OCZ opens the Throttle on flash drives

I have a gob of flash drives laying around my office, crammed in desk drawers, filling up my penholder and generally getting in my way. I don’t really use flash drives, it seems that companies issue members of the press these things as a sort of initiation. The main reason I don’t use them is that they are rather slow and don’t offer enough storage for a real backup.

OCZ introduced a new flash drive this month called the Throttle that does away with one of the common threads in the flash drive world — the USB connector. Rather than the comparatively pokey USB port, OCZ grafts a full-blown eSATA connector onto the Throttle.

The use of an eSATA connector allows the Throttle to offer blazing fast read and write speeds for a flash drive. OCZ claims a read speed of 90MB/sec and a write speed of 30MB/sec. The Throttle is also available with up to 32GB of storage space. With a much faster interface and high capacity, this flash drive might actually be useful to me.

Hands On with the 8GB Sansa Clip from Sandisk

Anyone in the market for a small MP3 player should definitely take a hard look at the Sansa Clip from Sandisk before making a purchase. Comparable in size to the iPod Shuffle, the Sansa Clip packs in more features and now more storage giving some significant bang for your buck.

The most significant item for us on this particular MP3 player was the storage capacity. This little device now comes with the ability to pack as much as 8GB of music which is really a lot of songs. Connect it to your computer through the included USB cable and quickly transfer music or even use the device as mass storage to go. Also as we had mentioned when the 8GB Clip first came out, the clip provides 4x the storage of the iPod Shuffle for just a small more in price. But the storage is not all you get.

The Sansa Clip measures just 2.17″ x 1.35″ x .65″, weighs under an ounce and houses an FM radio tuner, microphone, equalizer and the ability to visually navigate your music, stations and settings through a surprisingly easy-to-see 1″ landscape display.

Using the Clip was easy and pretty intuitive. It has sliding power button on the left which is used to turn the device on and off and to lock the controls. The little sliding button was a little loose and rattled some when we would move around on our sample model, however other than that the player felt very solid. On the opposite side of the player is the volume and I have to say that compared to other MP3 players I’ve used, having separate buttons for the power and the volume was nice and made it easy to manage without even having to look at the player.

But, looking at the player is actually one of the nicest features. Sandisk has somehow created that small one-inch display to be big enough to easily read the songs that are playing, menu options and tune in radio stations. In fact, there is multiple lines of content on the display which is relatively easy to navigate.

The center buttons control the main navigation and I did find myself trying to rotate the circular button multiple times, but the navigation basically uses the outer circle for pushing up, down, left or right on the corresponding side. The center button is for selecting and there is a small “Home” button on the front that brings you back to the beginning which made it pretty easy to get around.

Tuning in radio stations was quick and easy as the player has a feature to quickly scan through and find all the stations available within range and has up to 40 preset stations. You can use the recording feature as well to easily record songs on the radio without any ambient noise from the microphone. The recording can be set for a predetermined amount of time or started and stopped at will, and the result is an MP3 file that you can transfer onto your computer and edit or move anywhere you would like. The device also has a microphone that allows you to record the sounds around you from class, personal notes or friends, and with an 8GB capacity you can record a lot.

The player comes packaged with a decent set of headphones (not great, but decent) some brief instructions that are mostly unnecessary and an installation disk with free one month subscription to Rhapsody. The Clip also has an internal battery with 15 hours of continuous playback ability which in our case actually lasted longer. With a combination of perusing the menu, playing the radio and MP3 music we hit almost 17 hours before the battery gave out.

In conclusion we were presently surprised with the Sansa Clip. The device is small and convenient, holds a relatively large capacity of data and has a larger feature set than it’s competitors for a comparable price. The 8GB Sansa Clip goes for $99.99, but you can get the same features with smaller capacities (and different colors) for as little as $34.99.

Han Solo in Carbonite USB Flash Drive

Celebrate Han’s not so eternal Carbonite nap with this USB flash drive. Although I don’t remember Han’s legs looking all frog-like. I also don’t remember Leia looking like a Hobbit. Still, it’s fairly adorable in a Star Wars Babies kind of way. We hope that this drive will hold your data better and longer then it held Han. 1 full GB of data/carbonite for $25.

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Stitch USB Humidifer with bad breath

There must be something in the water over at Disney. Either that or they pass around a crack pipe at meetings, between counting Mickey money and eating bits of Walt Disney’s remaining refrigerated flesh.

First there was the Stitch CD player. Creepy, but harmless really. Now they’re pimping out this $118 USB humidifier that looks like it will kill you with Stitch breath. $118? Really? The Stitch USB Humidifier projects a fog into the air, whether you give him a breath mint or not. Not sure where you pour in the water. Probably his butt. This thing just looks hungry. Hungry enough to kill you.

