KingMax 1gb Super Stick Review

By A.W., Toronto

Introduction

Everyone has a USB drive these days, they go for $10 for a 256mb stick. They come in different brands, from Fujitsu, Lexar, Transcend, etc. Sizes also differ, from introductory 32mb to, well, its up to 60+ gb, depending how big of a physical size you want it. The following is a review on the KingMax 1 gigabyte 'Super Stick' USB Flash drive - You'll see why they named it, the Super Stick.


The Super Stick in its packaging, quite eye catching (Larger Picture)

Background info

Though, KingMax @ http://www.kingmax.com , it's not a very household name, and being found in 2001(The digital media sector, they have been in the semi-conductor business since 1989), this Taiwanese company has been pumping out Flash memory, as well as memory for computers and laptops for the last few years.

The Super Stick one of KingMax's many lines of USB flash drives, and they advertised it as the 'Worlds Smallest Flash Drive'. Maybe? You tell me.

On their site, the specs are:

As well, they add:

Interesting, though I don't currently want to test it out.

Whats in the Box

Or tube. Which is quite an eye catching way to display it.

-USB Drive
-Clear but shiny strap
-manual
-5 Year warranty


The drive itself, as well as the wriststrap.(Larger Picture)

Set Up

Plug and Play. Ain't hard

Design

Hard to describe. Thin plastic with 4 strips for the USB plug. It's also quite rigid, I couldn't bend it.

Putting in the USB was hard at first, as it's so intimidatingly small! It looks like you put it upside down with the 4strips facing up, and plug it under the plastic middle in the USB port.


The drive compared to a Logitech USB transmitter, a Canadian Penny, and a Visa card in the back (Larger Picture)

Benchmarks

Using Sandra, I got:

The Sandra score

Comparing to the Lexar Jump Drive, Lexar Jump Drive Pro, SanDisk Cruzer Mini, and the classic 3.5" floppy disc, the Super Stick performs better in both write and read. However, note that all the ones mentioned above are not all USB 2.0, as obviously the floppy isn't, as well as the Lexar Jump Drive. Also, Sandra does not provide info for only read or write specifically, but provides combined index, which is using both read and write.

The Endurance factor means it's durability after using it for long periods of writing and deleting on the flash drive, so how long it will 'last'. The higher, the better.


Performance

Benchmarks don't really say much, so I personally did a test.

170mb .avi file
1gb Super Stick USB Flash: 1min 30 seconds
5400rpm 60gb HD in a 2.5" Vantec USB 2.0 enclosure: 25 seconds
512mb Kingston DataTraveler: 55 seconds

130mb .zip file
1gb Super Stick USB Flash: 1min 3 seconds
5400rpm 60gb HD in a 2.5" Vantec USB 2.0 enclosure: 15 seconds
512mb Kingston DataTraveler: 45 seconds

So it seems that the SuperStick is quite slow in writing, something that can make or break a deal.


Inside the USB port(Larger Picture)

Pros
-Small
-WaterProof/ShockProof?
-Lots of space
-Good price
-Indestructable...to a certain extent.

Cons
-Slow for writing/reading
-Unknown customer support

Conclusion:


Size and thinness compared to a AA Battery(Larger Picture)

Overall, it was worth buying, I bought it at a local computer store for $29.99 Canadian, not bad for a 1gb USB Flash stick, not to mention the size. It's quite slow, but I'm not an impatient person, so it doesn't bother me much.

It's a keeper for sure, and the 5 year warranty isn't bad. I have not tried their customer service as of yet, so that is an unknown, and how the RMA process will be, etc.

I love gadgets

 

Hahahaha that thing looks so fun!! I would totally get that if I knew I would lose it quickly =)

 

wow, that is tiny. and that's the most in depth review of a usb flash drive i've ever seen

thanks cori

 

Hi, i ordered a Kingmax Super Stick 512MB from ebay, i think the same one as above. But i am very unsure about something. please can you make this clear to me, How is the stick ment to go into the usb drive? im very confused. please reply to this and email me also if you could on [email protected] thanks. and it will also help me so much if you would put some pictures on to show me. its just like a stick but i cant see the metal bit that sticks out and goes into the usb drive??? please help me on this. thanks

 

Good review. Looks like that would be an awesome thumb drive to keep in your wallet.. Sounds like its not that much $$ either.. maybe I'll pick one up.

 

Wow, that's pretty tight. I might have to see if I can pick one up these up just because they look so cool.

 

for those put off by the slow speed:

From www.kingmax.com:

It's so small, I might have to get one...

 

An update on it, so far it's been working good, it's slow, however, I don't mind, as I mentioned I don't keep large files on it

 

I picked up three of the 1G models in Akihabra for 3000¥ (about $25us) each; one for me to two for gifts.

The speed of this device is hardly an issue for most users. Having a 1G device that you can imperceptibly carry in your wallet, attach to your keys or phone is incredibly convenient. It also has serious "geek apeal" for those who are intested in such fashion statements. I do plan to lose the shiny wrist strap but I'm sure it will appeal to some.

For drawbacks:
It would be nice if it had the normal power / activity LED; a minor thing to give up.
My biggest concern it that it is so small it can easily be lost or quickly swallowed by my Rat Terriers if it happens to fall on the floor - perhaps a good reason to keep the wrist strap...

 

Haha, nice, though I would of thought there would be smaller/wackier USB sticks in Akihabara, central electronic nerd zone in the world I need to go there at least once

A LED would be nice, something like a fused plastic 'glow' at the back of the stick, like a glowstick style would be pretty helpful. Small, yes, puny, small, minuscule, its awesome

 

An update, it's been working great. It's very handy and works on everything I've used it for, mainly school work, so this write/read speeds don't bother me as most documents, files and images are all smaller then 1mb.

A 2gb Super Stick is about $40, I may pick one up and give the 1gb to my sis