Petito 512 MB Flash Drive for USB 2.0
reviewed by Robert Pritchett
ATP, Inc. PO Box 641651 San Jose, CA 95164-1651 1-408-732-5000 or 1-877-ATP-6900 http://flash.atpinc.com/products/view.php?product_id=1232 Released: March 7, 2006 $35 USD for the 256MB version; $60 USD for the 512MB version and $90 for the 1GB version. Requirements: Powered USB 2.0 port. Strengths: Cross-platform. 2-year warranty. Solid-state SIP technology. Waterproof. Dust proof. ESD proof. Shock-resistant. 10-year data retention. Hot-plugable. Weaknesses: No security app for the Mac. Other Reviews: We discussed this in the Mac ReviewCast, episode #60 at http://www.macreviewcast.com |
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Interested in a super-small
pinky-drive? The Petito weighs in at a not-so-hefty 8 grams and is 9.4 mm thick
by 17.6 wide and only 36.3 mm tall (1.63 inches). This is a true Ōthumb driveĶ!
The warranty period is two years and the insertion rate is 100,000 cycles. It
can come in dark blue, gold, silver or titanium. Since it is solid-state, it is
shock resistant (physically) as well as ESD (electrostatic discharge), dust and
water-proof.
There are two drive partitions. One is the size of a floppy (1.44 MB) containing the software for non-Mac security password protection software and the 11-page user guide, and the other is the rest of the drive.
Data transfer is 30 MB per
second on a 2.0 port. 
Now, if you donÕt mind a feminine approach to technology by using this drive as jewelry, than ATP may have found a niche market. However, the rest of us may think that size does matter and really can see that smaller is better when it comes to a footprint for external memory. Or we might just decide that this is a 007 gadget. Remember when the 64 MB units cost over $100 USD? Now a 1 GB Petito flash drive unit costs $129 USD. All that is missing is the necklace/lanyard and the gift-box. Tell me these donÕt look elegant!
I really need the larger capacity macho unit though. Maybe IÕll go for the ATP 4 GB Tough Drive? http://peripherals.consumerelectronicsnet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=36223
