Editor's Note March 12, 2014: Just before releasing this review the drive stopped working. It shows up in Windows 7 as an unrecognizable device, and when you try to initialize it, it shows up with a 0GB capacity. This drive was used for benchmarking and once to transfer files, so basically on its third use in just about 2 weeks of ownership it has failed. Looking more closely at reviews from Amazon.com and other places finds more people reporting the same type of rapid, complete failure. Returning it would incur a 15% restocking fee (since I threw out the packaging - which you basically have to destroy to open), and I am now waiting on RMA info from PNY. The following is how the review read prior to the failure, with additional notes added to the conclusion...
As they climb to new highs in capacities and transfer rates, USB flash drives can be used for far more than typical things like carrying around your music collection or key business files. With capacities exceeding 64GB and USB 3.0 speeds of over 100MB/s, these little gadgets can now do the job of a full HDD or SSD. And since the prices have dropped as the features and specifications have climbed, it won't cost you all that much to have plenty of ultra-portable storage.
In this review we are going to look at the PNY Turbo 64GB USB 3.0 flash drive, as shown in the promotional image above. The 64GB unit is rated for read speeds of up to 95 MB/s and write speeds of up to
60 MB/s, while costing you just
$28 from Amazon.com. If 64GB isn't enough space, there is also a 128GB version of the drive which sells for about $49, and the performance is even better with read speeds of up to 190 MB/s and write speeds of up to 130 MB/s.
Before taking a look at the prive on-hand, let's take a look at some published data on it, as taken from the
official product page on the PNY website...
Features and Specifications:
» USB 3.0 Flash Drive with transfer speeds up to 10x faster than standard PNY USB 2.0 Flash Drives
» Features lightning fast transfer of large files such as movies and videos
» Allows for quick and easy transfer of any files while saving time
» Backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports
» Sliding collar, capless design with integrated loop makes it easy to attach to key chains, backpacks and etc.
» Transfer Speeds: up to 95MB/s read and 60MB/s write
Packaging and Accessories:
The drive is sold in the packaging shown in the images below. The drive is clearly visible through the clear plastic bubble that is mounted to the paper card. You gte information regarding the interface (USB 3.0) and capacity (64GB), but nothing specific about the transfer rates, other than that it is 10x faster than USB 2.0. Of interest, the back of the card details that the warranty in the US is good for one year, while the warranty in Europe is good for two years. What gives PNY?
There are no accessories included with the drive.
