Flash
Memory has come along way since it's beginnings
in the market. The natural evolution was of course a lowering
of prices and increase in capacity. These days, a 2GB USB drive
is dirt cheap and smaller in size than an old 16mb drive by half
at least.
The
next logical progression then was to design unique and interesting
ways of packaging and/or the drive enclosures design to attract
the consumer. Extra features like biometric scanners are not uncommon
but what interests me the most is the differing designs out there
to make using and transporting a flash drive easier. Flip top
lids, key-chains, watches, or aesthetically pleasing designs have
given us a plethora of shapes and colours to choose from. Go forth
and accessorize people.
Specifications
|
Size
|
55mm
x 20mm x 8mm |
|
Memory
size
|
128MB,
256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB |
Cyber
Snipa have entered this arena with their geek gangsta, military
themed Dog
Tags, which not only contain one of the smallest USB drives
on the market, but also an LED torch and mini tool kit for those
road LAN side repairs. From the minute I saw these on
the Cyber
Snipa site, I just had to get a closer look at the cool
looking Cyber
Snipa Dog Tags. Let's see if I was dissapointed or impressed.
Considering
the usual Cyber Snipa packaging, the Dog Tags box is actually
quite tame. This isn't a bad thing, and the box gives you all
the pertinent information you could need along with a view of
the main items; the Dog Tags.
Included
in the box are a pair of Dog Tags (1 Tool kit and 1 USB Drive),
a USB Extension Cable, ball chain, mini CD with drivers (Win98/ME)
and Flash Manager Software. Also included is a manual, although
if you've ever had a pocket Swiss
knife and a USB drive of some kind before, you wont find these
tags hard to get to grips with. The stars of the show are of
course, the Dog Tags themselves but the extras included are
certainly welcome and make the overall package a very complete
one. Just to make it clear, the White CD in the pictures is
just to give you an idea of scale.
The
first tag we'll look at houses the pull out USB drive. Cyber
Snipa have sent us the 512MB version for testing but all the
capacities are the same in appearance.
The tag surround is the same rubberised plastic they use for
their mouse construction and like the dog tags they are inspired
by, the central area face is formed of aluminium. The Cyber
Snipa logo is imprinted on one side with a unique ID number
imprinted on the other. Access to the drive itself is not difficult;
simply pull the drive out of the tag housing.
The
drive itself is only one and half times the size of the USB interface
it connects with, making it easily one of the smallest drives
on the market today. The drive contains a red status light visible
through the translucent dark plastic of the drive; a steady light
indicates power, while rapidly blinking indicates drive activity.
Supplied
on the mini CD are a driver setup
program for Win98/ME systems and also the Flash Manager Software.
With this software you can format the device for differing purposes.
A simple storage device, a passworded storage device and a boot
drive for those with capable motherboards. Just as an FYI, Vista's
ReadyBoost works fine with the drive as well.
The
second tag is a little heavier than the first, but is still
very light in itself and is styled in matching military style;
rubberised plastic outer edge with imprinted aluminium face.
This tag has the web address for Cyber Snipa imprinted on one
side, while the other has a singular black button to activate
the white LED torch built in. The torch runs on two AG3 size
batteries (housed in the area below the button) so no worries
about the torch running out of power and not being able to get
it working again.
The
tools start with a pair of pliers. Naturally, considering the
size of the tags, the pliers are small so don't expect to be
doing any major repairs with them, but simple operations such
as jumper/chip pulling are certainly possible. On the other
side we have a bottle opener and cross head screwdriver,
while the third tool incorporates a file and flat head screwdriver.
Should be enough for a quick LAN repair.
Testing
Obviously,
the only real testing we can display is the transfer times of
the USB drive so I gathered together some small files (MP3's and
Music Videos) and rar'd them up into a singular
file. The Small Files test consisted of transferring
the files to the drive before compression (Size 128MB); the Large
File test consisted of transferring the same files to the drive
in singular RAR format file (Size 125MB). In both cases, the transfer
times were taken 3 times and an average established from those
times. Times were gathered with a stopwatch, so a small margin
of error is expected.
Time
in Seconds, lower is better
I
was actually quite surprised by the transfer times, with the Cyber
Snipa drive coming out quite a few seconds ahead of the others
tested including the Mushkin drive, a drive that is no slouch
in it's own right. Just to make it clear, this is a USB 2.0 Device
and is of course backwards compatible with USB 1.1. But even including
the error margin of using a stopwatch, those times are fast for
a USB 2.0 Flash Drive.
Final
Words
Ok,
I admit it; I won't be wearing these with the supplied chain around
my neck. I'm just not gangsta nuff yo. But they will be going
on to my keys and replacing my current M-Systems Disk-on-key device
as my permanent carry devices. I think the design and idea of
the Dog Tags
is very cool and great fun. Regulars will know I like gimmicky
gadgets, but only if the gimmick is not at the expense of function
and these Cyber Snipa Dog Tags are a functional accessory.
The
First tag houses one of the smallest and fastest USB
flash drives we have come across. Capacities range from
128MB to 2GB, but hopefully Cyber Snipa might consider larger
sizes in the future (if possible). The second contains a battery
powered (batteries included and replaceable) LED Torch which accompanied
with the Swiss Army Knife style tools should be good enough for
minor PC tinkering when you don't need or want a larger tool
set. Both tags are military styled with a rubberised surround
and aluminium faces and imprinted with Cyber Snipa logos. They
are light in weight, small in size and can be hung from the neck
with the supplied chain. Cyber Snipa include management software
for flash drives and a USB extension cable; in short pretty much
everything you could need for your USB drive.
I
love these tags; I think they are a great addition to the Cyber
Snipa line-up. A functional set of devices with a bit of gaming
fun thrown in. We don't have a suitable award for them, but if
we had a Viperlair Cool Devices award, the Cyber Snipa Dog Tags
would win it for sure. If these Dog Tags have caught your eye,
go get some; you won't be sorry. Since we don't have a Cool Award,
and since the only negative would a subjective one (you either
like the idea/style or you don't), I'm going to award the Cyber
Snipa Dog Tags our highest honour.
If
you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.
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