Super Talent Pico-E 8GB Review

Propane - 2008-12-11 18:01:36 in Storage / Hard Drives
Category: Storage / Hard Drives
Reviewed by: Propane   
Reviewed on: December 31, 2008
Price: $19.99

Introduction:

As computers have aged, files have gotten larger, and people have come up with alternative ways to store data. Of course, there are still hard drives, which are nice, but are not very mobile. There are CD-Rs which are mobile, but can only be written to once in most cases. However, many people now use USB thumb drives. These little guys can carry huge amounts of data rivalling a double layer DVD, and even in some cases, a Blu-Ray disc.

Today, we will be looking at a certain USB thumb drive. It is the Super Talent Pico-E, which is an 8GB drive. This drive is very small and only has the "half USB" connector as I like to call it. It also has a shiny finish. Super Talent makes a lot of other drives though, including an eco-friendly one and one that can be dunked in a glass of water, which have been reviewed by OverclockersClub before. These drives will be compared to the Pico-E later in the review.

 

Closer Look:

The Super Talent Pico-E comes in a rather easy to open package, especially when compared to the blister packs that so many things come in these days. The front of the package has a nice picture with a guy using his laptop on the beach. It also showcases the product through the clear plastic cover. The back of the package gives a little tidbit about the product and a few legal things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The drive itself is a shiny, thin box with the "half USB" connector on the end. The back of the device lists the capacity and the front says 'Super Talent'. There is also a slot in the end to allow the included keychain type attachment to be attached. Additionally there is a slide cover that covers the contacts when the device is not in use.

 

Features:

 

Testing:

To test the performance of the Super Talent Pico-E 8GB, I will use a program that is called "Flash Memory Toolkit." The free demo of this program will be what I use to do the testing. This will consist of a low level read test, which will check memory bandwidth on the device, and then I will test several test files for the writing portion. While the testing is taking place, I will have the Pico-E plugged directly into one of my on-board USB ports.

Testing System:

 

Comparison Drives:

 

Read Speed - Low Level Benchmark:

The first test I will be preforming on the Pico-E is the low level read test. This test will give us a speed in megabytes per second and a "times" factor. The result of this test shows that the average read rate is 23.9MB/s and the average "X" factor is 162X.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Testing:

Read and Write - File Benchmark:

The second test is the file write test. This test will give us a speed in KB/s. I will transfer a 1 MB, 2 MB, 3 MB, 4 MB, and 5MB test file to gauge the performance of the Pico-E 8 gigabyte drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In each of the tests, the Super Talent 8GB Pico-E drive either lead the pack or finished a strong number two.

Conclusion

Flash drives are devices that are becoming very important in almost everyone's lives. Well, okay, maybe your grandparents don't view them as important, but surely anyone who has to transport data from one location to another, has benefited from the technology that makes USB storage possible. As files get larger, this technology has improved to allow files to be transfered faster and faster.

Super Talent didn't really include any software with the Pico-E, but that's okay, because most of the time all you need to do is move files. Plus, there are plenty of apps you can download that allow you to do some of the things that built in apps take care of. The small size of the Pico-E is another great thing about this drive. While it might be easier to lose, it is also out of the way and can be carried around without weighing you down. All in all, I would recomend the Pico-E as a good, all around USB drive that stacks up well against other drives in its class.

 

Pros:

 

Cons: