Notebook Reviews

I had been meaning to get a USB flash storage device for some time. My local computer accessories store had these units for sale at a reasonable price, so I picked one up. I was slightly nervous that my operating system would require some fiddling with to recognise the device, but my fears were misplaced. I simply plugged it into a spare USB port, and it was immediately mounted on /mnt/removable (I use Mandrake Linux 9.2 on a Dell Precision P4, and the USB mass-storage drivers are part of the base distribution). This is a supermount directory, so you don't need to worry about creating it. I also tested it under Mandrake 8.1 on my other computer and it worked almost identically. Data transfer is a bit slow, but it's a lot faster than floppy disks and the speed is a consequence of the underlying storage hardware and not a fault of the unit.

The device itself is small (8 x 2.5 x 1 cm), about the size of a disposable lighter or a lipstick. It weighs about 17 grams. There's a loop on the end through which some parachute cord could be passed so you could attach it to a keychain.

All in all, recommended.

I received the drive a couple days ago. I am very impressed with the ease of use, quality of the construction, and its speed. Here is my full review of the product. Hope this helps =)

Just feeling the drive makes one believe that it is durable. The outside of the drive is aluminum, very sturdy. Included with the drive is a power adapter, feet, instructions (although pretty simple, basically plug it in), a USB 2.0 cable, a software backup CD, and a driver CD. The feet can be mounted in all sorts of ways. They slide over the drive and latch into the divots. Mounting both ways are very secure and the drive will not fall over.

Installation was a snap. Plug the USB cable in and you have a 160GB hard drive at your disposal. Windows 98 users will have to use the driver CD to install this drive. The drive does not turn on once power is applied. A power switch in the back must be flipped on. This gives the user control of whether the drive is in use or not.

StorageSync is a useful backup utility that is included with the SimpleDrive. This utility makes backing up and syncing a remote drive with a computer easy.

The backup menu is like many other backup programs. Select the drives or folders you wish to backup. Select full or incremental backup. Then backup the drive. The target media drive is the drive you choose to backup to. And the great thing about it is it is included with the drive.

Listed on the retail box are the external hard drive's features. They can also be accessed on SimpleTech's web site at www.simpletech.com.

USB 2.0 and 1.1 compliant
One external "B" 4-pin USB (High Speed USB) receptacle
Serial bus data transfer rates of up to 480 Mb/sec
SimpleTech 7200 RPM HDD Technology
USB 2.0 Provides up to 480 Mb/sec Data Transfer Rate
Connect Up to 127 USB 2.0 Devices with USB Hubs
Plug n' Play, One-Step Installation
Stores All File Types, Data, and Software
Automatic Backups with StorageSync
Hot Swappable
Compact design: 5.51" (H) x 8.86" (L) x 1.35" (D)
Stands vertically or sits horizontally
Unlimited Toll Free Technical Support
1 Year Warranty

Hey! I have been using these SimpleTech 256 MB compact flash cards and they are great! By the way THIS IS A PACKAGE OF 2 CARDS, so if you thought the price was expensive, think again!! I have these cards, and I have two of the SanDisk 256 MB (regular - NOT ultra II or Extreme) cards. These SimpleTech cards are MUCH faster than the SanDisk cards. I also have one the Viking 256 MB card. It is almost as fast, but I must say that the SimpleTech cards win for speed. I use them all with the Lexar Media 6-in-one USB 2.0 card reader (ASIN B00008RW8B), which is excellent. It takes about 12 minutes to move the contents of one SanDisk card to the HardDrive, while the contents of a full SimpleTech card can be copied in 5 minutes, and the contents of a full Viking card in about 6 minutes.

I have shot over 20,000 pics on a Canon G3 in the last year using these cards. I had one card failure with a SanDisk card, and it was replaced under the warranty. It wasn't too much trouble to get the replacement, but I'd rather not have the failure in the first place.

One more thing - You'd definitely rather have two 256 MB cards than one 512 MB card, in case of failure. That way, you still have something to take pics on if you are in a place where you can't get a replacement quickly. I always have 3 to 5 cards with me, so when one failed, it wasn't too much of a problem. Also, although I don't speak from first hand experience, I have heard that these baseline cards from all the companies perform faster in the 256 MB sizes than in the 512 MB sizes.

