The SanDisk Cruzer is the world's first portable, pocket-size storage device with upgradeable flash memory. Its stylish, compact design can be slipped into a pocket or purse for easy transport of personal computer data files, image files, video and audio between homes, offices or any other location where one would want to transfer personal files and information.The Cruzer fills a void in the portable storage market that neither floppy disks nor CDs can address. The all-in-one unit plugs directly into the industry-standard USB port that is built into desktop PCs and without any additional components necessary. It's powered right from the USB port! The Cruzer is created for today's active, on-the-go lifestyle.
Put pictures, songs, and data in your pocket with this first-of-a-kind data transport device created for today's active, on-the-go lifestyle. The SanDisk Cruzer is a portable storage device with upgradable flash memory and a compact design for easy transport of personal computer data files, image files, video, and audio between home, office, or any other location. This all-in-one unit plugs directly into the industry-standard USB port built into desktop PCs, without any additional components necessary.
1 May Not Work With XP
The Cruzer works on one of my laptops running XP, and used to work on my other laptop when it ran Windows 98 (2nd Edition). But when I upgraded the second laptop to XP, the Cruzer stopped working with it. The computer simply does not recognize the presence of the device. The Sandisk Web site contains no useful information about this problem and is pretty inadequate in general. Too bad, because the product, when it works, is quite good and can be a convenient alternative to Zip disks.
2 EXCELLENT
So good it might bring back "sneaker net".
3 Win98 Detection Issues
Don't get me wrong, this jobbie detects/works great on win2k and winxp but when it comes to win98, there's a bit more work involved. The installation cd installs the drivers but you must manually find the file through "Display List of Drivers" when win98 fails to detect the proper drivers. Select "Hard Disk Controllers". Choose "Sandisk Cruzer Driver" It'll find a file called "pusbata.inf". Now you're set in win98.
I could not figure this out for a few days since most modern usb components install much more easily than this.
Because of this win98 annoyance, I downgrade this to a 3. Hopefully this helps someone and gives them a reason to boost the score...
4 It's bigger than a USB drive.
I was surprised how large it was when it arrived-- about 3 1/4 by 1 3/4 by 3/4 inches. I was expecting a cute little USB drive, but this is more like a compact SD card reader. It is a pocketfull all by itself, so I won't be able to add it to any of my pockets. It doesn't say anything about USB 2.0.
5 Forget those Zips
Buying a new laptop or desktop? Save the bucks for a zipdisk option, and carry your data from machine to machine in a Cruzer. I've transfered Gigs with nary a hitch. However, I keep the small USB cord connected permanently, and I don't work the plastic slide in the body of the Cruzer, which looks like it could wear and fail early, perhaps explaining some of the complaints registered here. Other than that, I just throw the Cruzer in my briefcase and roll, and it has performed as well as anyone could want.
6 Where have you been you little wonder
My boss showed me one of these beauties and I was sold, the device is easy to use and for most PC's with XP and Win2000 you don't need software. A CD-Rom is included for older machines as well as a small pouch and a short USB cable for those hard to reach spots.
The device is great compared to rival items because you can swap out storage media, the secure digital card comes in a number of sizes so you are not hampered by a device that runs out of space. The Secure Digital card also fits in my Palm pilot as well as many digital cameras. Small, easy to use and relatively inexpensive, the Cruzer is a must have for any techie and non-techie. Get one now!!!
7 Great Product for College
I got this device for my wife to use to transfer her work between her college computer lab (Win2K) and home (WinXP). We both have used this little device and it has worked flawlessly every time. Best plus is that it is upgradeable with additional SD Cards. Great for carrying research papers, etc.
8 Great Solution to Moving Files Between Machines!
I just received this unit and in 20 minutes had it working perfectly on four different units with three different operating systems. Flawless! For two units with WIN98SE, install the driver first (CD included), reboot and plug in and start transfering files. The third unit has ME and the 4th, XP. For these units I just plugged it in and it was recognized immediately. Now I won't have to burn CDs to transfer large files back and forth to work. The unit comes with a 5" extension cord so that you can easily access almost any USB port, even with something plugged into the port next to it(longer extensions are available). It is just about the size of 2 packs of gum, the unit USB plug is retractable, and comes with a protective carrying sleeve, (can put the entire unit in suit pocket without big bulge) and a clip to hook on a belt, etc. Plus when files get larger in the future, just get a larger memory card, not a whole new unit!
9 excellent!
Worked great out of the box! Loaded the driver on a Win98 laptop and was dragging and dropping files in minutes! On the Win2k laptop no driver needed! Instant access. I take files to work, back home, everywhere. Just slip the puppy in my pocket. One small problem. You will have to use the 3" extension cord in most situations, I only wish they would have put a storage pocket on the carrying case for the extension cable. Other than that thumbs up on this item..
10 good product
Item was in perfect condition. First attached to Win98 laptop, driver loaded without problem, the device worked perfect. Then plugged into Win2k laptop, no driver needed, again worked perfect. Comes with a nice foam case. Only thing I would change is the foam case. It needs a pocket for the small extension cord that comes with it. Other than that product works as advertised. I am pleased with purchase.
11 Silly name, great product
We got one of these at work to try out the technology. I am thrilled with the preformance. I transfered 100Mb in 12 files to it in less than two and a half minutes. The naitive support in Win2k and WinXP is clean and fast. We picked this device because it's upgradable unlike the other flash drives. I took one star away because the device is mostly plastic, I would've expected it to have a better weight to it. The only other problem I can see is that the silver housing is a bit large against a rear USB port. On older machines without front USB ports that could be irritating. All in all I am very pleased with our Cruzer.
