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Corsair Flash Voyagermini 8GB


Date
: 11/13/08 – 03:13:02 AM

Author
:

Category
: Storage

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer:
Corsair

While Corsair has been satisfying the memory needs of enthusiasts for years, they also have a healthy business in flash memory, liquid cooling and power supplies. Most of Corsair's USB flash drives are built to withstand some shock. The Flash Voyager series is easily recognizable by its rubber housing and style.

While the capacities of flash drives have been increasing, you will also find that the physical sizes of many are decreasing. Today I have a prime example of this in the Flash Voyager Mini 8 GB. With portability the top priority, read along as we find out just how this diminutive drive performs.

Page 2 : Package and Contents

Packaging is decidedly minimalistic, but still get sealed in the much disliked by this reviewer plastic clamshell packaging.

Practically the entire drive is visible from within the package. Housed in a small raised bubble portion, you can clearly see this is a drive that is small in stature.

While the size is smaller, the design is instantly recognizable as Corsair's Flash Voyager, just in a shrunken scale. The small drive has no cap, but rather employs a retractable USB connector.

The small lever on the bottom requires a small amount of pressure to open, just enough to keep it from opening on its own. When the connector is extended, it lightly locks into place.

The only accessory included is a small clip that can be attached to a keychain or loop. The eyelet that the clip attaches to is rubber, so I might worry about that tearing though it seems to be somewhat sturdy.

Page 3 : Specifications

Features and specifications for the Voyager Mini 8 GB were grabbed straight from Corsair's product page here.

Features:

* Durable
* Shock Proof
* Retractable connector tip
* Plug-n-Play compatibility via USB 1.1 or 2.0 port
* 10 Year Limited Warranty

And if you wonder exactly how much you can store on that drive, Corsair provides a handy chart.

While they don't list out 8 GB, you can basically double the numbers to get the results for the 8 GB drive.

Page 4 : Installation and Testing Setup

No applications are included so installation is a matter of just plugging it in.

As you can see the size is quite small compared to the Kingston DataTraveler Secure drive.

The only size issue would be width, as while it is quite a bit smaller in length than most drives, it still has a somewhat wide footprint.

With plug and play functionality, I hooked the drive up and used the following system for testing:

CPU: Intel E8400
MB: Gigabyte P35-DS3R
RAM: Mushkin XP2-8500 2x1GB
Video: Biostar GeForce 9600GT
PSU: Ultra X3 1000W
HD: WD 250GB SATA
DVD-Rom: Lite-On 18x DVD Burner SATA
Cases: Antec Three Hundred
OS: Microsoft Windows XP w/ SP2

Comparison USB drives:
Corsair VoyagerMini 8 GB
Patriot Xporter XT 32 GB
Kingston DataTraveler Secure 2 GB
Kingston DataTraveler Secure Privacy Edition 2 GB
n-Trance n-Tegrity Pro 1 GB

For testing I used the following programs to gather data:
-SiSoft Sandra Lite XII.SP2c File System benchmark
-Simpli Software HD Tach 3.0.4.0
-NodeSoft Diskbench

All programs were run three times and the average of those scores was used as the final result. Continue on to see how the Flash Voyager Mini performed.

Page 5 : Benchmarks

I'll begin with SiSoft Sandra Lite XII.SP2c's file system benchmark.

While the Mini hangs right in there with the Patriot Xporter XT in the read tests, it struggles when it comes to writing.

Next I fired up the Removable Storage test in Sandra. Results here really surprised me, though it's apparent the low write performance really hampers the drive here.

In HD Tach's long bench test, the Flash Voyager Mini falls in the middle of the pack in most of the results

Turning to NodeSoft's Diskbench, I ran the drives through the Copy File test using a 516,000 kB file to get a better view on real world performance. This testing pretty much sums up how the Flash Voyager Mini feels during everyday use. It's just not quite as fast as the other drives.

Page 6 : Conclusion

While Corsair's Flash Voyager Mini isn't going to take a speed crown, it gets the job done. Its diminutive size hides a decent 8 GB of data and the Mini is about a 1/3 the size of your standard drive. No chance of losing a cap is a definite plus and it is hardly noticeable attached to your keychain. This makes for a handy bit of storage to take with you wherever you go.

The Mini has some good things going, but there are some minor blemishes. For starters, the write performance isn't the greatest, though read speeds are pretty good. And while the small size makes this drive easily portable, should that eyelet break, you may not notice right away that your little drive is missing.

Positives

• Tiny like a baby

• 8 GB
• No cap to lose

Negatives

• Not as fast as other drives out there

• Eyelet could break

Overclockers Online would like to thank Corsair for supplying the Flash Voyager Mini 8 GB for review.