PNY’s Attaché flash drive series is one of the more commonly seen compact USB drives in American retail stores, making it a recognized brand name for most consumers.
The question is whether visibility translates to quality. The 16GB Attaché has a slightly higher price tag than some of its competitors, but boasts features which might make it worth the cost.
At a Glance
Pros
- Large data capacity
- Fast transfer rate
- Convenient size, shape, and weight
- Backward compatible
Cons
- High end of price range
- Only one color
Overview
The PNY Attaché 16GB USB Flash Drive, with its 16 gigabytes of space, is one of the largest you can find, and certainly the largest in its price range. If you typically use a lot of hard disk space or work with large file formats, this size drive will ensure you don’t quickly run out of space. The 16GB Attaché also features one of the fastest transfer rates available for a flash drive, making sure you can move files back and forth without long delays.
The space, performance, and brand name combined add up to a higher price, however. 16GB flash drives can sell anywhere from $60 to $125, and the Attaché is on the high end of this price range.
Performance
The 16GB Attaché boasts data transfer rates up to 480 Mbps over USB 2.0, which is the standard USB connection on most PCs. This, thankfully, makes for speedy file transfers, especially when compared to the 30 Mbps found on many smaller-capacity flash drives.
People with older PCs will also be glad to know that the 16GB Attaché’s connection is backwards compatible with USB 1.1, so while it won’t be as fast, it will work.
The drive isn’t magical, however, and you’ll still notice some delay when you’re transferring larger files, such as a 3GB video file I tested. Also, once the drive fills up to around 10GB or more, the time it takes all of your files to show up after plugging it in will be noticeably longer. This can vary based on the performance of your PC, however.
Appearance
The drive is simple and elegant in its design, with a slick black outer case and a red inner case. It’s the standard rectangle design you see on most flash drives, with a convenient hole built into the casing so you can easily add it onto your key ring. And at just one ounce, less than three inches long, and under half an inch thick, people on the go will have no trouble at all carrying this drive around on their key ring or in their pocket.
Fashionable techies may be somewhat disappointed in the lack of options when it comes to colors, however. Currently, the black/red design is the only one available, although that may change in the future.