PNY 8GB Attache USB Flash Drive

I was out shopping the other day and I came across a great sale on USB flash drives that I just couldn't pass up. All of the flash drives we had at home were smaller 1GB drives or smaller and I was going to be working on transferring several large files over the weekend so I would be needing a larger capacity flash drive.

The model I decided on was the PNY 8GB Attache USB Flash Drive (P-FD08GU29-F). I have used several products made by PNY, including a smaller capacity (1GB) flash drive and I have always had good success with PNY as a whole. I am the type of person who sticks with brands I trust until I am giving a reason to stop trusting them.

PNY 8GB Attache USB Flash Drive

One of the things I love about the PNY flash drives is the compact size of the drive (about the size of a pack of chewing gum) and with the lanyard that is included you can wear the drive around your neck for convenience. When I need to use it I simply squeeze the quick disconnect on the end of the lanyard and the drive just pops off the lanyard and is ready to use.

One of the things that I wish PNY would use on their drives is the retractable USB connector, unlike the SanDisk USB Flash Drives that have the retractable connector, the PNY 8GB drive has a cover that you have to remove to expose the USB connector. Unfortunately, because it has a removable cap I have I have lost a cap or two in the past on flash drives I have used.

On the new 8GB Attache USB Flash Drive PNY has come up with a solution to the cap losing dilemma, they has a spot on the end of the drive where the cap attaches to when you are using the drive so you don't have to set the cap down on the desk.

Like most other flash drives, the PNY 8GB USB Flash Drive is very easy to operate and works with Windows and Mac OS's without having to use any drivers. You just simply plug it into any open USB 2.0 (backwards compatible to 1.0) port and it is ready to use in a matter of seconds. However,thanks to an Enhanced for Windows® ReadyBoost™ to boost performance and system responsiveness in Windows Vista™if you are using Windows Vista PNY claims you will experience better performance over other devices.

I work on friends computers on side and I my first test was backing up some files before I started working on my next project. I plugged the drive into a open USB port on the front of the tower and waited for Windows Vista to identify the drive and setup the removable drive in the Windows Explorer menu and I was ready to copy files to the drive in a matter of seconds.

I had to copy a large number of pictures files onto the drive from the computer and even though I didn't have a stop watch to time the exact amount of time it took to copy the 7GB's worth of pictures, I can say that it was less than 10 minutes.

My final thoughts

I would have to say that the PNY 8GB Attache USB Flash Drive is well worth the $45.00 price tag I paid for it and I would highly recommend it to everyone who happens to be in the market for a flash drive. It is compact and very rugged, I have personally dropped mine a few times on the pavement and it hasn't damaged the drive.

I have a lot of faith in PNY as a company, though I haven't had to deal with their customer support, I haven't heard of any negative stories posted anywhere about it.

Except for the one negative I mentioned earlier (the removable cap) I cannot say anything bad about this device. PNY has attempted to address the removable cap issue by putting the cap holder on the end.

This drive has always performed as adverised for me. I really like the lanyard that PNY includes with this drive, it is so convenient to have it around my neck when I am working on a PC.