I can say two good things about this drive:  it's inexpensive ($47 @ NewEgg), and it does not have a 'cap' for you to lose.  It uses a sliding mechanism that moves the internal 'drive' to one end of the thumbsleeve to reveal the connector.

It does also have a lovely bright blue LED on it.. that stays on when the drive is idle and blinks when the drive is active.  Due to the insufficient slide lock (see below) I've found that you can slide the drive in far enough to activate the light, but not actually have the drive connect.  So, the fact that the light is on at all times tells you nothing about whether or not the computer can really see it.  Therefore, the always-on behavior is of no benefit over that of my other thumb drives where the light stays out except when active.

This drive will hold about 15.2GB, and that's not loss from partitioning and formatting. Transcend's FAQ is a work of sophistry that plays off the fact that, like many hard drive manufacturers, they use the literal (1 billion) instead of

binary (i.e. same as a gibi) definition of 'giga'.  They even wrote from the position as if they're giving you more storage

than they stated, since the drive is slightly larger than 16 billion

bytes.

The foundation of communication is common definition:  I believe that all drive manufacturers should use the same binary measurements as those used for RAM and other traditional removable media.  16GB = 17,179,869,184 bytes, not 16,000,000,000.

Though the drive "locks" in the open position, I've had it unlock while

plugging it into tighter USB connections. Basically, the lock isn't

much help and you have to keep your hand on the slide mechanism when

inserting it into the machine.  This can make your thumb quite sore if you have to do it often.

The plastic case doesn't look that durable compared to my other drives. Handle with care.  The carrying 'necklace' attaches to a plastic loop on the back of the drive which I fully expect to break should I drop it on a hard surface.

This drive doesn't currently work with the latest

Linux kernels (tested with Kubuntu Intrepid 2.6.25-4), likely due to a

USB regression. It works fine with Hardy 2.6.24-16, and Windows, so

this will likely be identified and fixed sooner or later (I plan to file a bug this weekend).

-J

I believe that all drive manufacturers should use the same binary measurements as those used for RAM and other traditional removable media.  16GB = 17,179,869,184 bytes, not 16,000,000,000.

They never will because no one will be the first to try and risk not selling drives because people see one with 400GB or 380GB and get the 400.

Shame its not running on 2.6.25. I'm sure it will get fix quick.

Though the drive "locks" in the open position, I've had it unlock while

plugging it into tighter USB connections. Basically, the lock isn't

much help and you have to keep your hand on the slide mechanism when

inserting it into the machine.  This can make your thumb quite sore if you have to do it often.

 

This might be an issue for some

Just as we thought: today's kernel update (2.6.27-1) completely resolves the problem and it is usable with Kubuntu again.

Good to here. Thats the price you pay sometime living on the bleading edge.

 

They never will because no one will be the first to try and risk not selling drives because people see one with 400GB or 380GB and get the 400.

I totally agree.  Unless some regulatory body steps in, it will unfortunately remain this way for most media in the future.  :(

Good to here. Thats the price you pay sometime living on the bleading edge.

That's the truth!

I tend to do a dist-upgrade the day the next release hits alpha-1 and keep it up all through the release cycle, because I like troubleshooting.

 

That, or I'm some kind of masochist.

I tend to turtoure my self with new builds as well [:P]

I tend to turtoure my self with new builds as well

I think we all do.

 

Additional bonus and caveat
------------------------------------

I discovered two things today:

1)  Even though Transcend doesn't support the drive as a bootable device (as noted in their FAQ), the drive can be used in this manner.  I was able to reformat it as FAT32 and boot Knoppix 5.31 from it without any problem.

2)  Fully extended, the connector does not stick out as far as other USB drives.  It won't make contact when in the top-right USB slot of a Dell D620 laptop!  It will work in the bottom slot though, as the plastic on the edge of that slot is not quite as thick.