Why You Can Trust CNET Get a Kingston 16GB Wi-Drive for $45 shipped
Need more storage for your Kindle Fire or iDevice? Tough luck. Or not, if you pair it with this handy portable wireless flash drive.
Is your 16GB iPad feeling the storage pinch? Are you wishing Amazon had squeezed more than 8GB into the Kindle Fire? Here's the rub: Kindle Fires and iDevices lack expansion capabilities, so you're pretty much stuck with what you've got.
Or not, thanks to the Kingston Wi-Drive. It offers wireless, portable storage for select phones and tablets.
The big downside has always been the price, but Adorama now has the 16GB Kingston Wi-Drive for $44.95 shipped. That's a heckuva lot more reasonable than the original $129.99 list price.
The gizmo measures 4.78 inches by 2.43 inches by 0.4 inch -- about the size of an iPod Touch -- so it's easy to carry along in a pocket or purse. You can fill it with content (music, movies, etc.) from your PC, then stream that content to up to three devices.
So, for example, if you're taking a long trip and want to stock up on movies, you can squeeze plenty of extras onto the Wi-Drive. The unit connects via its own Wi-Fi access point, but also provides a kind of Wi-Fi pass-through so your device(s) can continue to connect to the Internet.
There's a Wi-Drive app for iOS devices and also one for the Kindle Fire. If you're an Android user, you can check out the beta Wi-Drive app -- but in most cases you're better off just popping in a high-capacity microSD card.
CNET reviewed the Wi-Drive last July, rating it 3.5 stars and calling it "a convenient companion for frequent travelers who have one or a few tablets and a moderate library of digital content." (That was before the apps had expanded to include more devices.) One big knock was the price, but that's much less of an issue now.
Indeed, if you own a compatible device and you're constantly running out of storage, the Wi-Drive offers an affordable solution. It's not as convenient as an expansion slot, but at least it's an option.
Standard disclaimer: I'm not sure how long Adorama will be offering the Wi-Drive at this price, nor how much inventory is available. (Amazon had it for a buck less earlier today, but it quickly sold out.)
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