Flash drive faceoff -- LaCie Porsche vs Lexar Jumpdrive M10 Secure
When it comes to storage, the world is trending towards the cloud. However, I still have a soft spot in my heart for flash drives. They are small, convenient and heck -- they work without Internet access. In other words, if you need to work on a document in the cloud and your Internet is down, you are out of luck; a flash drive is still there for you.
It can be difficult to find the right flash drive; they come in different sizes, brands, capacities, designs and prices. Many people just try to get the highest capacity they can for a price that meets their budget. However, I would caution those consumers to focus less on enormous capacity (that they may not use) and more on quality and performance. I recently obtained two USB 3.0 flash drives from quality companies that are very different from each other -- the LaCie Porsche and Lexar Jumpdrive M10 Secure. I have benchmarked them, used them in actual practice and amazingly one of them even survived a trip through the washing machine.
LaCie Porsche 32GB ($49.99)
LaCie is a company that I usually associate with Apple. While the firm makes products for both Windows and Mac, the design cues feel very Apple-centric. This is not a bad thing, quite the contrary. You see, this means that its products are beautiful and well designed.
The LaCie Porsche flash drive is no exception -- it is crafted from a single piece of steel. This makes it very durable and pretty. Plus, the sleek capless design allows it to fit on a key-ring without fear of it breaking. In fact, there is a well-sized hole on the end that accommodates my keys perfectly.
While the design means there is no cap to lose, it also means that the contacts are left exposed and unprotected. This could be an issue for durability. While this shouldn't be a concern for a responsible adult, I would hesitate recommending such a design for a young student.
Speaking of durability and responsible adults (which apparently, I am not), I left this flash drive in my shirt pocket and it ultimately went into my washing machine. While it was discovered before going into the dryer, it was fully submerged in soapy water for an entire cycle. Shockingly, after letting it dry for a week, it still works! Please note, my benchmarks were done before the drive went into the washer.
For my benchmarking, I used a program called CrystalDiskMark 3. The test machine is a brand-new Windows 8 All-In-One computer, the Acer Aspire ZC-605-UR21. I plugged the drive into the front-port which is USB 3.0.
Here are the results:
Lexar Jumpdrive M10 Secure 128GB ($189.99)
While the LaCie drive was forged from a piece of steel, the Lexar drive is not. Instead, the body is entirely plastic...and that's OK. I wouldn't run it over with my car and expect it to survive, but plastic is a durable material and totally acceptable here. While this flash drive is also sans cap, it takes a different design approach by using a slider. By sliding a piece of the body up and down, you can protect the precious contacts.
The Lexar Jumpdrive M10 Secure has a big trick up its sleeve to differentiate it from competitors. On the body of the drive is a small LCD screen that displays the amount of available storage. While it is a bit gimmicky, I still like it from a nerd perspective. Sure, the operating system that is interfacing with the drive can tell you the available storage too, but this is cooler; it's more fun.
For my benchmarking, I used the exact same computer and software as with the LaCie.
Here are the results:
Conclusion
So, which drive is better? Well, that decision must be made by you. Since the drives have different capacities and prices, it is not an apples to apples comparison. Clearly, the Lexar drive is much faster than the LaCie (but also more expensive). However, if you are just casually saving Word documents, that is probably not a big deal. If you are using the drive for Windows or Linux installations, the Lexar will save you time; for IT professionals, time is money. If the appearance of the drive is very important, the LaCie is probably for you -- it is actually sexy (yes, I find a flash drive to be sexy).
BetaNews readers, which drive would you pick? Faster or sexier? Tell me in the comments.