Corsair Flash Survivor Gt 8gb, Torture test Options

[NickTheGreek]

I want to buy this beats although it is not cheap ( 129€ for a USB stick ) and i ma reading some reviews :

Performance:

Outside of the physical testing that was done, we had also compared the Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB to the Corsair Flash Voyager 256MB and Flash Voyager 8GB to see how the performance compares. Our test system was using Fedora Core 6 with the Linux 2.6.20 kernel on a Lenovo ThinkPad T60 laptop with an Intel Core Duo T2400, 1GB of DDR2, and 80GB Serial ATA HDD. The Linux USB device was recognized as a Corsair UFD product and we had no troubles with its detection under Fedora Core 6 as well as other recent Linux 2.6 distributions. For the performance comparison we had used hdparm with the timed disk reads argument (-t) and taking the average of three reads. The Corsair Flash Voyager 8GB had an average read speed of 31.17 MB/sec while the Flash Voyager 256MB had a read speed of 18.46 MB/sec and the Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB had read at 29.36 MB/sec.




Conclusion:

We have been impressed by the durable rubber construction of the Corsair Flash Voyager series for over two years, but Corsair has now outdone themselves with the Flash Survivor GT. This 8GB flash memory unit with a CNC-milled anodized aircraft-grade aluminum housing makes it one hell of a terrific and dependable product. After dropping the Flash Survivor GT to the bottom of a pool, setting it in a boiling pot of water for over ten minutes, and hit it with a hammer several times, the Corsair Flash Survivor GT had continued to work as good as new. We have yet to come across any other flash drive on the market that is able to come close to the Flash Survivor GT's capabilities. Not only is the Flash Survivor GT extremely durable for storing mission critical data, but it also offers competitive transfer rates and Linux compatibility. The Corsair Flash Survivor GT can be bought for about $130 USD, which does make it somewhat pricey, but if you are serious about a durable flash drive this is the way to go.

Source :

[NickTheGreek]

Corsair's Survivor GT: The HiLux of thumb drives

You don't see us reviewing USB flash drives here at TR because, well, they tend to be pretty boring. There is little doubt that so-called thumb drives have become wildly popular. They're everywhere, and it's probably only a matter of time before gigabytes worth are buried in boxes of Cracker Jacks. Despite this near ubiquity, most flash drives offer little more than storage on a stick. That's about as interesting to cover as a group of identical graphics cards based on the same reference design. Ahem.

Of course, just because most USB flash drives are painfully uninteresting doesn't mean that there aren't a few gems out there. Take Corsair's new Flash Survivor GT, for example. This drive is available in 8GB and 4GB flavors that sell for $140 and $60 online, which is a little pricey compared to other USB flash drives with similar capacities. However, the Survivor comes wrapped in a water-tight casing milled from 6061 aluminum, so it should be quite a bit more durable than similar drives with plastic fittings.



Durability is a big deal for flash drives not only because users are carrying them around more, but because they're carrying more around on them. Years ago, a damaged flash drive would sacrifice a few hundred megabytes at best, but with capacities pushing well into the gigabytes, you stand to lose a lot more if your flash drive is rendered inoperable by careless handling, abuse, or the dreaded washing machine.

An aircraft-grade aluminum housing may be a little overboard for a USB thumb drive, but it gives the Survivor GT a weighty, solid feel that's unmatched by any other flash drive I've handled. Textured rubber rings provide additional shock absorption, and Corsair says the casing's seal keeps moisture out all the way down to a depth of 200m. You know, in case you want to go diving with it.



On paper, then, the Flash Survivor GT looks like the Toyota HiLux of USB flash drives—virtually indestructible. But how would it fare against a series of torture tests designed to stress its durability? Remarkably well, in fact.

We kicked things off with some mild abuse that included throwing the Survivor around the Benchmarking Sweatshop and dropping it off a three-story roof onto pavement below, but it survived without so much as a scratch. Then came the dreaded washing machine, possibly the most common culprit in premature flash drive death. Not even heavy agitation could pierce the Survivor's seal, and a spin cycle didn't faze the drive, either. Since we favor automation, we also tossed the Survivor into the dishwasher, from which it emerged sparkling clean and perfectly functional.

Clearly, the Survivor was up for serious abuse, so I headed to a local university campus to introduce the drive to an outdoor pool's high diving platform. This particular pool is right next to the campus bar, which means it's frequented by intoxicated students who jump the fence, and then the high diving platform, often without clothes. Being a more mature adult, I hopped the fence to throw a USB flash drive off the high diving platform—fully-clothed of course. So much for my wild yearsand so much for high diving having any impact on the Survivor. After fishing the drive from the bottom of the pool, it worked like a charm. Even submerging the Survivor in a pint of water for 36 hours failed to thwart the casing's seal.



Next up for the Survivor was a stint strapped to the down tube of my mountain bike, where it sat in the direct path of dirt, dust, gravel, and the occasional tree. In two rides, the Survivor suffered a few scratches and the odd ding, but these were nothing more than cosmetic blemishes; the drive continued to work flawlessly, preserving the integrity of nearly eight gigabytes of test data.

