Imation USB Flash Wristband

USB Flash drives are convenient little gadgets that are extremely useful. I’ve heard them touted as the floppy disk of the 21st century and have to agree. I can’t even remember the last time I used an actual floppy. None of my current computers even have a floppy drive. The only problem with these handy little USB devices is the fact that they are easily misplaced or even stolen. That’s what happens when a device is so small; you leave it on a desk or plugged into someone’s computer and before you know it, it’s nowhere to be found. Imation thinks they have a solution to that problem with their Wristband flash drive.

Don’t pay attention to the silkscreened logo and 128mb designation. The one sent to me to review, was a leftover from CES. The actual selling bands will not have anything printed on them.

Sized at 8.27in x .86in (thickest part of band) (210mm x 22mm (thickest part of band)), and available in Black and Blue band colors, this USB flash drive is a wearable bracelet. It could easily be mistaken for one of the now popular charitable wrist bands that you see everyone sporting these days. But unlike those bands, this one has 256mb of flash based memory built into it.

The band is made of flexible rubber that is soft and comfortable when worn around your wrist. It’s not scratchy or irritating to the skin (at least to me). It does have a slight rubbery odor though. But not like an old tire or anything ;o)

As you can see, the band is pretty large on my 5.5″ wrist. Too bad it’s not adjustable… Even so, it didn’t bother me when worn all day.

In action, the flash drive performed as expected on both a Windows and a Mac computer. It was plug and play all the way, with no surprises. Just plug it into a free USB port and it shows up as a removable drive. Very simple, with no drivers or included security software. The only mild problem I experienced was trying to fasten it back around my wrist using the opposite hand. Sliding the open end over the USB connector takes a bit of wrestling.

If you’re looking for a USB flash drive that you might not lose quite as easily, this one from Imation might just be the one you’ve been looking for.