There are two things that immediately struck me about this particular USB flash drive from the folks at Super Talent. First, this thing is bloody tiny. It’s not appropriate to call it a thumb drive at all because this USB drive is actually quite a bit smaller than the average adult thumb. It’s more appropriate to call it a USB stick or something. Pinky perhaps? When the drive can be almost completely occluded by a quarter, you know that it’s ridiculously small.
Second, it’s gold. It’s not every day that you come across something for your computer that has been dressed up in a super-shiny coating of gold. For nearly all intents and purposes, the Super Talent PICO-C USB drive is just as much a piece of jewelry as it is a piece of technology. With these two points in mind, is the PICO-C USB drive super talented or can it not even qualify for the role of the understudy?
Specifications and Technical Details
Despite its tiny stature, the Super Talent Pico USB drive actually packs quite a wallop and can hold its own against drives that are several times its physical size:
- Capacities: 1GB to 8GB (as tested)
- Dimensions: 31.3mm x 12.4mm x 3.4mm
- 24-carat gold plated
- Weight: 4.7 grams
- Up to 30MB/s (200x) data transfer rate
- Durable solid-state storage – 10 years data retention
- Hot plug & play
- Water resistant
- Rugged design
Aside from the special PICO-C gold plated special edition, the Super Talent PICO is also available in three other variants: the swiveling PICO-A, the retractable PICO-B, the water resistant PICO-C, and the swivel-style PICO-D. They are all functionally identical and about the same size; they just happen to take on slightly different form factors. More information can be found on the official product page.
Build Quality and Aesthetics
You would think that with a flash drive as small as the Super Talent PICO-C Gold Edition that it would be terribly fragile. This is especially true because of the soft 24k gold, right? Wrong. I found that the build quality on this drive was very solid, somewhat earning the “rugged” designation that Super Talent decided to give it. Although it wouldn’t be fair to expect the Super Talent PICO-C to withstand too much physical abuse (that’s where something like the Corsair Survivor would come into play), it’s certainly stronger than some of the plastic USB flash drives on the market.
In terms of aesthetics, the gold plating on the PICO-C Gold Edition is largely a matter of personal preference. I’m not a huge fan of it myself, but I can see how some fashionistas may appreciate how the drive doesn’t have much of a geeky appearance to it. Like I said, it’s like a piece of jewelry. Heck, the little cord that comes bundled with the drive is even gold.
If you’re not a fan of shiny things, you can opt for one of the other Super Talent PICO drives, perhaps taking one one of the swiveling form factors to provide a little more protection for the USB connector. That’s one of my complaints about the PICO-C, because the USB connector is always exposed to the elements. That helps to keep the device small though.
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