OCZ Technology Mini-Kart 1GB USB Flash Drive

Features of the OCZ Technology Mini-Kart 1GB USB Flash Drive

Small size is the most appealing feature of the OCZ Mini-Kart USB drive. The drive housing is a mere 2.8mm thick, which is ever so slightly thicker than a quarter. The length and width of the drive is 43mm x 19mm making for a very small package. With the proliferation of USB connectivity products if your system is anything like mine, space around the USB ports is at a premium. The tiny size of the Mini-Kart means that you likely won't have to unplug another of your USB peripherals to connect the Mini-Kart to your computer.

OCZ also includes a protective plastic case and a lanyard keyring. The drive is backed by an OCZ three year warranty. A blue LED on the back of the Mini-Kart glows when the drive is connected and flashes with activity. No drivers are required for the Mini-Kart to function on Windows XP or Mac OS X.

OCZ Technology Mini-Kart 1GB USB Flash Drive in Use

I benchmarked the Mini-Kart on my Windows XP Pro based test rig with the following specs:

• CPU- AMD FX-60
• Mainboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
• PSU- PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1KW
• Display: Eizo ColorEdge CE240W
• Graphics Card: XFX 7600GS

I verified with the Mac Mini running Mac OS X that the Mini-Kart was indeed recognized immediately and could read and write files with no drivers required. The remainder of the review was performed on my Windows XP system. For benchmarking I used HD Tach to get burst and sequential read speeds for the Mini-Kart. I also copied large files to and from the drive to get an idea of the real world read and write performance of the Mini-Kart.

First up were the HD Tach tests. HD tach showed a random access time of 60.3ms, an average read of 9.8 MB/s and showed the Kart to require CPU utilization of 2%. That random access time is slow and could possible show an issue with the memory controller. Compared to a 512MB Kingston Data Traveler USB drive from the HD Tach library scoring a random access time of 0.5ms (you see the phenomenal difference here), CPU utilization of 4% and an average read time of 8.4ms. For real world read and write tests I copied a folder containing 667 MB of Jpeg images to and from the Mini-Kart. Writing the large folder to the drive took 6 minutes and 16 seconds, copying the folder from the Mini-Kart back to my computer took 3 minutes 13 seconds.

While the OCZ Mini-Kart may not be the fastest flash drive you can get your hands on, it is certainly one of the smallest drives. I think the small, portable size of the Mini-Kart more than makes up for the possibly slower speed than larger, but faster USB drives on the market.