12 Confusing description
While this item was reasonably priced, the description mislead me. When this item came up in my Gold Box offers, I read over the description, and came away thinking it was a pocket sized, USB plug-and-play reader for CompactFlash memory cards, which I own because they are used by my digital camera. When I received the item, I realized that it actually uses the miniature flash cards, about the size of a postage stamp. I would NOT have ordered this item if the description was clear, since I do not currently own any devices that use this type of memory card.
13 Great Little Storage Device
The size is minute compared to the amount of storage this device provides. Great for fast transfers of my information from my IPAQ, especially since the cost of the device is only a few more dollars than just purchasing the card alone.
14 Cruisin' with the SanDisk Cruzer
After reading a positive review of this product in PC Magazine, I decided to buy the Cruzer (128MB). Some of the earlier customer reviews here made me a bit hesitant to order it, but I needed a quick and easy way to transfer files between my home desktop, notebook, and office PCs (I've been using 100MB ZIP disks). As a bonus, the 128MB SD card also fits into my PDA, a Toshiba e310.
When it arrived, I loaded the driver (included on CDROM for Win98 and earlier) into my office PC, rebooted and plugged the Cruzer into a USB port. Copying files from the PC was a breeze and my e310 also accepted the SD card without a hitch. I've since used the Cruzer to move files among several PCs running Win98 and WinXP, and to backup files from my PDA - it's fast and convenient. No more ZIP disks to lug around, so I'm cruisin'!
15 SanDisk Pocketable Flash Drive
Right out of the box the Cruzer worked perfectly for me. Transported an entire card full with our favorite photos and copied them over to my father-in-law's PC (Windows XP) without a hitch, then copied his own favorite digital photos back to my card to take home.
I plan to use the Cruzer to carry larger PowerPoint presentations for work. It is ideal for this and allows slides to be updated and resaved. Much easier than carrying the entire laptop around.
16 No drivers, no power supply, and Mega Memory
Cool tool. Works well in MAC environment and no drivers needed. I like the fact that memory is expandable via SD memory cards. Not as slim-line and self-contained as Sony Micro Vault but it plugs into MAC keyboard just fine. In case you are working in tight USB places, SanDisk includes a 3.5 inch plug-in cable. A neoprene case is also provided. Very transportable and well worth the money.
17 Needs Refinement and has poor tech support
Purchased the 128MB Cruzer at Circuit City for [$$$]. I do tech support on a lot of W98/W2K desktops and I thought this would be perfect for carrying around utility software instead several different CD's. It works fine on W2K, but the (incomplete) manual says one must install the driver for W98. I've tried on 2 different boxes, and even downloaded the latest driver from their poorly designed website. No luck - it only works on W2K. Was on hold to CA tech support 10 minutes and I finally hung up. Works great on Windows 2000. Consider a different brand.
18 1 Big Flaw
While this would seem to be a cool way to transfer information between different computers and even a PDA, the Cruzer is too deep and wide to fit properly in most USB ports. If you have a typical computer (i.e., a keyboard and mouse connector and below it 2 USB ports), the Cruzer does not fit in the USB port if the keyboard and mouse are plugged in. It also doesn't fit if a USB device is plugged in, as it is too "fat". You must use a 4" dongle that comes with it to plug it into such places, that dongle is easily lost, and the dongle does not easily fit into the carrying case that comes with the product.
In principle, it works well. But in practice, being too bulky and not plugging into the usb port at the back of a typical computer without the aid of additional, easily lost parts is a real drag. You'd be better off with a smaller memory key-like device, or if you have a PDA or camera, it's a lot cheaper just to buy a data cable instead.
19 almost there...
This works absolutely perfectly and wonderfully with a big caveat.
I have a Cassiopeia EM-500. I bought this so I would have room to store MP3s since the EM-500 only comes with 16MB of RAM, and it won't take Compact Flash cards. I almost ended up taking this back because I thought there were problems with it being SD and not MMC. After spending far too long on the web searching for answers, I found out it was a simple solution - install the new Windows Media Player (7.1) and everything worked fine.
Out of the box I just stuck it in my PDA and it recognized the card, no fuss. I found an unfortunately bad free e-book to download and stored it on the card, worked perfectly. I dropped a bunch of MP3s onto the card as well (just before I was getting on a plane, thinking I would figure out what the problem was as an in-flight geek-entertainment thing). Well, I never did get the MP3s to play on the flight. Again, it was the software update from MS ...that fixed the problem. Apparently the new Media Player 7.1 combines the player and Windows Media Manager so you have one simple install for everything.
In any case, it works great. If you can't get music to play, see above. The coolest thing though is really the little portable USB drive that comes with it. It comes with a little foam carrying case with a keychain type hook and a little side pouch so you can carry extra cards. But it just pops in to a USB port (dongle included if you need it) and you can drag and drop like another disk drive. Win2000/NT needs no additional drivers, and I'm about to try it on my XP machine. We'll see.
20 Works Not only with Mac OS X but also wiith Linux
This cute pocketable little gadget works fine not only with MAC OS 10.1.5, but also with Linux (kernel 2.4.18, usb-storage and ide-scsi modules). All that is needed is an appropriate entry in /etc/auto.misc and the SD card gets automounted. You can even retrieve, process, and print your pictures with the GIMP.
