Page 2: Testing and Utilities
Performance Testing:
Testing the drive was done on a computer running Windows XP SP3. Tests were run using Flash Memory Toolkit and HD Tach, and the flash drive was plugged into a Belkin 4-port USB 2.0 hub. The flash drive was formatted to FAT32 out of the box, and Windows had no trouble recognizing it.
Flash Memory Toolkit's low-level benchmark test netted the ToughDrive an impressive 27.6 MB/s read speed, coming quite close to the claimed 30 MB/s. The write speed was a less impressive 10.4 MB/s, little more than half the claimed write speed. That being said, compared to the control (a Memorex TravelDrive Classic, currently in the $30 range for a 4GB model), the ToughDrive has nearly triple the read speed and more than double the write speed, so it is far from sluggish.
3 Different Tests were run using HD Tach. The first was a read/write test using 8MB sectors. The sequential read speed averaged 28.9 MB/s with 11.1 MB/s for write speed. The burst speed was quite good as well, at 31 MB/s flat (versus 12.3 read, 4.8 write and 12.7 burst for the control).
After that, a read/write test was performed using 32MB sectors. The results were quite similar (ditto with the control).
Finally, a real-world test was performed using variable sector sizes. The read and burst speeds were similar, yet the write speed increased drastically to 15.7 MB/s (while in the control it increased only a single MB/s). This drive is seemingly unflappable.
Utilities Overview
The most useful of the software for most people would probably be the drive partitioner. Getting a FAT-formatted drive to be split into multiple partitions is something that can have many uses, especially if one wants to use the security features built into the drive. I played with the program by splitting the drive down the middle, then I ran the log-in program to get into the secured area. The program used to do the partitions is smart, copying over the log-in program by itself to the public partition so you don't forget to. It also gives you and option to change your password whenever you want, so long as you know the old one. You can also input a hint for passwords as well. I ran check disk on both partitions, and based on the results of that it seems the partition causes no data errors or bad sectors. Also, the security log-in program works much faster than the similar programs that I have seen on SanDisk flash drives, and it takes up less system resources.
There are some problems with the system it uses, however. Unfortunately, the program doesn't ask for your password before allowing you to repartition the drive, so sadly it isn't foolproof. Furthermore, it did crash on me a quite a few times after the initial successful partition; and it limits you to formatting the drive to FAT only (with a drive this large, lots of space will likely be wasted, meaning you would have to reformat each partition to get it to FAT 32). It is quite a shame. As it stands, it was quite a good idea, and the software works very fast when doing things that don't involve the partitioner. But the partitioner itself sadly isn't nearly stable enough to recommend buying the product with the security program in mind. When it does work, it works great; quickly and efficiently. But it doesn't work all of the time, sadly.
Furthermore, the promised ability to turn the flash drive into a DOS boot disk are null, as this version of the software seemingly lacks that ability contrary to what the manual shows. Overall, the utilities showed some great promise, but they ended up being a complete letdown. The seemingly contradictory manual does little to rectify these problems when it promises features (non-password protected partitions, DOS functionality) that aren't actually included in the software. In addition, these programs are Windows only, so Mac and Linux users are out of luck.
General Compatibility
So, with that out of the way, its time we look at how closely this flash drive follows the USB 1.1/2.0 standard. While it supports a wide range of operating systems and environments, how does it support something without an OS that still uses the USB 1.1/2.0 standard? For example, most game consoles of the past 10 years have come with a USB port of some kind, yet some USB flash devices rely on the OS to get the flash drive working rather than being truly universal. To truly be universal, it needs to work with everything that has a USB port, as that is what true Plug and Play functionality is. To test this we till use a model SCPH-30001R Playstation 2 running uLaunchElf, then with Gran Turismo 4's Photomode, and finally with an Action Replay Max. All three tests are necessary, as some flash drives that work with one test have been known to fail others. This will also show how compatible the ToughDrive is with the USB 1.1 standard (the performance tests above were done using USB 2.0, and the PS2 has USB 1.1 ports).
Once uLaunchelf (essentially a homebrew operating system for the PS2) booted up on the test system, the LED on the flash drive immediately lit up as the file browser recognized it. I ran a music program off of the memory card to play music on the flash drive, I viewed some photos that were on the flash drive, I copied some files off of the drive onto the memory card and deleted files off of the flash drive. All tests were met with success.
For the Gran Turismo 4 test, I used Photo Travel to save a picture onto the flash drive at the highest quality settings. The picture was saved successfully, and it was viewable within Windows without any corruption problems.
For the final test, I loaded up AR Max's memory manager. The program recognized the ToughDrive, but sadly wouldn't recognize the space left on it or the overall space. Copying files to and from the ToughDrive were both failures as well, so don't expect to be able to use the ToughDrive as a Max Drive alternative.
Overall, passing two tests isn't bad, especially as the test it did fail is known to cause problems for many brands of flash drives (the control for the performance tests didn't work either); so it is quite obvious that this product follows the USB standard very closely and is a true Plug and Play device.
