2009-10-06 - Corsair Survivor 32GB

With 32 GB rapidly becoming the default big USB drive consumers are looking to buy, more and more manufacturers are starting to release USB sticks in this size. To beign with it was simply a rush to provide a 32GB USB Flash Drive, but now the products have started to mature they have been putting a little bit of thought into it and some interesting drives are now on the market.

Here are USB drive review we have a bit of a thing for tiny USB drives, and rugged USB drives. The tech geek in us all wants the smallest, slimmest, most stylish drive around, butt he clumsy oaf in us means that often we break or lose them. Ruggedized drives are clearly the answer, and the Corsair Survivor is probably the most rugged drive you willever see.

Indestructable!: Supposedly so anyway....The Corsair Survivor 32Gb is water proof, hammer proof, drop proof, and as one review proved, you can even drive over it in a truck and it will still work. The casing is anodized aluminum so there is no nasty paintjob to flake off and it really does ooze quality.

The Corsair Survivor also ships with TrueCrypt, the open source encryption software which is one of the best out there for keeping your files safe from prying eyes.

In the package: Cosair supply a small USB extension cable in the apck, which is always a handy extra, and also a Corsair dog tag and metal chain, while the dog tag really is jsut for show the chain is actually handy if you want to keep the drive safe. Just be careful and remember that this USB drive is round, it will roll off a desk if you are not paying attention!

Size Matters: On the face of it the Corsair Survivor 32GB is a bulky drive, I was expecting my usual complaint of not being able to fit USB ports when you have other devices plugged in to rear its ugly head, however when you actually unscrew the case you find a nice slim drive that will fit almost anywhere so kudos to Corsair for that one!

Speed Matters: The Corsair Survivor 32GB USB flash drive puts in a good solid performance too, using large media files of 5-700MB yielded transfer speeds of 18MB/s read and 11.2MB/s write speeds, not stellar but perfectly acceptable, and this drive is more about survival and reliability than outright performance. There is a GT version of the drive available for the speed freaks.

Verdict: Another good product from Corsair, solid, reliable, and fast enough, but if we are being honest the market for this drive is small, you must either absolutely NEED an indestructable USB flash drive, or you just NEED to have it because its cool. For the rest of us Corsair and other manufacturers produce some slightly more affordable 32GB offerings which are equally up to the job of day to day use.