately half of what I would spend elsewhere. If you are in need of a flash drive, I would not hesitate to recommend this SanDisk model, as well as this seller.
"How greedy can you get?" 2008-12-02
By Amazon Junkie (Columbia, MD)
This is an excellent product. It always works. Love the push-out feature after losing my cap on my previous flash drive.
About the title: How can anybody not realize that it must have been a mistake that the product was listed for .01 cents?? Geez, 6000 people ordered this? And so many bad reviews for the company who sells them and Amazon? Get a grip people. Your own greed caused this.
Guess y'all never made a mistake in your life? I hope everyone apologizes to the company who's rating you have demolished because of your own intolerance for a mistake.
I too have been mad at Amazon before when they listed the shipping as before Christmas and I didn't get it until after. So you write to Amazon, get them to explain and not write a horrible review first!
That type of greed that makes people mad they had to pay a (very) fair price for a good product is the same motivator that made those 2000 people storm the Walmart.
By Gary A. Creighton (Mesa, AZ United States)
Let me make a true review of this PRODUCT. I'm sorry to hear that people were disappointed that they didn't get the drive for a penny. I'm also sorry to hear that a reputable company is getting flak for a problem that wasn't caused by them.
And, a reminder, you can get this drive for only $7.00 by signing up for the Amazon Credit Card. Amazon credits back $30 for having signed up for their card. Not quite a penny, but...
First, I already have a SanDisk Cruzer 4GB unit. The thing I initially disliked about the Cruzer U3 is the fact that they come with built-in software which is supposed to allow you to boot the drive from the USB drive and run specialty applications from it (Called the U3 Launchpad).
If you didn't understand that when you bought the drive, and you weren't aware that you could remove that software, you might hate the drive.
If you do use U3, you will have to pay for most applications. But, if you want to ensure that some presentation you made in PowerPoint will be able to be viewed at your next interview... you get a U3 PowerPoint viewer and boot from your USB drive on their computer (without PowerPoint) and VOILA (hopefully).
However, some say that that booting proceedure is certainly less than reliable (this may have changed since I bought my 4GB version; so don't take that as gold-standard knowledge).
However, if you take the extra initiative to go to their website and download some software, the software will REMOVE that self-booting application junk and you will end up with a full-sized 16 GB USB drive that mounts on just about any XP system and above without any special drivers needing to be loaded.
http://communities.sandisk.com/sandisk/board/message?board.id=u3&thread.id=730
WARNING! If you copy stuff to the drive, then remove the U3 Launchpad, you will lose the stuff you copied to the drive. Back up whatever is on the USB drive before you remove the U3 Launchpad.
I mount my 4GB USB Drive on 5-year-old XP Professional computers at work which have been frozen with a program called 'DeepFreeze' (meaning that, each time they boot, will always revert back to their original condition).
Even though they're like that, the drive has never not mounted properly on any of the 13 different computers in the Tech Room even though they were frozen BEFORE I tried using this drive.
I've never had the drive do anything strange (like not mount properly) and it has always transferred files incredibly fast.
So, for those who want to be able to boot mini-applications like PowerPoint, if you have the money to purchase the applications, then this might be the drive for you.
Second... Once you have removed the auto-boot U3 Launchpad software (which is very easy to do), you'll also love this drive.
If you found that you, later, want the U3 Launchpad feature, download the U3 Launchpad Installer:
http://www.sandisk.com/driverdownload/drlogin.asp?driverId=163
Click on 'Don't Register' (or register) and download the 1.19MB installer (as of 12/10/08).
....
Also, there might be an added feature for those who might want it:
I have not yet tried doing it, but some out there are successfully made this USB drive boot from XP. Your computer needs to have a BIOS setting such as 'Boot From USB' that you would choose before you booted the computer; but if it did, and you installed the Operating system properly on the drive, it could boot from the USB drive.
http://communities.sandisk.com/sandisk/board/message?board.id=u3&thread.id=2114
http://www.google.com/search?q=bootable+usb+flash+drive&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US
By J. Kurrle (Iowa)
This is a nice fast little USB drive. I have had the 8MB version for quite a while, so I knew what to expect.
The drive retracts into the housing, so there is no cap to lose. Speeds are very fast, as far as USB drives go. Capacity is good, 16GB is more than enough for most people right now. The central slide in the case hosts an LED inside which turns on when the drive is being accessed.