For one final challenge, we ran over the Survivor with a car. Well, a two-door Honda Civic, to be exact. The Survivor laughed at this feeble attempt to destroy it, suffering only a few scuffs in the process. Check out a video of the carnage—or lack thereof—here.

We could have gone on, but after a week of near constant abuse, we're satisfied that the Survivor GT can survive any reasonable challenge that the real world might present a USB flash drive—not that the Survivor is completely indestructible. We think a few well-placed wallops with a sledgehammer would probably crush the device, and a blowtorch should easily melt the drive's internal circuitry. High-powered firearms would probably rip right through the aluminum casing, too, but I live in Canada, and we're armed only with excessive politeness. To which the Survivor proved impervious, as well.



Next up for the Survivor was a stint strapped to the down tube of my mountain bike, where it sat in the direct path of dirt, dust, gravel, and the occasional tree. In two rides, the Survivor suffered a few scratches and the odd ding, but these were nothing more than cosmetic blemishes; the drive continued to work flawlessly, preserving the integrity of nearly eight gigabytes of test data.

For one final challenge, we ran over the Survivor with a car. Well, a two-door Honda Civic, to be exact. The Survivor laughed at this feeble attempt to destroy it, suffering only a few scuffs in the process. Check out a video of the carnage—or lack thereof—here.

We could have gone on, but after a week of near constant abuse, we're satisfied that the Survivor GT can survive any reasonable challenge that the real world might present a USB flash drive—not that the Survivor is completely indestructible. We think a few well-placed wallops with a sledgehammer would probably crush the device, and a blowtorch should easily melt the drive's internal circuitry. High-powered firearms would probably rip right through the aluminum casing, too, but I live in Canada, and we're armed only with excessive politeness. To which the Survivor proved impervious, as well.



Corsair bundles the Flash Survivor with TrueCrypt 4.3 encryption software that should keep your data safe from prying eyes. A USB extension cable is also included along with a set of Corsair dog tags that are a little, well silly. Ten years of warranty coverage easily makes up for the dog tags, though, as do the drive's relatively speedy 23.8MB/s read and 21.6MB/s write speeds in HD Tach's sustained transfer rate tests.

So while it may not be the cheapest USB flash drive on the market, the Survivor GT's ability to withstand all manner of torture is certainly far from boring. This is easily the most durable USB flash drive we've ever seen.

Source : techreport

[www.yourforum.gr]

ordered this a week ago ( Friday 13th of July ) and received it on e-shop ( Kalamata ) yesterday, Thursday the 19th of July...

I have not given it any hard time yet, but tomorrow i do plan to sink it in the sea and see if it will survive. I had a small test though, when i was coming home from e-shop and i had to brake hard before a smart ass driver that thought it would be a nice idea to get into the speedway with his wife and family when a car with 90-100 km/h was just 80m in front of him... so i braked hard, the ABS ( thankfully ) worked... but all beer, coke and sprite cans ended ON the USB stick... it came out of the parcel without any scratch and seeing how it looks, it sure delivers a sense of 10 year durability... ( but who will use USB memory in 10 years ... )

[NickTheGreek]

[NickTheGreek]

BMW test

[NickTheGreek]

falling ....

[NickTheGreek]

or worse...

[NickTheGreek]

The company releases its rough-and-tumble Flash Survivor GT 8GB and the Flash Survivor 4GB.

Corsair launched its Flash Survivor line of rugged flash drives for those who put their gadgets through a torture test on a regular basis. The California-based company released two models, the higher-end Flash Survivor GT 8GB and the mid-range Flash Survivor 4GB. Both flash drives are encased in CNC-milled aluminum and feature rubber collars that allows them to resist shocks and drops. The Flash Survivors also have waterproof seals that allow them to be submerged in up to 200 meters of water without any data loss or damage, Corsair claims.

Besides the obvious difference in memory capacity, the Flash Survivor GT boasts faster transfer speeds at 34MB/sec compared to the Flash Survivor at 28MB/sec. According to Corsair, the GT can transfer 20 office files in less than a second, 60 pictures in about 17 seconds and a movie in about 82 seconds.

The Flash Survivor USB drives also feature 256-bit AES encryption and an application that lets users create passwords for additional security. The Corsair Flash Survivor GT 8GB and the Flash Survivor 4GB are available immediately and retail for $130 and $60, respectively.

[morbius]

Man, you gave 129 euros for a USB memory stick?

Last week I bought SanDisk cruser micro 4 GB for 53 euros, and I still want to kick myself for not buying two 2 GB disks for 40 euros. Price jumps too much with capacity increace.

[NickTheGreek]

did you read the full review or watched the videos ?

i now have all my crucial mails into it and fear nothing...

i have lost data due to cheap USB sticks or Hard Discs in the past, so i have been there ( to the 2x2GB bargain )

i do the same with hard discs sometimes... a WD Raptor costs twice the money of a 500GB one being only 150GB but it is worth every penny

[nickpar]

and here is the Ultimate Torture Test

[nickpar]

and guess what ?

i bought this for 129€ back in June and it now costs 159

[www.yourforum.gr]

157€ after 5 months !!!

[nickpar]

today i checkd again ... 139¤

[nickpar]

Now, this is a fine review