Techronnati Update

Kingston releases the first 256GB flash drive

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 08:55 AM PDT

At first, I thought i was just dreaming…then 3…4….5… seconds passed I came to my senses… NOT!

It’s true. Kingston has just released the very first 256 GB Flash drive. Imagine how much data you can store in just a tiny piece of storage. If you are an IT Specialist like me, you would surely go to the hardware store now and inquire…

And that was exactly what i did….

Out of curiosity and surprised with this information, i swiftly went to SM Megamall Cyberzone at Ortigas Pasig Philippines myself to inquire and check what’s in store. But to my dismay, i found out most of the local stores here – Octagon, Villmall, Apple Center, Sony Center, Toshiba Center, PC Corner just sells 1 GB -4 GB -8 GB- 16GB variants at most for price ranges of 400-3000 Philippine Pesos denominations. Hmmm…. i wonder when these Kingston Flash Drives would arrive in Manila.

You see i am just amazed like everyone else. I remember roughly around 6 years ago, I bought my very first 500MB SanDisk Flash drive for a whopping price of P8000 (Philippine Pesos) ! Then came my external hard drives in the following 100GB, 120GB, 256 GB and 1TB Seagate and Western Digital variations…. now 256GB in flash drives? Technology is surprising us day by day and such innovation makes our world interesting to live in. This product could give us a glimpse of how the future holds for SSDs and flash drives.

The DataTraveler 300/310 is capable of holding up to 54 DVDs or 51,000 JPEGs or 10 Blu-ray single layer discs and works perfectly with Windows, Linux and OS X-based systems.

According to Kingston Website, Kingston’s new DataTraveler® 300 USB Flash drive carries the highest capacity available on the market. Up to 90% of the drives content can be password protected and conveniently accessed due to the new Password Traveler software. No administrator rights are required. Fast transfer speeds guarantee smooth data flow to your host device.

Features/Specifications:

Capacity¹ — 256 GB
Speed² — Data transfer rates of up to 20MB/sec. read and 10MB/sec. write
Safeguarded — includes Password Traveler security software for Windows
Convenient — does not require Administrator rights to access the Privacy Zone
Dimensions — 2.78″ x 0.88″ x 0.65″ (70.68 mm x 22.37 mm x 16.45 mm)
Operating Temperature — 32° to 140° F (0° to 60° C)
Storage Temperature — -4° to 185° F (-20° to 85° C)
Simple — just plug into a any 1.1 or 2.0 USB port
Practical — durable, capless design
Guaranteed — five-year warranty
Enhanced — for Windows ReadyBoost™ on Vista-based systems³

Compatibility Table

Operating System	File Transfer	Password Traveller
Windows® 7
Windows Vista® (SP1)
Windows ReadyBoost™
Windows XP (SP1, SP2, SP3)
Windows 2000 (SP4)
Mac OS X v.10.3.x+
Linux v.2.6.x +

Now the price? If you’re rich enough to spare a US$1300 tag then this is for you…. check out http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320506182801

But if you would ask me, I don’t think i would buy anytime soon….. probably in the coming months when my budget fits the tag…. ;D