You won't notice a speed issue with anything less than a 4megapixel camera, either. I have shot with dozens of digital cameras from 2 to 6 M-pixels and the only thing that slows you down under 4MP is the camera buffer/cache itself. At 4MP and above, especially with the faster cameras, the card speed can become an issue. But, for example, this card can still keep up with the Nikon D70, although I hope to get some high-speed cards for that cam.

Of course, regardless of the camera speed, the slower cards can still make you wait longer while downloading the images to the computer. If you still use USB 1.1 (120 kBps), then don't worry about card speed. But if you use USB 2.0 (480 kBps) or firewire (400 kBps), card speed will make a difference, as I outlined above.

Hope this helps you!

I was looking for a fast 256MB SD card to keep up with my friend's new Sanyo J1 camera with VGA/30fps movie mode, and I was tipped-off to this model by a non-Amazon review of another brand SD/256 card where the reviewer mentioned that this (SimpleTech) card kept up with his digital camera's VGA30 mode. I was originally going to recommend the Sandisk Ultra II to my friend, but on seeing so many bad experiences w/that particular 256MB card (this site and others), and seeing as I personally have a 256MB Ultra II card in CompactFlash format which cannot keep up with my own Sanyo MZ3's VGA/30 mode, we opted to go with this SimpleTech 256MB ProX. Opinions aside regarding the drawbacks of the SD format itself, if you have an SD-format camera and need a hi-performance card, this is the one, as it keeps up with the J1 at full bore with no problem, which was a huge relief and a pleasure. And this SimpleTech card is actually (significantly) cheaper than the Ultra II anyway--also has a better warranty & tech support. Card comes with a little plastic clamshell case about the size of a CF type 1 card but with ribs to hold the tinier SD card in place. As the page info says, also features a miniscule switch on the card to write-protect it. Card came pre-formatted, so no need to format in-camera. Most cameras will add their own file structures automatically, so if you stick it in & it works, I recommend you leave in the factory formatting (who knows, they may use a more-optimized cluster size) and only reformat the card if you are having troubles. FYI, doing a high-speed card speed comparison through a USB 1 interface is futile, since these cards are far faster than USB 1's 1MB/sec limit. I see a lot of reviewers mentioning their new fast card doesn't upload any faster through their old card to the computer via their USB 1 card reader, and all I can say is consider the source of such advice. Many digital cameras boast voice record capability superior to handheld cassette recorders, and sound captures an event in a way stills & brief movies can't. And when recording extended sound on large-capacity cards, even with the LCD off, the battery can often run out before the memory is full because of the large drain flash memory creates. Because of that, the lower battery drain of the ProX card is a big plus. I haven't fully verified the low-electricity-drain benefit with the ProX, but I have no reason to doubt it because in my world, SimpleTech has 'delivered the goods' in the other ways I've tested.

Its working wonderful, i've had no problem with it.
I will buy more rams in the future, it will sure be these brand.
Got also a Soyo P4X400 478 mother board with it, there working together.

I received my order in less than a week. The memory ships directly from SimpleTech in CA, so if you are on the east coast it will probably take a bit longer to arrive. I installed the memory in only a few minutes on my Dell Dimension 8200.

Ordered on Sunday evening, received Friday afternoon via UPS, installed in 10 minutes. Everything works GREAT! Would not hesitate to deal with SimpleTech via Amazon.com again. Highly recommended.

I was very impressed with Simpletech's Bonzai 64 MB. It's small,yet powerful. It is as simple as just inserting it into any USB port and, you have a small, portable disk drive. Really invaluable for transporting files between work and home without the expense and mess of having zip drives on each system or carting around a bulky storage device. Even better for transporting files between Windows and Macintosh computers. No new software to learn once its inserted it just shows up on your system as another disk drive. They should of come up with this sooner.

I like. I like.
Work great, no problems.

I purchased my Memory Stick Pro Duo 256 for my Sony Clie SJ-25. It works great! It is super fast and has more than enough space. Just don't mistake it for a stick of gum! The best part was that it was the same price as older model Memory Sticks such as memory stick select, and Memory Stick Pro! For devices that do not take Memory Stick Duo, but take Memory Stick, a Memory Stick Duo adapter is included in the package. I would highly recommed this to anyone who is looking for a fast, lower cost Memory Stick.