Model:  STU8GPCS & STU8GPES

Manufacturer:  Super Talent

Provider:  Super Talent

Reviewed By:  Miguel

Review Date:  12/21/08

  For years, I've been after a truly keychain-friendly flash drive that is rugged enough and has a decent amount of storage space.  I have shown you all many options here but clearly mostly all fall short of these simple, yet important requirements.  If there is one manufacturer that has finally got it right, it is none other than Super Talent.  Since the introduction of their impressive Pico Series, I've been a fan of these incredibly small flash drives and have previously shown you one model in this series.  Fortunately, I have the opportunity to show you all two additional models that truly do live up to my simple yet strict standards.  I have the pleasure of giving you a thorough comparison of these two remarkable little flash drives, the Pico-C Rugged & Pico-E Slide.  Ultra small and rugged, these little drives offer plenty of storage in a truly impressive design.

Packaging & Contents

Both new models I will be showing you provide 8GB's of storage space.  Like all flash drives in this series, they ship in very standard packaging.  In fact, it is not even a blister pack.  The difference between its content is that the Pico C Rugged ships with a standard metal loop extension instead of the lanyard found on the Pico E.  There's a reason for this as we take a much closer look at both below...

Design & Features

Looking at both side-by-side, it is apparent the the Pico-E is slightly larger.  That's due to the "slide" design which I will best demonstrate in the next picture below.  Now, what truly puts these little beasts in a class of their own is their full metal housing.  That's right, no plastic here folks!  It is all metal, right down to the loop for your key ring.   They normally come in chrome, but there are models with a nickel plating, as well as special gold or black models, depending on the particular model of choice.

**click to enlarge**

While the Pico-C is rugged enough, their latest model, the Pico-E, features a sliding plastic lid to further protect the connector.  In order to incorporate the sliding cap, some compromises had to be made.  For one, it is slightly larger in size.  The second is the lack of the metal loop for the key ring, something I actually love.  However, this isn't so bad, as you can use the small ring from the lanyard to mount it on your keychain and still provide peace of mind that you won't eventually end up losing it.

Cap-less or not, all drives in their Pico Series are both shock and water resistant, adding to its durability and making them the smallest most rugged flash drives on the market today.

Size Comparison

In order to truly demonstrate just how small these drives are, it is best to provide you with a size comparison against some of the smallest drives on the market.  The first comparison is between three of their own drives in the Pico Series...

The Pico-C Rugged is not only my personal favorite, but clearly the smallest in the series, including their Pico-B and Pico-D not featured here.  Due to the sliding lid design, the Pico-E happens to be the thickest of the bunch.

Now let's compare these against some additional drives that are in the same class as far as overall size...

Above is a final comparison that includes the excellent PQI i810, InnoDisk 8GB and the tiny drive that started it all...the Intelligent Stick 2.0.  Out of all, the Super Talent Pico-C Rugged now earns the crown as the smallest flash drive on the market.  While the good old intelligent stick remains the thinnest, its far from durable in comparison and is actually the most fragile drive of the bunch.

Specifications

Below are some custom specs put together to cover all drives in the Pico Series...

Next: Install & Performance