Testing the drive was done on a computer running Windows XP SP3. Tests were run using Flash Memory Toolkit and HD Tach, and the flash drive was plugged into a Belkin 4-port USB 2.0 hub. The flash drive was formatted to FAT32 out of the box, and Windows had no trouble recognizing it.
Flash Memory Toolkit's low-level benchmark test netted the ToughDrive an impressive 27.6 MB/s read speed, coming quite close to the claimed 30 MB/s. The write speed was a less impressive 10.4 MB/s, little more than half the claimed write speed. That being said, compared to the control (a Memorex TravelDrive Classic, currently in the $30 range for a 4GB model), the ToughDrive has nearly triple the read speed and more than double the write speed, so it is far from sluggish.
3 Different Tests were run using HD Tach. The first was a read/write test using 8MB sectors. The sequential read speed averaged 28.9 MB/s with 11.1 MB/s for write speed. The burst speed was quite good as well, at 31 MB/s flat (versus 12.3 read, 4.8 write and 12.7 burst for the control).
After that, a read/write test was performed using 32MB sectors. The results were quite similar (ditto with the control).
Finally, a real-world test was performed using variable sector sizes. The read and burst speeds were similar, yet the write speed increased drastically to 15.7 MB/s (while in the control it increased only a single MB/s). This drive is seemingly unflappable.
Utilities Overview
The most useful of the software for most people would probably be the drive partitioner. Getting a FAT-formatted drive to be split into multiple partitions is something that can have many uses, especially if one wants to use the security features built into the drive. I played with the program by splitting the drive down the middle, then I ran the log-in program to get into the secured area. The program used to do the partitions is smart, copying over the log-in program by itself to the public partition so you don't forget to. It also gives you and option to change your password whenever you want, so long as you know the old one. You can also input a hint for passwords as well. I ran check disk on both partitions, and based on the results of that it seems the partition causes no data errors or bad sectors. Also, the security log-in program works much faster than the similar programs that I have seen on SanDisk flash drives, and it takes up less system resources.
There are some problems with the system it uses, however. Unfortunately, the program doesn't ask for your password before allowing you to repartition the drive, so sadly it isn't foolproof. Furthermore, it did crash on me a quite a few times after the initial successful partition; and it limits you to formatting the drive to FAT only (with a drive this large, lots of space will likely be wasted, meaning you would have to reformat each partition to get it to FAT 32). It is quite a shame. As it stands, it was quite a good idea, and the software works very fast when doing things that don't involve the partitioner. But the partitioner itself sadly isn't nearly stable enough to recommend buying the product with the security program in mind. When it does work, it works great; quickly and efficiently. But it doesn't work all of the time, sadly.
Furthermore, the promised ability to turn the flash drive into a DOS boot disk are null, as this version of the software seemingly lacks that ability contrary to what the manual shows. Overall, the utilities showed some great promise, but they ended up being a complete letdown. The seemingly contradictory manual does little to rectify these problems when it promises features (non-password protected partitions, DOS functionality) that aren't actually included in the software. In addition, these programs are Windows only, so Mac and Linux users are out of luck.
General Compatibility
So, with that out of the way, its time we look at how closely this flash drive follows the USB 1.1/2.0 standard. While it supports a wide range of operating systems and environments, how does it support something without an OS that still uses the USB 1.1/2.0 standard? For example, most game consoles of the past 10 years have come with a USB port of some kind, yet some USB flash devices rely on the OS to get the flash drive working rather than being truly universal. To truly be universal, it needs to work with everything that has a USB port, as that is what true Plug and Play functionality is. To test this we till use a model SCPH-30001R Playstation 2 running uLaunchElf, then with Gran Turismo 4's Photomode, and finally with an Action Replay Max. All three tests are necessary, as some flash drives that work with one test have been known to fail others. This will also show how compatible the ToughDrive is with the USB 1.1 standard (the performance tests above were done using USB 2.0, and the PS2 has USB 1.1 ports).
Once uLaunchelf (essentially a homebrew operating system for the PS2) booted up on the test system, the LED on the flash drive immediately lit up as the file browser recognized it. I ran a music program off of the memory card to play music on the flash drive, I viewed some photos that were on the flash drive, I copied some files off of the drive onto the memory card and deleted files off of the flash drive. All tests were met with success.
For the Gran Turismo 4 test, I used Photo Travel to save a picture onto the flash drive at the highest quality settings. The picture was saved successfully, and it was viewable within Windows without any corruption problems.
For the final test, I loaded up AR Max's memory manager. The program recognized the ToughDrive, but sadly wouldn't recognize the space left on it or the overall space. Copying files to and from the ToughDrive were both failures as well, so don't expect to be able to use the ToughDrive as a Max Drive alternative.
Overall, passing two tests isn't bad, especially as the test it did fail is known to cause problems for many brands of flash drives (the control for the performance tests didn't work either); so it is quite obvious that this product follows the USB standard very closely and is a true Plug and Play device.