# Sandisk Cruzer Extreme Contour, My Review



## Polarman (Apr 1, 2009)

When i came home from work today, i was pleasently suprised to have received my "Newegg" Package.

Inside this very light weight box was my new USB flash drive that i ordered last thursday.

I decided to share this small review regarding this product. So here it is:

The 16 GB Sandisk Extreme Cruzer Contour.







*FEATURES*

Stylish Black Glossy Finish
AES hardware encryption
Ideal for Video
Unique slider USB connector. No more lost caps
Lifetime Limited Warranty
High Performance: 25 MB/sec read, 18 MB/sec write speeds
Hi-speed USB 2.0 for fast data transfer
Enhanced for Windows® ReadyBoost™. Improves system performance on Windows Vista™
U3 Smart enabled. Carry and launch your personal applications and settings on any PC
Distinctive Blue LED
USB Mass Storage Class Device
Compatible with Windows® 2000, XP, Vista and Mac OS X v10.1.2+
Certified Windows® 2000, XP, Vista and Mac OS X

*BOX CONTENTS*






Box includes Flash Drive, protective sleeve, manuals and warranty thing.

U3 Software... What is that?

U3 is a company producing a proprietary method of auto-launching applications from specially formatted USB flash drives. Flash drives adhering to the U3 specification are termed "U3 smart drives". U3 smart drives come preinstalled with the U3 Launchpad, which looks similar to the Windows OS start menu and controls program installation. The method works with recent Microsoft Windows systems only. Applications which comply with U3 specifications are allowed to write files or registry information to the host computer, but they must remove this information when the flash drive is ejected. Customizations and settings are instead stored with the application on the flash drive.

If you really don't need this software, there's a nifty removal tool on sandisk's website to get rid of it.

*TESTING*

Since i don't have a plethora of flash drives laying around, i'll have to compare it to the only thing i have on hand wich is my good old 4Gb Sandisk Cruzer Titanium. Here's a pic of the too. Notice how big the Contour is compared to the Titanium.






I'm going to use HDtach 3.0.4 for speed testing comparison with some file writing tests. I'm not going to do a washer/dryer test nor will i run over them with my car. Are you crazy!!!


Benchmark............Cruzer Titanium.......Cruzer Contour

Burst Speed..........18.6MB/s................26.1MB/s

Average Read........17.2MB/s................24.3MB/s

Random Access......1.0ms....................1.6ms

CPU Utilization........9%.......................13%

Write Test 1*.........2:34 Min:Sec..........2:36 Min:Sec

Write Test 2**.......2:05 Min:Sec..........1:10 Min:Sec

*Writing 1668 Picture files for a total of 443 MB.

**Writing a single large file of 916MB 

*PERSONNAL NOTES AND CONCLUSION*

Wow. This this is very classy. When you plug it in, the "Cruzer" lettering lights up blue and flashes during operation. The "Reveal & Conceal" connector sliding thingy is so amazingly wicked. No caps to loose! It comes with a handy padded leather carrying sleeve. I love it!

It is does feel faster than my older drive for it's size. 16GB will hold plenty of stuff. the only negative thing that i can say about it wich is stupid, is that the glossy finish will leave fingerprints. I paid 80$ (Can) at Newegg it.

This thing


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