Imation 8GB Atom Flash Drive

Imation Atom 8G USB Thumb Drive / B001B1AIIQ

When my old USB thumb drive was broken beyond all repair, I really fretted over the replacement. I wanted something small and unobtrusive, due to the many times that I had seen thumb drives damaged by brushing against the extruding drive in accident. I am really surprised that there does not yet exist a model that can lie flush against the side of the computer, but this Atom drive seemed the next best thing.

The Atom is remarkably small - the shown image of it next to a small paperclip is accurate - and it communicates amiably so far with every machine I have used it with. The drive initially came loaded with some security software, but as I was not interested in it, I removed it from the drive, and have had no problems with the drive operation doing so. I couldn't be happier with my little thumb drive, in fact.

EDIT: Literally one month after buying this, the black plastic fractured and broke badly,...Read more

The problem with the plastic casing around the USB connector is already well known here so I won't harp on that further. I had done a lot of research to get the smallest possible drive without sacrificing transfer speeds. The Atom came at the top of the list. The form factor is so amazing that if the connector casing didn't disintegrate like it does for everyone who bought one, it may have been a winner.

It may be redundant to mention that Imation customer service has absolutely ignored all the emails I sent regarding this flaw. It would seem like they didn't test this this by plugging it into an actual PC for more than five times. I expect that to be an obvious part of testing a wear and tear item.

However the shoddy construction is the least of my issue. Recently while transferring a large number of files the little thing was running hot for a while. The next day it stopped working. I don't know what connections got severed or if the drive itself The PC...Read more

I specifically wanted this for the small size and higher capacity. But the tip doesn't easily fit into a USB port. In fact, the edges are sharp and easily catch rather than slide in.

After the 2nd use, a portion of the tip broke off and it's only a matter of time before it's unusable.

The speed of file transfers is good though...