Kingston’s DataTraveler101 Generation 2 is a convenient storage companion that lets you take all of your data to your home, office, school and anywhere you travel. It comes with urDrive1, preloaded software that gives you a new and exciting way to look at your data. When you launch the software, the urDrive interface pops up like a desktop for your USB. It features drag-and-drop and double-click capabilities to help organize all your files, photos, videos, music and more. It’s easy to use and even includes a built-in Photo Viewer and mp3 player, plus a 2GB online backup account to keep your important files secure online.
Product Features
- Dimensions -2.25 x 0.68 x 0.39 Inches (57.18mm x 17.28mm x 10.00mm)
- Storage Temperature -4° – 185°F / -20° to 85°C
- Supports Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, XP & Mac
- urDrive Software-customizable, portable desktop-anywhere
- Sleek capless design no cap to lose
Much faster than rated – at least for larger files [Note on Nov 1, 2012]Amazon combined all Kingston DataTraveler DT101 Gen2 USB drives (4GB to 32GB) under the same product page. This may have created confusions for people looking for a specific capacity. I have tested both the 8GB and 32GB versions from this Kingston series, and can confirm that they have exactly the same dimensions and nearly identical data transfer speed.========Original review (which refers to the 32GB version) follows:========This has a very nice compact design. It is about the same size as the (with the USB port retracted). See the size comparison picture I uploaded to Customer Images section. What cannot be seen from the picture is that the Kingston drive is slightly thicker. That makes it impossible to insert two Kingston flash drives into two adjacent USB ports, whereas two Sandisk drives can be stacked one on top of another.I benchmarked the Kingston DT101 G2 flash drive as soon as I received it. The initial result I got, using the free “Flash Memory Toolkit” program, was not very impressive. It shows that for smaller files of 1-5MB, the write speed is only 5.7 – 6.2MB/s (see the Customer Image section for screenshot). In contrast, the was able to achieve higher speed of 6.8MB/s (for 1MB file) to 11.3MB/s (for 5MB file).For transferring very large files, however, this Kingston drive really shines. I benchmarked its read/write speed using 1GB video files, and was able to achieve up to 11.4MB/s in write, and 20.2MB/s in read. This is over twice as fast as its rated speed, which claims just 5MB/s write and 10MB/s read. In contrast, the Transcend drive only achieved 7.5MB/s in write and 13.4MB/s in read, under the same test conditions.In summary, the Kingston DT101 G2 flash drive may not be suitable for tasks which require frequent read/write of smaller files, such as using it for daily backup or as a ‘ReadyBoost’ device. But for transferring large chunk of data, such as storing temporary video files for playback on my , it performs the job really well. I consider this product a very good value, especially at its present low cost of just $1.60 per GB.Some additional notes:- The good thing about USB flash drive is that: the unit cost ($/GB) drops by half every year. So I can get this 32GB flash drive for about the same price I paid for a 2GB drive four years ago. The bad thing is that: no matter how large the drive capacity, I always manage to fill it up to the brim in seemingly no time.- The capacity for this Kingston ’32GB’ flash drive, as reported by my computer, is 29.7GB. Note that this is actually normal, because 1GB to computer people means 2 to the power of 30, which is about 7.4% greater than 1 billion. So 29.7GB translates to approximately 32,000,000,000 bytes, which means ’32GB’ according to marketing people.- This Kingston flash drive came pre-loaded with ‘urDrive’ software, similar to the infamous ‘U3′ software for previous generations of Sandisk flash drives. I have no intention to use urDrive, so I renamed the ‘Autorun.inf’ file (found on the root directory) to ‘Autorun._inf’. That way, I don’t have to be bothered by it ever again – but it is still available in case I changed my mind.- The drive is pre-formated in FAT32 file system for maximum compatibility. That means its largest file size is limited to 4GB. If you need to transfer files larger than 4GB, you have to reformat this drive to NTFS. Be warned that doing so wipes out all existing files, including urDrive.
Format to NTFS to transfer big files!!! EXCELLENT product but you HAVE to format the device in order to transfer big files… just as Kingston Tech Support (and other kind buyers) explained:”In order to copy large files more then 4GB it has to be converted into NTFS. FAT32 has a limitation of only 4GB. To format to NTFS, please follow these instructions. Warning: If you have data on the drive, you should save it elsewhere as this process will erase it all.1. Go into My Computer and, right click on the drive and select format.2. Under File System select NTFS and click on Start. If you do not have an option for NTFS, close the format box and go into Device Manager by right clicking on My Computer and selecting Properties.3. Click on the Hardware tab and click on Device Manager button.4. Expand Disk Drives and right click on the Kingston drive and select Properties.5. Click on the Policies tab and click “Optimize for performance and OK.6. Then go back into My Computer, right click on the drive and select format and make sure NTFS is selected for the file system. Select quick format and OK.”EXCELLENT product.
Good drive with a bad cover design I have a collection of USB thumb drives and use them for a wide range of activities. I transport files, use them as a portable work environment, install portable apps, encrypt them with passwords, transport files from one network to another, use them to boot, ReadyBoost, and run an entire OS – things most consumers will never likely care about.Because I use them so often, it’s hard to get excited over a new USB drive unless it has something new or innovative about the design. I’m not excited about this drive. I had an immediate positive reaction to a USB drive with a similar design concept: a small footprint drive with a swinging metal shield. But where the perfected the swivel design in a tiny 4GB drive, and the did the same in a 16GB model, the Datatraveler made a larger, less elegant cover that can hardly be given that name.It is a good drive, in that it’s an excellent price and performs well. There is an activity light that flashes as the drive is being accessed. I don’t use the Kingston app, but instead installed PortableApps on it, which works like a charm. But the cover is about useless, providing little if any protection if you were to place the drive in a briefcase, backpack, pocket or drawer. It’s loose and swings freely, never staying in place and offering virtually no protection. If you plug this thing in, and hardly ever remove it, except to plug it right in to another computer, then this is probably not going to trouble you. If you wear your USB on a lanyard, it will also not be too much of an issue, since the lanyard will attach at the cap, and gravity will keep it in place.The price is excellent, but if you need a more rugged drive that travels well, get one that has a better fitting cover design.