What do you look for in a USB flash drive? A snazzy plastic shell? Keychain attachment? Built in security software? How about a built in storage capacity meter? If you raised your hand on that last one, you’ll want to read this review of the Lexar JumpDrive Secure II Plus USB Flash Drive.
At first glance this jumpdrive doesn’t look much different than a bazillion other jumpdrives on the market. It has a removable cap with a lanyard attachment and the Lexar logo blinks in Blue during data transfers. However, its differentiating feature is only apparent after you start copying files to the drive.
It’s the easy-to-read e-ink style 10-bar capacity meter which is built into the front of the drive. It gives you a quick percentage indicator of the drive’s available storage space at a glance, even when the drive is disconnected from a computer. Too bad it doesn’t give you an actual megabytes free display instead of just blocks… Yes, I know I’m never satisfied. 🙂
Included on the drive is a Windows and a Mac OS X application called Secure. This app will allow you to create multiple password protected areas called Encrypted Vaults that automatically encrypt your data with on-the-fly 256-bit AES encryption. There is also a File Shredder feature lets you securely delete files so they can’t be recovered.
One thing to keep in mind is that when a secure vault is created, the space that is allocated will show on the capacity meter as used space even if the vault is empty and does not contain any files.
I had no problems creating vaults on the jumpdrive using the Mac version of the Secure application and then accessing those vaults with the jumpdrive plugged into a Windows computer. The only prerequisite is that you have to install the Secure app on the computer you are using the jumpdrive with. It’s too bad that it’s not possible to run the software directly from the jumpdrive…
It’s handy to know how much space you have left on a flashdrive before you plug it into your computer to copy files. There is one gotcha with the Lexar JumpDrive Secure II Plus USB Flash Drive though – the price. At $50, it’s about $30-35 more than the least expensive flashdrives that I found on NewEgg. Of course those drives don’t have the nifty gauge on the front… I’m not sure it’s a feature that I would personally pay that much of a premium for. What about you?
Product Information
| Price: | $49.99 |
| Manufacturer: | Lexar |
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We’ve been using these recently in our shop (the 32 GB flavor). They are VERY difficult to get to boot with the typical boot tools. Also, the ‘fuel’ gauge breaks when you format the drive with either of the two boot tools I’ve found that *DO* work.
It’s a ‘neat’ concept, but completely unnecessary.
I use the IronKey, it doesn’t need to put anything on the host computer. The IronKey has HARDWARE encryption and I have never had a problem with it. I also has secure browser on the drive using the TOR network (not quite sure about that) also a plus if someone tries to use it after 10 attempts to unlock with the wrong password it is erased. and NO I do not work for these guys, it simply is very impressive. Jones
The Lexar JumpDrive Secure II 2GB model I used was one of the slowest flash drives I have ever seen. Then the gauge quit working. Then the drive quit working altogether. I replaced it with the same model and the replacement was just as slow. While it didn’t stop working entirely, the gauge on the second drive quit also. I like some of the other Lexar models I have used, but these are junk. I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone.
Lexar JumpDrive Secure II security works only with 32bit WinOS and that is not enought…