detail information

Test machine and Software:

For this review we will use two different computers with the following configuration:

Hardware PC 1:

• Processor - AMD Athlon XP 2200+
• RAM - 512 MB DDR 400; Infineon
• Motherboard - ASRock K7S8X
• Graphics Card - Gainward GeForce 440MX; 128mb RAM
• Sound - RealTek AC97 Integrated Digital Audio
• Hard Disk - Samsung SV0802N 80GB; Western Digital WD 30 00JB 300GB and 30GB Western Digital ST 330621A (USB 2.0)
• Optical Drives - Lite-On SHM-165P6S; NEC 3540A; BTC 1108 IM

Hardware PC 2:

• Processor - AMD Athlon 64 3800+
• RAM - 1024 MB DDR 400; Infineon
• Motherboard - FUJITSU SIEMENS D2030-A1
• Graphics Card - NVIDIA GeForce 6200 LE
• Sound - RealTek AC97 Integrated Digital Audio
• Hard Disk - SAMSUNG SP2504C SCSI Disk Device (233GB)
• Optical Drives - SONY DVD RW DW-Q120A

Testing Software:

For our tests we decided to use the following programs:

• SiSoft Sandra 2007
• HD Tune 2.52
• HD Tach RW 3.0.1.0

Installation and Usage:

Installation

The installation of the drive is as easy as possible, it doesn't need any additional power connection and like all other USB Flash memory sticks, this one is also fully Windows 2000/XP Plug & Play compatible. This means the stick can easily be installed, just by putting it into a free USB slot of your PC. Only Windows 98 systems require the installation of an additional driver which can be found on the stick itself or downloaded from the Traxdata website.

Once installed, the device is detected as a removable device and it's ready for use immediately after installation.

My Computer

EZ Drive Twister properties window

In device manager we can find the device in the section drives, detected as Ut161 USB2FlashStorage USB Device.

Usage and features: 

Because of its small size, the size of the EZ Drive Twister is comparable to the size of a regular cigarette lighter, and the unit is very comfortable to transport and handle. The drive itself is black with blue and white Asian characters on it, so we can say that it has a very stylish design. Compared to many other drives the USB-connector is not protected with a cap you might loose, rather we have to twist to make the connector appear. Compared to our previous tested EZ Drive Pro, this unit comes without any additional components, such as USB cable and strap. Therefore this drive includes a Belt Clip on the back. On the side of the drive we can also find the small write-protection switch of the drive which is, because of its size, without the help of a pin or needle very hard to switch.

The usage of the drive is as simple as the installation itself. Once installed, you can handle it in the same way like conventional hard disks. Of course, it's not as fast but due to its USB 2.0 hi-speed connector you can do almost anything you like, from storing your documents or pictures to storage and playback of your favorite music and video files.

Once you have the drive connected and you are opening the drive in My Computer, you will quickly find that there is already data stored on drive.

Besides the user manual and the Windows 98 driver you will also find a folder called AP, this folder includes a format and security software which enables you to create a secure/password protected area on the stick, but more on this feature later in this review.

Another very interesting and in some cases very welcome feature of this device is its USB-HDD boot feature. This means nothing else other than that you can store an operating system on it and boot from the drive. The purpose of this feature is not to replace the computer installed OS, it is more useful for troubleshooting by the use of an 'on the stick" installed small Linux distribution or Windows PE.     

On the next page we will take a look at the test security features of the drives…………