Centon 16 GB DataStick Sport Waterproof USB 2.0 Flash Drive DSW16GB-003

April 2nd, 2009:

Bought this from another seller, not Amazon.

For several reasons, I thought that this was the best of it's type (rubber-armored USB flash drives) I'd seen, and I've owned several from different makers.. and the physical package is the best I've had.

I was enthusiastic for almost 3 weeks but not much use, wrote to it maybe 6 times, including the initial migration from my last thumb drive... then it suddenly, no warning, locked up my system in the middle of a write. No amount of chkdsk, fdsk, reformatting or re-partitioning would bring it back. All attempts fail or hang, and each format attempt says that "track 0" cannot be written to at the END of a reformat, after it reaches "100%".

I've got an RMA for it, it MIGHT get replaced, though the policies are very difficult to follow... but will I ever really be able to trust another one of these? I've had at least 10 USB flash drives of various types, and this is the...Read more

I hoped this would be a rugged flash drive, but it failed after a few months. I can't write more than 3 gigs now without getting CRC write errors--even after reformatting. I don't know about waterproof, but it's definitely not 4-months-of-time proof. Go with a better brand.

I have been using this for over a month, and it seems to have held up a lot better then the ones I have previously used. I had to supply my own little key ring loop to attach it to my main key ring; all it comes with is a small hole at the end to attach to a key ring. The soft cover coating is great. I have yet to try to dunk it is water, and I don't plan to. You really can't beat the price either for 8 GB, and something that will last a while.