Imation USB Clip Flash Drive

Gadgeteer Hands On Review by Judie Hughes

June 30, 2006

Has anyone else noticed the way that carabiners, once a tool used mainly by mountain climbers and other outdoorsy types have slowly been working their way into the mainstream? I have several water bottles with them attached, a pen, and even a travel wallet. I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone attached a carabiner to a flash memory drive, and this is actually an application that makes sense.

Today I am going to take a look at the Imation USB Clip Flash Drive, which is basically a carabiner attached to a rubber shell which houses a USB flash based memory device in denominations of 256MB, 512MB, 1Gb or 2GB. I was sent the 256MB version.

The rubber housing measures approximately 3" long x 1" wide x 0.4" thick, and the attached carabiner is approximately 2.4" long and 1.3" at its widest point. The removable USB based flash memory drive is a mere 1.84" long x 0.75" wide x 0.3" thick, and the entire package together weighs just 0.9 ounces.

Specifications:
Interface: USB 2.0
Available capacities: 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB
Data Retention: 10 years
Power Source: USB Powered (no batteries)

Hardware Requirements:
Windows ME, 2000, XP — no software required
Windows 98SE — driver required
Macintosh Mac OS 9.0 and above
Linux® 2.4.2 or higher

There are three white paper stickers included which allow the user to affix a descriptive label regarding the drive's contents into the hollow located on the rubber housing's back side.

Peeling back the rubber on the end of the housing releases the miniscule flash drive. This step makes me a little bit nervous, because there is a chance that an over-anxious user might put undue stress on the USB connector while removing the drive. I may just be overly cautious however, as nothing happened to indicate that it was occurring during my period of "normal usage".

I was sent the 256MB model, so my hopes momentarily rose when I saw 512MB printed on the rear of the drive. Alas, I would later learn that the written amount was a dirty lie, the drive was just the advertised 256MB. ;0)

When plugged into a USB drive, a blue LED will glow on the drive's front. It will flash as data is being transferred.

The drive is Plug & Play in Window's XP, and will show as a free drive in removable storage.

I decided to cheat and differentiate this drive from the others...

...much better!

When plugged in, there are three folders already loaded on the drive, AP, Win 98 Driver & User Manual. These included files use 1832KB, and they can technically be deleted if the user doesn't need them. However it would be wise to save copies on the desktop, just in case. ;0)

Inside the AP folder is a Format program, which when clicked reveals...

...software for partitioning the drive from public to private...

...a place to enter a password for the secure portion of the drive...

...and option to configure the drive's boot type and format function.

The carabiner allows the drive to be used as a keyring, be attached to a bag or purse, or to be attached anywhere that there is something from which it can dangle. While the drive is relatively secure inside the rubber housing, it might be possible to knock it loose if the correct pressure was applied. Depending on how often the owner thinks to check, it might be possible to lose the drive and not realize it until much later since the rubber housing would still be dangling in its correct place. This makes the inclusion of the password protection a very good thing.

I did some quick time trials using the Clip Drive, and they went as follows: An 88.4MB music file from computer to drive took 10.57 seconds. The same file moved from the Clip Drive to the computer took 8:58 seconds.

If you have been looking for a small USB flash drive that can be clipped to your bag, keyring, belt loop, or mountain climbing equipment, then the Imation Clip Drive may be the one for you. The Imation Clip Drive comes with a Five-year limited warranty