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Traxdata EZ Drive 3-way Flash Drive Shootout

  home - reviews - usb hardware reviews

Posted on 15 Jul 2006 by Ulukai

Installation

Installation for the drives is easy and for all the drives it is the same. You simple need a free USB port to connect it to and it gets detected after which you can use it. In some cases like with Windows 98/98SE you will need to install a driver to make it work. The driver for this operating system is included on the drive itself or you can find it on the Traxdata website, which in retrospect is easy for those to download and who only have Windows 98/98SE installed. The drives themselves are backwards compatible with USB 1.0/1.1 specifications, although this does mean that the drives can't operate at the operating speeds which they were designed for.

Usage
I can be short about using the drives, its just as simple as installing them. The drives are recognized as removable disks after installing them. This makes it possible for you to store data on the drives. It can be anything you desire, ranging from documents to music to pictures and even movies. With the hi-speed USB connector you can even work directly on the drives and if you have media stored on the drives you can even play the media from it.

The drives are compact and stylish designed. The Limited edition drives have special exotic themes printed on them, one called Dragon and the other Aloha. Dragon is black and has some Chinese markings on it. Aloha is red and has some flowers covering it. To protect the USB connectors both drives can twist and open, revealing the USB connector. The Pro drive is a very simple design, but very no-nonsense. It doesn't twist but slide; you slide the connector forward using a slider button. This right away reveals the write protect switch and aligns the activity LED light too. All the drives have both activity LED lights and write protect switches, the limited edition drives have their write protect switches located on the side. They also have a (belt) clip on the back which the Pro edition doesn't come with. It does come with a USB cable and neckstrap. Whether you twist or slide to get to the USB connector, there is an advantage to these approaches, you don't have a cap you might loose in transit. Also the drives are small enough to fit in most spots where the USB connectors are located. We all know some exotic case designs that try to hide the front USB connectors from sight and thereby make it impossible to insert a drive sometimes, these drives should fit in most tight places.

In the specifications you could see that the drives had a USB-HDD booting feature, this means that the drives can be made to start an operating system from. Because these drives are 1 GB big, you can allow somewhat larger operating systems to boot from these drives. Does this mean the drives can replace your hard disk by storing an operating system on them? No, it simply isn't fast or practical enough. However you can use special installations for trouble shooting computer problems; think about a small Linux distribution or Windows PE.

On the drives the driver for Windows 98/98SE is included but also the Safedisc software, on which I'll get back to on the security page, and the manuals are included. You might have thought while unpacking the drives where the manuals and software were, but these are included on the drive itself. Should you not be able to access the drive right away, Traxdata has an excellent download center where you can find these contents and more. Just click here if you are interested.

This reminds me of the days when people used floppies. They were easy to install, use and everyone had a floppy drive. Nowadays almost everyone has a USB port on their system and a newer operating system that can handle USB drives easily. It seems that what computer manufacturers set out to do all those years ago, eradicate the floppy, has now finally matured in the usage of USB drives. Ask anyone if they have a USB device and 9 out 10 people will show you their drive. Obviously USB drives are here to stay and why shouldn't it? It's a simple and easy way to exchange data.

Like I mentioned earlier, all the drives have a write protect switch. This is something that resembles the floppy drives from old. The function is exactly the same, you prevent data from being written on the drive and this means that existing data on the drive can only be opened in a read-only mode. Getting to the switch is a whole different matter, I have discovered. The switch is really small and you need a pin to flick it back and forth. I have to believe this has a good purpose, like making it hard for users to disable the write protection. However this works the other way around to, it's not easy to enable it either.

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