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  PQI Portable Storage Drives

  Punit Lodaya, Feb 15, 2007 1537 hrs IST

  Today, we take a look at some of portable storage drives from PQI.

  

Page 1 - PQI U330 1GB Thumbdrive Page 2 - PQI U350 1GB Thumbdrive Page 3 - PQI Pro 220 Thumbdrive Page 4 - PQI U510 Pro 1GB Card Drive

PQI U350 1GB Thumb Drive

This is another thumb drive, but with a different concept. There is a push button mechanism in this drive similar to pen. Here instead of pulling the cap out, one needs to push the button from one end like a pen, which in-turn pushes the USB connector from another side. Pulling this drive from the USB port makes the connector retract back in. This makes the drive look very cool. But, apart from coolness, this is just another thumb drive. Nevertheless, let's jump on to the specifications.

Specifications
Interface: USB 2.0/1.1
Capacity: 256MB~4GB
OS Supported: Windows ME, 2000, XP, Mac 10.1 or above
Power Suppl: DC 3.3/5V?" 10%
Power Consumption: Read <100mA , Write <100mA, Standby <70mA, Unconfiguration <70mA, Suspend <0.5mA
Dimensions: 77.55 x 15.9 x 11.4 mm (3.05 x 0.63 x 0.45 in)
Weight: 15.53 g (0.03 lb)

A USB extension cable has been bundled along.

Benchmark

SiSoft Sandra 2007

Performance
We transferred our standard test folder, which contains hundreds of smaller files to and from the drive, after which we transferred a single large file in both directions. Following are the results:

Single File Read (700 MB)
Time Taken: 46 Seconds
Speed: 15.21 MBps

Single File Write (700 MB)
Time Taken: 180 Seconds
Speed: 3.8 MBps

Multiple File Read (584 MB/173 Files/8 Folders)
Time Taken: 40 Seconds
Speed: 14.6 MBps

Multiple File Write (584 MB/173 Files/8 Folders)
Time Taken: 270 Seconds
Speed: 2.16 MBps

As one can see, this drive gives below-average performance.

Conclusion
The PQI U350 1GB Thumb Drive sells for a modest Rs. 650. This is the average price of 1GB thumb sticks. The only appealing factor of this drive is the operating mechanism. If you ask our opinion frankly, we would suggest to skip this drive for better options.

Page 1 - PQI U330 1GB Thumbdrive Page 2 - PQI U350 1GB Thumbdrive Page 3 - PQI Pro 220 Thumbdrive Page 4 - PQI U510 Pro 1GB Card Drive

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