Blog Geek

I am looking for the fastest USB key market and I found a very quick, I called the SanDisk Extreme Ducati (model SDCZX-4096). The key to 4GB can reach speeds of 20MB/sec read AND write. Most of the ads on Speed USB are the result of laboratory test in "ideal conditions" and that is why Sandisk has kindly sent me their keys Ducati. We 'll see if it meets its promises.

Construction

The series tries to take the Ducati looks of a motorcycle, at least for the USB key. As you can see, it looks like a gas tank with its streamlined shape. Made of metal 95%, this is a key of the strongest I had the opportunity to see. Another quick glance at the Ducati motorcycles, it has an LED that flashes when the back is a transfer in progress. It looks like a brake light .

Accessories

In addition to the USB drive, you have a clip to put on your neck and a CD with the software Sandisk Rescue Pro Deluxe. This software can recover deleted files by mistake and it even has a recovery algorithm for single data the MPEG-4 video files.

All in one box and a faux suede backing!

Testing speed on Windows

Here are the results of tests under Windows XP (Dell Latitude D820) using a small software very well (and mostly free), ATTO Disk Benchmark .

So a top speed of 24MB/sec write and 26MB/sec read! Not bad for a key announcing 20MB/sec!

And now, the same kind of test with SiSoft Sandra :
256MB Files Test
Read Performance : 6ops/minute, 25.60MB/s, 174.76X
Write Performance : 4ops/minute, 17.07MB/s, 116.51X
Delete Performance : 700ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 4ops/minute

Cons here, we do not reach the speed of 20MB/sec so desperately. We get 25MB/sec read and 17MB/sec write.

And finally, the test manual copy / paste a 100MB file on the drive, I managed all in 7 seconds, which we therefore write speed of 14MB/sec, 20MB/sec well below the much desired .

Testing speed on Mac OS X

And for those who uses a Mac like me, I also test it on Mac OS X! I used Xbench , a free tool again.

Sequential 9.19
Uncached Write 6.59 4.05 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 29.52 16.70 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 4.43 1.30 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 41.36 20.79 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 1.58
Uncached Write 0.42 0.04 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 7.66 2.45 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 174.42 1.24 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 111.98 20.78 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Here, it is also faster than Windows with 17MB/sec write and 20MB/sec read.

Conclusion

In summary, it has a USB key that is strong and doing well with the theoretical speed of 25MB/sec and 24MB/sec read. But in practice one only gets in 14-17MB/sec writing, well below the advertised 20MB/sec.

I think this key would have been a very good buy if it were not for its price, between $ 100 and $ 140, somewhat prohibitive for a 4GB USB key.

Note assessment: 8 / 10
Recommended: Yes
Price: $ 100-125

Where to buy?

SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition / / Sandisk
SanDisk Extreme Ducati 4GB USB Flash Drive - 20MB / s Ducati Lanyard (SDCZX-004G-AD1 ) / / Canada Computers
SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition 4GB USB Flash Drive - 20MB/sec / / Tiger Direct.ca
Sandisk Ducati 4GB USB Flash Drive / / Vistek