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USB Musical Christmas Tree for your office desk

It’s that time of year again and how do you plan on celebrating Christmas aka Festivus in your office space? One option is this musical usb Christmas tree. It’s like this one, but with music. It features 12 built in Christmas songs, as well as LED lights that change color. If you get it now, you’ll be good and sick of holiday music by the big day but at least you’ll have a small color changing tree to keep you company while you work. It will only cost you $15.

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Lego R2-D2 USB flash drive

Our favorite droid gets a gadget makeover yet again. When is he ever going to get some respect? If he isn’t pulling aquarium duty, he’s keeping your stuff cold. And when he isn’t acting as your own personal fridge, he’s a drink server.

Well, now someone’s taken a Lego R2 and made him into a USB drive. Which is neat and all, but he still ain’t gettin no respect. Because when you plug the little guy into your usb port, he just looks like he got shot out of a cannon and got stuck in your laptop and should be flailing his legs. Such is the life of an overly merchandised droid.

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Sperm-shaped USB drive scares laptops everywhere

Put this USB drive in your laptop and you may get some kind of tech surprise in about nine months. Apparently this sperm-shaped USB drive was handed out at the American Society For Reproductive Medicine’s 2008 conference. It may be the strangest and most frightening USB drive we’ve ever seen.

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Solid Alliance offers goth 2GB skull rings

Are you Goth? Whether you take it so far as to sleep in a coffin or just paint your nails black, you’ll want to pick up some of these skull rings. Like the human skull usb drive, these rings will offer up 2 GB of storage. Great for Halloween or when you just want to punch somebody in the face and leave a lasting impression. Which you’ll want to do when you find out that one will set you back $145.

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Super Talent unearths Terra Cotta Warrior USB drives

Super Talent is offering some terra cotta warrior USB drives that are life-like replicas of the ancient Xi’an warriors. They are just, you know, about 7cm tall. They’re fully compatibility with USB 1.1 and 2.0 and can be had in 1GB-8GB capacity. The drive also supports password protection.

In case you weren’t aware, in 1974 in Xi’an, China farmers were digging a well and discovered a huge underground cavern containing thousands of life sized terra cotta warriors. It was all very Indiana Jones. Funny thing is, in two thousand years, they’ll dig up a stash of these drives that some dude laid out all in a row and attribute some deep meaning to how we shaped our drives into the likeness of warriors. But really, some dude in a warehouse was just playing army guys.

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Human Skull USB drive is bone-headed

So you’re looking for a gift for your uncle Fester, but a normal run of the mill flash drive just won’t cut it. You need something more specific, something morbid, something dead and void of flesh, not to mention separated from it’s body. This 2GB USB 2.0 compliant flash memory shaped like a human skull might be just the thing. For a normal user, it might look odd to have a skull sticking out of a USB socket, unless it’s Halloween, but with your family it will fit right in with the cobwebs and coffins. Only $19. Maybe give it a little wig or something.

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Beer-filled USB flash drive to break in case of emergency

You know, I don’t know what this says about us as a society, but for some reason this gadget truly exists. What we have here is an authentic beer-filled USB flash drive that even features 3D “optional customizable floating objects” inside. With this liquid storage device you can celebrate your love of beer by always having some with you.

And if things ever get too dry and you find yourself in need of a hit, I’m sure you could break it and get just enough booze to wet your beak. Though I wouldn’t recommend it, you don’t wanna choke on those “optional customizable floating objects”. Storage size ranges from 128 MB to 8GB. You might also want to be careful that you don’t crack it and feed your laptop beer.

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Mahjong USB flash drive

Mahjong tiles can be considered an art form, just like the game and now you can get in on the action with a Mahjong USB flash drive. It’s called the MahjongDisk and it’s a handcrafted USB flash drive made to look like three Mahjong tiles stacked together.

Thing is at $400 you might as well just make your own. The $400 drive is constructed from wood and available in 8GB or 16GB capacities. The Lan-Xue model will retail for another $100 compare to the Li-Shui, and both use materials found in classic Chinese furniture. Read and write speeds have been rated at 18MB/s and 15MB/s. The price includes getting them engraved with whatever you like, with something like, “I paid $400 and all I got was this lousy USB flash drive”.

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Hello Kitty USB webcam sees all

Hello Kitty fans can now be spied on by the dreaded pink menace. This USB web camera is no doubt exactly what you’ve been looking for. It will silently watch and make sure that your room is full of other Hello Kitty merchandise, whether you are a 14 year old girl or a 40 something man with issues. It’s compatible with Windows Vista/XP/2000 and features a 640×480 resolution at 15 frames per second.