The drive comes with preinstalled software, that does things like make it easier to browse the drive and a simple backup program for your critical files. You can uninstall the software from within the program's control panel if you don't want it, however.
For the sticklers out there, this really isn't a 16GB drive. The capacity is closer to 14.9 GB, but is called a 16GB drive because it's over 16,000,000,000 bytes. (A real 16GB drive would be 17,179,869,184 bytes). Still, for most people, it's more than enough space.
I personally like this line of drives and will continue to buy them as the capacity increases. They are fast, reliable, and convenient. That's all that matters to me.
By R. Groves (Charlotte, USA)
I deleted my previous 'review' after receiving the following in my email from Digital Media Source...
"We at Digital Media Source apologize for any inconvenience. Due to an error on Amazons part they somehow reduced our listing price to .01 on the 16GB Sandisk Cruzer (from $35) yesterday morning. While we noticed the error within a couple hours of this occuring there was by that time over 1750 orders placed for over 6000 units!! This for an item which we only usually sell a few per day. (we only stock 20-30 units!!!) Obvously any rational buyer would realize a price of .01 on a $35 item must be some sort of mistake. We do not have the inventory nor the finacial means to honor these orders at that price. We are a small family run company. A 180K loss would put us out of business. In fact we wouldn't even have the finacial capability to obtain 6000 units. While we apologize for any incovenience this may have caused we had no choice but to cancel theses orders. Thank you for your understanding and we once again apologize for any inconvenience."
Thanks Digital Media Source (5 stars for the explanation). Amazon, how about cheering up some customers?
By Matthew D. Nelson (Kansas City, Missouri USA)
I agree that the U3 software is not for everyone. If you seek a flash drive for storing media, e.g., music and/or photographs, then you can easily disable the U3 software upon inserting it into a USB drive. (The U3 software may be restored should you decide that you need it at a later time.)
That being said, having access to a frequently used software application, e.g., Mozilla Firefox, and preserving the manner in which you have configured it is extremely nice, especially if you spend time working on different computers. Your preferences, shortcuts, and bookmarked Web sites all remain in tact.
My jaw dropped when I found this particular item on Amazon. For the past three years, I have been using a 4GB SanDisk Cruzer. I have been repeatedly considered purchasing a larger Cruzer but have been reluctant to do so because of the prices that major retailers, e.g., Best Buy and Office Depot, command for 8GB and 16GB models. A quick check of several Web sites confirmed my suspicions: Amazon's price of $34.95 (as of this review) is a steal when compared to the sites of said major retailers, who sell the exact same Cruzer for $79.99 or more.
Upon opening the Cruzer's shipping materials, I suspected that the flash drive might be counterfeit as the plastic packaging seemed to be more minimal in nature that what I expected. It also noticed subtle differences between my 4GB model and this new 16GB model.
Fearing that I may have purchased a counterfeit Cruzer, I visited an Office Depot in order to compare the flash drive that I had received versus the ones being sold at a brick-and-mortar store. Sure enough, SanDisk has changed the manner in which it packages its flash drives in order to use as little packaging as possible. My few other misgivings were addressed, too, one of which concerned the SanDisk logo on the packaging. (Apparently, SanDisk has refreshed its corporate logo a bit.)
In summary, I cannot believe that I was able to purchase a bonafide 16GB SanDisk Cruzer for approximately half of what I would spend elsewhere. If you are in need of a flash drive, I would not hesitate to recommend this SanDisk model, as well as this seller.
By Amazon Junkie (Columbia, MD)
This is an excellent product. It always works. Love the push-out feature after losing my cap on my previous flash drive.
About the title: How can anybody not realize that it must have been a mistake that the product was listed for .01 cents?? Geez, 6000 people ordered this? And so many bad reviews for the company who sells them and Amazon? Get a grip people. Your own greed caused this.
Guess y'all never made a mistake in your life? I hope everyone apologizes to the company who's rating you have demolished because of your own intolerance for a mistake.
I too have been mad at Amazon before when they listed the shipping as before Christmas and I didn't get it until after. So you write to Amazon, get them to explain and not write a horrible review first!
That type of greed that makes people mad they had to pay a (very) fair price for a good product is the same motivator that made those 2000 people storm the Walmart.
