Kingston Technology DataTraveler 2.0 review: Kingston Technology DataTraveler 2.0

Kingston Technology DataTraveler
Kingston's DataTraveler, one of the larger drives we looked at, measures 1 inch wide, 0.5 inches thick, and 3.87 inches long (with the cap on); without the cap, it's small enough that it won't block adjacent USB ports when you plug it into a PC. Encased in silver plastic, the DataTraveler feels decidedly insubstantial. The drive's cap has a belt clip and a removable keyring. Remove the cap, and you'll find the USB interface sticking out of an opaque-gray plastic base. An orange light buried within the drive flashes during file transfers.

The DataTraveler comes with driver software for Windows 98, a brief pamphlet detailing hardware and driver installation, a cloth neck strap, and a keyring. It also comes preloaded with Kingston's TravelerSafe 1.1, a user-friendly program that lets you password-protect up to 90 percent of the drive. However, it's important to note that whenever you format the drive using TravelerSafe, all the files on the drive are deleted, including the TravelerSafe's instruction file. (Always drag a copy to your desktop before reformatting.)

Kingston's DataTraveler is available in a range of capacities from 64MB to 256MB. The 256MB model we tested costs around $83, or about 32 cents per megabyte--a little less expensive than average.

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