A physical look, bundle
USB-based flash drives are not all created equal. While capacity is the obvious differentiator, read/write speeds, durability and physical size are among other important things to factor into your buying decision.
The Corsair's packaging lists all the pertinent information but is the kind that you need to take a pair of scissors to unless your forearms are the size of Stallone's. The 8GB model currently retails for around £90 (inc VAT) and has the fastest read/write speeds in Corsair's range.
All Flash Voyager USB2.0 models (barring 512MB and 1GB) ship with a lanyard and USB extension cable. They also come with a drivers CD, although any modern OS will be true plug 'n' play, so you can just slot the drive in and access it straight away.
[advert]The driver CD also contains TrueCrypt 4.2, an open-source file-encryption utility that offers up to 256-bit software-based encryption. The program allows you to create hidden encrypted files and encrypt either single files or entire volumes (disks).
But, this is open source and freely downloadable by anyone, so can't really be considered a value-adding extra. Even so, it's convenient to have it bundled in.
However, the program is one of those that needs to be installed on a host PC - it doesn't run directly on the drive, isn't pre-loaded and doesn't give quite the measure of security that some proprietary offerings do.
Corsair's Voyager series isn't the smallest and lightest available but, for us, that's probably a good thing - we've found it only too easy to lose ultra-thin drives in with our pocket change.
The Voyager's innards are protected by a hard rubber shell that feels similar to the material used on the soles of expensive trainers. The top, which secures over the USB plug, forms a tight seal with the body that, Corsair claims, is water-resistant.
Hey, let's see if that's true...
