The latest line of USB keys from the flash memory wizards at SanDisk comes in three flavours: Contour, Professional, and Enterprise.
The Contour is the consumer version, meant for techno hipsters who want a lot of storage—it comes in 4GB ($100) and 8GB ($205) models—and a chic geek form factor. Featuring a brushed metal case with a piano black accent, the Contour’s USB jack is revealed by pressing down on the top of the key and sliding it towards the base. Push it up again and the jack pops out and locks firmly into place. It’s the same sort of smooth, nerdy-cool motion that users of sliding mobiles and flip phones tend to become obsessed with (don’t be surprised if you find yourself playing with the key in your pocket).
Like many newer flash drives, the Contour is enhanced for Windows Vista ReadyBoost, which means you can speed up your system using the drive’s memory while it’s plugged into your PC. It also employs SanDisk’s U3 technology, which allows users to store programs like Skype and Winamp on the key and access them on any computer at hand without moving them to the hard drive.
The Professional (available in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB models starting at $59) is designed for mobile business types and sports a fittingly conservative aesthetic: it’s a simple, gray, rectangular piece of plastic with a pen-like clip cap. While the Professional can’t match the Contour’s sexy curves and materials, it offers a heightened degree of security—via 256-bit AES encryption—and a customizable private partition. Users can set the size of the partition and create their own passwords using a simple SanDisk app called CruzerPro. It takes just a few seconds to set up, and you can designate frequently used PCs to automatically bypass the login so that you need not waste your time entering a password every time the key is plugged in to your home or work machine.
On the surface, the Enterprise is nearly identical to the Professional (it’s black instead of gray and is available in the same capacities), but it comes with an even more secure software package designed to make IT department heads fret a little less when their company’s more careless staff drop their USB keys in the parking lot. Passwords combining digits with upper and lowercase letters are mandatory and must be re-entered each time the key is plugged in. It’s a bit of a nuisance, and the additional security jacks up the price—the 1GB model goes for $80, while the 4GB is a whopping $195—but companies with secrets to protect may be willing to pay a premium and weather a few password-related complaints from employees in exchange for the Enterprise’s virtually unassailable data protection.
The Contour is the consumer version, meant for techno hipsters who want a lot of storage—it comes in 4GB ($100) and 8GB ($205) models—and a chic geek form factor. Featuring a brushed metal case with a piano black accent, the Contour’s USB jack is revealed by pressing down on the top of the key and sliding it towards the base. Push it up again and the jack pops out and locks firmly into place. It’s the same sort of smooth, nerdy-cool motion that users of sliding mobiles and flip phones tend to become obsessed with (don’t be surprised if you find yourself playing with the key in your pocket).
Like many newer flash drives, the Contour is enhanced for Windows Vista ReadyBoost, which means you can speed up your system using the drive’s memory while it’s plugged into your PC. It also employs SanDisk’s U3 technology, which allows users to store programs like Skype and Winamp on the key and access them on any computer at hand without moving them to the hard drive.
The Professional (available in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB models starting at $59) is designed for mobile business types and sports a fittingly conservative aesthetic: it’s a simple, gray, rectangular piece of plastic with a pen-like clip cap. While the Professional can’t match the Contour’s sexy curves and materials, it offers a heightened degree of security—via 256-bit AES encryption—and a customizable private partition. Users can set the size of the partition and create their own passwords using a simple SanDisk app called CruzerPro. It takes just a few seconds to set up, and you can designate frequently used PCs to automatically bypass the login so that you need not waste your time entering a password every time the key is plugged in to your home or work machine.
On the surface, the Enterprise is nearly identical to the Professional (it’s black instead of gray and is available in the same capacities), but it comes with an even more secure software package designed to make IT department heads fret a little less when their company’s more careless staff drop their USB keys in the parking lot. Passwords combining digits with upper and lowercase letters are mandatory and must be re-entered each time the key is plugged in. It’s a bit of a nuisance, and the additional security jacks up the price—the 1GB model goes for $80, while the 4GB is a whopping $195—but companies with secrets to protect may be willing to pay a premium and weather a few password-related complaints from employees in exchange for the Enterprise’s virtually unassailable data protection.
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