The price is $86 and this webcam won’t just steal your heart, but it will steal your pink cat-loving soul. Listen, I’ve tried to tell you before, this cat is taking over the world and making life look like a little girl’s room for everyone. And that ain’t right. We must rise up and fight. I have to go now. My cat is watching and I don’t want to be reported to Hello Kitty HQ.

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Korg has a tiny USB Keyboard

I guess to Korg size doesn’t matter, since they’re flaunting their tiny USB keyboards. It’s Korg’s new line of nanoSeries USB keyboards, that measure just 320mm across, and are super slim too. The line consists of a tiny keyboard, synth pad and fader deck. All of the drum pads apparently perform just fine despite their size, though the faders seam cheap. Still, it’s perfect for the musician with tiny hands. The nanoKey will cost you about $90, while the nanoKontrol and nanoPad are both $109.

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Griffin Simplifi iPod dock with USB and card readers

Look, your desk is looking really messy. I get it. Too much stuff. Some of the stuff you put inside other stuff, which connects to still more stuff, which you have to disconnect to recharge other stuff. It’s enough to drive you crazy. Wires, docks and slots are everywhere, sometimes you can;t find your computer. Well here’s a great solution.

The Griffin Simplifi combines the functionality of three devices in one package. It also has an adapter for charging your iPod without the computer or for an external HDD. You also get two USB hubs and it supports Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, SD, xD and CF cards. The Griffin Simplifi will cost about $70 and will let you clean up some of that clutter.

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192 GB Gresso wearable pendant

Gadgets becoming jewelry is getting more common and why shouldn’t it? It makes toting around our gadgets that much easier. But making it look halfway decent to look at and still be functional is the trick. The Gresso wearable pendant manages to do it right. It houses a whooping 192 GB USB, carved out of 200-year-old African wood.

It’s a nice departure from the usual Swarovski studded piece. In three angles, it houses three 64 GB USB drives. Sadly for the ladies wanting one, it is limited to just 99 pieces being manufactured. The Gresso ENIGMA comes in two different styles. The star shaped “Constellation” and triangular ” Labyrinth”. Each comes with a strap for wearing as a jewelery pendant. The price is 5000 Euros.

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USB Ferris Wheel powered by your typing

Looking for a cheap USB thrill for your desk that will provide hours of fun and distract you from your work? You might want to check out this USB Ferris Wheel that’s powered by your typing. I don’t know about hours of fun. That kinda depends on your IQ level.

Surely it will provide minutes of fun, with it’s flashing lights, carnival music, spinning wheel and plastic bunny, bear and elephant careening down the slide. Surely this is exactly the useless crap you’ve been searching for. As long as you keep typing the show will go on. How much would you pay for all this fun? 10? 20? It can be yours for just $30. Hit the link for a video of the Ferris Wheel in action.

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Buffalo NAS device doubles as USB 2.0 drive

Buffalo Technology has unveiled a hybrid device which marries an “external USB drive and a network attached storage solution.” It is called the DriveStation FlexNet and it will be available around $150 for the 500GB (HD-CE500LU2), $170 for the 640GB (HD-CE640LU2) and $260 for the 1TB (HD-CE1.0TLU2) storage models.

Buffalo says the FlexNet lets one toggle between USB 2.0 and NAS via a single button. It features a 10/100 Ethernet interface and makes use of Buffalo’s USB technology to offer up to “20 percent” faster transfer rates over standard USB drives.

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SanDisk Ducati USB Flash Drive

USB Flash based drives come in so many packages now that it’s getting hard to come up with something new that actually looks somewhat cool. It appears that SanDisk and Ducati have come through on that front with the SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition USB Flash drive.

This flash drive which looks like the tank cover of a Ducati bike comes as part of the Extreme Ducati Edition of Flash memory products from SanDisk, teaming up to reflect the speed of Ducati motorcycles in Flash memory products. Along with the USB drives are CompactFlash …

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Target Speed Racer gift card flash drive

Target sure knows how to market themselves. Warner Brothers does too. The proof is in these awesome gift cards. Target’s Wii cards looked really cool, sure. But these Speed Racer themed cards feature a USB flash drive which makes them useful too. They include an integrated inch-long USB cable that’s flush in the card and is released via a mechanical switch on the bottom edge. The cards only hold about 62.8 MB, but the upside is that 51.6 MB of that is packed with awesome Speed Racer promotional materials. Stuff like a PDF coloring book featuring the Mach 5 and other vehicles, coupons for Speed Racer toys, wallpaper, videos and even a cheat code for the Wii Speed Racer game.

The cards are obviously a team-up between Target and Warner Brothers, to promote the new Speed Racer movie. It’s a pretty smart idea. I’m not sure if you are required to actually put any money on them or not.

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