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Review: Corsair Flash Voyager Mini 4GB USB flash drive |
Corsair has kindly sent us their new 4GB Flash Voyager Mini flash drive for review. The Voyager Mini is a stylish and very compact flash drive with a USB 2 host interface for connection to a PC or MAC.
In this review we will test the performance of the Voyager Mini 4GB USB flash drive.
Corsair Company Information
Products to Meet the Demands of Performance Computing
Corsair has been a leader in the design and manufacture of high-speed modules since 1994. Our focus has always been on supporting the special demands of mission-critical servers and high-end workstations, as well as the performance demands of extreme gamers. While maintaining this core focus, in recent years, we've also brought our expertise, technology leadership and legendary quality and reliability to memory and other technology products for the more mainstream consumer.
Memory That Meets The Toughest Demands
As a pioneer in high-speed module design, Corsair is a trusted supplier to many computer manufacturers. In high-density memory solutions, Corsair has always been one of the first suppliers to achieve advanced qualifications on Intel, Tyan and SuperMicro server platforms. We also work closely with other major server platform manufacturers to release product that is 100% compatible with their latest server products.
What Sets Corsair Apart?
With more high-speed experience than anyone in the industry, we know the importance of design features like tightly-controlled trace lengths, controlled impedances, clock trace design, unbroken power and ground planes, and selectively plated gold. Corsair Memory has developed an industry-wide reputation for quality, compatibility and performance.
Performance Memory For Enthusiasts
Our flagship memory products are the DOMINATOR™ line of performance memory, which is designed for the unique demands of the serious enthusiast community. Featuring patent-pending Dual-path Heat Exchange (DHX) technology, the DOMINATOR family maximizes on performance, minimizes on heat, all the while running with heighten reliability and stability. The DOMINATOR line has set world performance records and won numerous awards. Corsair’s mainstream performance memory solutions are the XMS family. The XMS family includes XMS2 DHX, featuring innovative DHX technology now in the mainstream; XMS Xpert, the first modules with real-time display of parametric data; XMS Pro Series, gaming memory with real-time activity LEDs; and XMS2, high-performance DDR2 modules with black heat spreaders. The XMS Family also includes DDR1 solutions in XMS, available in either black or platinum heat spreaders.
Our Value Select memory brings our quality and compatibility standards to cost-effective products for today's most popular desktops and laptops. Value Select is available in DDR1 and DDR2.
We also offer a large range of ultra-reliable server memory for mission-critical servers and high-performance clusters.
Flash Memory, Liquid Cooling and Power Supplies
Corsair has expanded beyond memory modules to offer performance liquid cooling units and blocks under our Corsair Nautilus brand and power supplies under our HX Series brand.
In addition, we offer a line of specialty Flash memory. From our ultra-rugged Flash Survivor™ family to the multi-award winning durable Flash Voyager™ family, Corsair has quickly established itself as an industry leader for USB drives.
What’s inside the box
Now it’s time to take a look at the drive itself and what the drive came shipped with.
Our package was the retail version.
Front
Back
The drive itself has a rubberised exterior, with the Corsair logo and “Flash Voyager Mini” etched into it. The drive is the smallest we’ve seen, with a carrying loop attached. This unit comes without any additional components, such as USB cable.
Specifications and features
The main features of the Flash Voyager Mini, as the name suggests, are its compact size and durability. With its tactile rubberised exterior, and retractable connector plug, it can take life’s knocks and bumps in its stride.
Drive capacity
Windows Vista reports the drive has a usable capacity of 3.72 GB
And another capacity report of the Corsair Flash Voyager Mini from Flash Memory Toolkit.
Included Software
There is no software actually included on the Corsair Flash Voyager Mini drive itself. However, Corsair provides free encryption software on their website which you can download and use if you wish. We did not actually test the software on the Corsair Flash Voyager Mini. But we have included a brief look at this software below.
TrueCrypt encryption software
License agreement
Install wizard
You can install the software onto your PC or, as we have done, extract the software directly onto the flash drive, where it will run as a portable application without having to install the software onto your host PC.
Extracted onto our flash drive
Once the files are extracted we can see several files on our flash drive, including the TrueCrypt application itself, formatting utility and instruction manual PDF file.
The TrueCrypt application running directly from the Corsair Flash Voyager Mini
Test machine
For this review we will be using a computer with the following configuration:
Hardware:
- Motherboard: Dell Dimension E520
- Processor: Intel Core2Duo E4300
- RAM: 2 GB DDR-533
- GFX: ATI Radeon X1300PRO
- Sound: Onboard SigmaTel STAC9227 HD Audio
- Hard disk: Seagate ST3250820AS 250 GB SATA-II
- Display: LG L1717S 17” LCD
- Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit) with SP1
Test applications
To test the performance of the Corsair Flash Voyager Mini, we will be using the following test applications in this review.
Now let’s head to the next page where we will test out reading performance...
