OCZ Ultra-Slim Mini-Kart 1GB

Last year we were first to publish our findings from the OCZ Rally series, and today we are doing the same for OCZ Technology's latest creation -- the Mini-Kart Flash Drive. The Rally Flash Drive was OCZ's first stab at creating a competitive USB 2.0 device, and they certainly managed to shock the market with its blazing fast capabilities. In fact, their OCZ Rally continues to be the fastest drive we have ever tested since it had annihilated the Corsair Flash Voyager. With OCZ's second attempt of expanding their flash media outlook, will they remain successful in providing computer users with a new alternative? Rather than going for the title of being a speed king, the OCZ Mini-Kart is designed to be small, actually quite small. In fact, the device itself is only 2.8mm thick, and is small enough to store in your wallet. While the device is the smallest we have seen, it is available in multiple capacities up to 2GB and is designed to be incredibly durable. We at Phoronix have already pushed the OCZ Mini-Kart to its limits, and have the results in front of us today.

Features:

· Dimensions: 43mm x 19mm x 2.8mm (L x W x H)
· High Speed USB 2.0 Certified
· True Plug and Play
· Available in 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB capacities
· Blue LED Status Light
· Small Lanyard Keyring
· 3 Year Warranty

Contents:

Like other OCZ memory products, the Mini-Kart had shipped within a small plastic container. On the product exterior was OCZ information and Mini-Kart specifications. Included with the Mini-Kart was a small lanyard key ring. Due to the size of the device, and it being designed to fit in small places (such as a wallet) the traditional lanyard was not included. At this time, the Mini-Kart is available in 512MB, 1024MB, and 2048MB varieties -- respectively OCZUSBM-512, OCZUSBM-1GB, and OCZUSBM-2GB. The unit we used for this review was the OCZ Mini-Kart 1GB. Protecting the flash drive itself was a little plastic casing, similar to what one might find with a Compact Flash or Secure Digital device. No driver CD was included as Microsoft Windows 2000/XP supports the flash drive natively, and Macintosh OS X supports the device. While not officially certified, in our tests we had no problems with the drive and Linux using the 2.6 kernel.