Blending style with substance, the mini Micro Vault provides almost all of the features you'd want in a keychain drive, making it one of our top choices in this category.For a compact, stylish and feature-laden removable storage, check out Sony's new "mini" Micro Vault USB 2.0 drive. Featuring the smallest form factor we've seen for a USB flash drive, this 256MB thumb drive still shares many traits with its older cousin, including ample storage space, fast performance and pocketable convenience, though at a higher price compared with other brands. An added bonus: Sony bundles in a USB docking station for fuss-free file transfers
At a featherweight 12g (8g lighter than previous models), this tiny version of Sony's style-oriented Micro Vault series is a study in smallness--measuring a compact 22 x 14 x 55mm, it's the smallest flash drive we've tested yet. The new Micro Vault series comes in 32MB (AU$139.95), 64MB ($179.95), 128MB ($279.95), and 256MB ($449.95) capacities, each of which sports a different colour so it's easy to tell them apart.
The drive retains the same plastic housing and polished grey-metal exterior of its predecessor. A plastic cap offers ample protective cover for the main body and the eye-hole slits make it possible for users to wear the Micro Vault like a fashion accessory.
However, the slits appear too small for ordinary keychains to fit. The inclusion of a key-ring (like the one used by the Iomega Mini USB drive) or lanyard would have been a better choice for physically securing the device. A printed manual (which looks more like a thick paper foldout) covers installation, specs, and warranty information, while drivers and utilities can be copied over from the supplied CD-ROM.
The Micro Vault comes with more useful utilities than most other USB flash drives: The sleek USB docking station lets users access the drive easily instead of scrounging around for those hard-to-reach USB ports. A security program (Password Lock) lets you password-protect some or all of your data, while the database (AutoLogin) application allows you to store important IDs and passwords on the Micro Vault. There's also a computer-protection mechanism (PC Lock) which prevents the theft of important data by locking your computer using the Micro Vault.
The drive is compatible with Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000 and XP, as well as Mac OS 9 and up. You'll need to install drivers for Windows 98 SE, but all the other operating systems should recognise the Micro Vault immediately. The drive works with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0-equipped devices, but for optimum performance, pair the drive with a high-speed USB port.
In our hand-timed tests, it took the new Sony drive nearly 3 minutes 30 seconds (or 4Mbps) to transfer 110MB of data using USB 1.1, a few seconds slower than the original USB 2.0 Micro Vault. Switching to USB 2.0, the timing improved greatly. The drive clocked a shade less than 3 minutes (5Mbps); a 10 percent speed boost.
This increase is not spectacular (given the USB 2.0's 480Mbps-rated speed) but as flash drive capacities increase beyond the 512MB mark, we can expect future devices (with faster memory technologies) to deliver better performance with USB 2.0's high-speed interface.
Sony covers the Micro Vault with a one-year warranty. The company's Web site has plenty of FAQs, drivers, and manuals, but at the time of this review tech advice was available via email only.
Overall, the mini Micro Vault's compact size and advanced feature set make it a compelling choice for both mobile and desktop users. The inclusion of the docking station for fuss-free file transfers is a bonus. But if you need to transport or share files only occasionally, you'll be better off with a cheaper drive such as the Trek Thumbdrive or the IBM Memory Key.
Sony Micro Vault Mini USB 2.0
Company: Sony Australia
Price: 32MB AU$139.95, 64MB $179.95, 128MB $279.95, and 256MB $449.95.
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: 1300 137 669
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