Kingston DataTraveler SE9 -DTSE9H/32 GB USB Flash Drive, 32 GB, Silver

Having spent a few days using this drive, I am happy with almost every aspect of it. This drive was purchased with the intention of using it to send files between my college user area and my home computer, as well as keeping some portable programs on the drive for things such as malware removal, diagnostics and even some music and games. For this, it has met my expectations. The drive has reasonable read/write speeds (20MB/s read and ~7MB/s write on my home machine running Windows 7) which are noticeably better than the 8GB SanDisk Cruzer Orbit it is replacing. This drive detects and operates just fine on two Linux machines (a Raspberry Pi and my laptop), my TV and every Windows machine I have tried it on, as expected. The loop is also thick enough to remain reasonably sturdy while also staying on my lanyard without catching on the loop. The metal design is very solid and reassuring while remaining lightweight, however the drive does heat up considerably during heavy usage as a result. All in all, this drive is serving me well. I will update this review in the future with more information as I use the drive more.

The perfect flash drive. Well designed and well constructed. The matte metal casing looks sleek and understated - much better than the usual plastic trash - and repels scuffs and scratches surprisingly well. The wide, sturdy keyring hole means it stays safely attached to even the thickest keyring, without tedious chains or bits of string.Transfer speeds are perfectly acceptable. Transferring a 1GB file between the USB drive and my MacBook Air:From Mac to USB drive: 7-8 MB/sFrom USB drive to Mac: 16-17 MB/sThe drive comes formatted as FAT32 (fine for both Macs and PCs) with a usable capacity of 31.42 GB.

A good, solid USB drive, which is small enough to carry on a keyring. I remember spending £30 on a 512mb USB stick not that many years ago, so 32gb for just over £11 is amazing value. And the metal case should mean it lasts a long time (I've had a few USB sticks in the past with plastic cases, that have cracked and fallen apart after a few months of use).I've noticed quite a few reviewers complaining about slow transfer speeds - this may be due to the operating system, rather than the drive itself. I've used the drive on a laptop running Windows 8.1 and on a desktop machine running Windows 7 Pro (both 64bit); the transfer rate is around 15mb/sec on Win8.1, but only 4-5mb/sec on Win7 (and the Win7 machine is a far higher spec than the laptop). Looking on the internet, this seems to be a recognised problem with Win7, and there is a Microsoft Hotfix available (kb2581464) to help speed things up. I installed this, and transfer rates went up to between 6-8mb/sec - still not wonderful, but a big improvement on the speed without the hotfix.

I purchased the 32gb variant, as most people no doubt do, for work. Working in an office most of the time this USB stick has suited me down to the ground. I have had this for a few months and have had absolutely no problems with it whatsoever. So if you are an office workaholic that takes their work home, I personally would recommend this item. Thanks to the keyring loop that is quite literally a part of the USB stick, once you put this onto your keyring the only way you are going to lose it is if you loose your keys. Myself as well as three or four other colleagues have one of these, and not one of us has experienced a problem.If you however work in a warehousing or other active environment where it is likely to take knocks and bangs then you may be better going for a more robust and protected item. I'm not saying that this item breaks easily, and for an office environment this item is a great way to carry important files. But the metal is quite thin and can easily bend towards the USB opening.A final word I think needs to go to some interesting reviews that I have seen. I have seen a lot of negativity from people, with the most recurring seeming to be that this item has a slow write speed. I can't necessarily comment directly because I mostly store documents, pictures and PDFs which aren't big enough to really have any transfer time. But I will say that I have a freeware office suite installed on this memory stick, Kingsoft Office Suite Free, and I have had no speed or loading problems whatsoever running the three office programs in the suite directly from the memory stick. Now, to me, if this stick had slow transfer/loading times there would be a noticeable issue running the program. I haven't seen any such issue. This stick literally allows me to take my office anywhere, with both my files and an office suite to access them from any computer. So ladies and gentlemen, if you want a memory stick for work then for the price you probably aren't going to find something as good or as reliable. If you want something for music, games and/or videos and generally for multimedia purposes, you may be better off purchasing a small, portable HDD rather than a USB memory device.So in closing, you really need to consider what this item will be used for and what your needs are. Consider how much you are paying, and ask yourself if you think that you are going to get what you need for the price you are paying. If you need a very high speed USB drive with security encryption, are you really going to get that for £10? It's an old cliché, but you truly do get what you pay for, and if you go for the cheaper option over a proven, more expensive item then do you really have the right to complain if it let's you down or doesn't measure up to your expectations?I've been Daniel Eales, you have been amazing for reading through, and I'll see you next time.

I needed a decent sized USB stick for college work, tutorial videos, sample packs, etc. for college. For some of this I was using an 8gb stick I picked up on the high street, but it was woefully undersized for a lot of the beefier files I wanted to be able to carry with me, so to Amazon I came...When I ordered the reviews for this product were a little mixed; most were generally positive, but there were notable criticisms of speed and heat.While it does get kinda warm after being used for a while, I would say that is really only due to the fact it has such a slim metal casing as apposed to the usual plastic casing; other sticks probable generate similar heat that you just don't feel because they have larger plastic cases.As for speed, I've found it transfers very acceptably when connected to USB3, though less favourably when connected to USB 1/2 - but then what else would you expect?The final point is the price - I got this for ~£15, which is pretty much the same I paid for an 8gb stick on the high street. Note that this is from Kingston, and that it has a very tough metal casing and it's hard to see any down sides.