TheGreatSatan
05-12-2008, 10:26 AM
So I just got the Corsair Flash Voyager in its 16GB capacity (Shows as 14.9GB in Windows). It retails for a hair under $80 from egoods.com (http://www.egoodz.com/product.asp?pf_id=CMFUSB2.0_16GB)
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/4711/voyagervl0.jpg
The flash drive has a nice rubber coat on it protecting it from dropping. Most flash drives are not protected from dropping, but they don’t break anyway. Flash drives as a whole are extremely durable. This rubber coating just means that’ll probably survive a HUGE drop. I do like the feel of the rubber. It seems easier to hold on to even when wet, especially since I had assumed that it would be slippery.
Corsair also makes a 16GB Voyager GT that is red where this one is blue. It’s supposed to be faster than the non GT variety, but that’s not the case. Previous Corsair GT Flash drives used SLC flash chips and were very fast and reliable. This new one uses MLC chips, which are the current standard for the market, except they are slower and less reliable than SLC chips. Calling it GT seems fraudulent on Corsair's part, so don’t waste the $20 difference. If you need more capacity, Corsair also makes the Voyager in a 32GB size for nearly double the price.
The Voyager comes with a pretty cheap matching rubber cap which at first was fine. I’ve had the drive now for nearly a month and have found an annoying problem. The cap no longer stays on. If you turn it in the slightest downward direction it WILL fall off. I was able to fix it though. I cut a piece of electrical tape into 3 strips the long way. As you know electrical tape flexes like rubber when pulled. I wrapped one rubber length around the base of the cap tightly and now it fits better than ever.
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/6483/tapeduv6.jpg
Another small annoyance is the label for the drive size. Can you see the capacity?
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/2286/p1010960ov2.jpg
Every other flash drive I’ve ever owned has always been clearly marked with the capacity for quick glance reference. If you have a few Voyagers, of different capacities, in your home within proximately of each other, you will have to look real hard to distinguish them apart. This one is stamped in the lens for the LED inside and is easier to see when operating, but never clearly.
Just like my review for the Corsair Survivor, I loaded my music library of 1669 MP3’s (5.83GB) from my C: drive to the Voyager. It took 19 minutes and 16 seconds, a whopping 17 seconds better than the 32GB Flash Survivor. Then I transferred all 3,072 pictures (478MB) I have for every mod I’ve ever done or thought of doing to the drive as individual files, not zipped. It took 78 seconds, a mere 5 second improvement. I can safely assume that if/when the 64GB variety is made that it too will take a bit longer to store files.
Corsair’s site claims that the Voyager can handle the same torture tests as the Survivor, except that the Voyager is only water-resistant and water will get into the cap.
So what do I think? The Corsair Voyager is a pretty nice drive. The cap falling off was pretty annoying, but that wouldn’t stop me from buying another one in the future, especially since I know an easy fix.
Pros:
16GB in the size of a flash drive
Faster than a portable hard drive
Nice rubber casing making it safe to drop and easy to hold
Cons:
The annoying rubber cap will fall off within a week of having it.
What’s the capacity? I can’t see it.
Rating: 9 out of 10
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/4711/voyagervl0.jpg
The flash drive has a nice rubber coat on it protecting it from dropping. Most flash drives are not protected from dropping, but they don’t break anyway. Flash drives as a whole are extremely durable. This rubber coating just means that’ll probably survive a HUGE drop. I do like the feel of the rubber. It seems easier to hold on to even when wet, especially since I had assumed that it would be slippery.
Corsair also makes a 16GB Voyager GT that is red where this one is blue. It’s supposed to be faster than the non GT variety, but that’s not the case. Previous Corsair GT Flash drives used SLC flash chips and were very fast and reliable. This new one uses MLC chips, which are the current standard for the market, except they are slower and less reliable than SLC chips. Calling it GT seems fraudulent on Corsair's part, so don’t waste the $20 difference. If you need more capacity, Corsair also makes the Voyager in a 32GB size for nearly double the price.
The Voyager comes with a pretty cheap matching rubber cap which at first was fine. I’ve had the drive now for nearly a month and have found an annoying problem. The cap no longer stays on. If you turn it in the slightest downward direction it WILL fall off. I was able to fix it though. I cut a piece of electrical tape into 3 strips the long way. As you know electrical tape flexes like rubber when pulled. I wrapped one rubber length around the base of the cap tightly and now it fits better than ever.
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/6483/tapeduv6.jpg
Another small annoyance is the label for the drive size. Can you see the capacity?
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/2286/p1010960ov2.jpg
Every other flash drive I’ve ever owned has always been clearly marked with the capacity for quick glance reference. If you have a few Voyagers, of different capacities, in your home within proximately of each other, you will have to look real hard to distinguish them apart. This one is stamped in the lens for the LED inside and is easier to see when operating, but never clearly.
Just like my review for the Corsair Survivor, I loaded my music library of 1669 MP3’s (5.83GB) from my C: drive to the Voyager. It took 19 minutes and 16 seconds, a whopping 17 seconds better than the 32GB Flash Survivor. Then I transferred all 3,072 pictures (478MB) I have for every mod I’ve ever done or thought of doing to the drive as individual files, not zipped. It took 78 seconds, a mere 5 second improvement. I can safely assume that if/when the 64GB variety is made that it too will take a bit longer to store files.
Corsair’s site claims that the Voyager can handle the same torture tests as the Survivor, except that the Voyager is only water-resistant and water will get into the cap.
So what do I think? The Corsair Voyager is a pretty nice drive. The cap falling off was pretty annoying, but that wouldn’t stop me from buying another one in the future, especially since I know an easy fix.
Pros:
16GB in the size of a flash drive
Faster than a portable hard drive
Nice rubber casing making it safe to drop and easy to hold
Cons:
The annoying rubber cap will fall off within a week of having it.
What’s the capacity? I can’t see it.
Rating: 9 out of 10