What a difference a boost makes!

I'm not certain why I can't simply walk into a store for the one single thing I went there for and actually walk out with just it - but I can't and I've decided  not to even pretend to try as I've learned that it is utterly impossible for me to do!  So a trip last evening which started out as a single solitary battery expedition turned into a Mouse, a hub and a USB Flash drive - not to mention a few extra goodies in the munchie field!

One of the items I'm actually very glad I picked up on a spur of the moment, overwhelming "buy me" urge was this compact USB Flash Drive by Toshiba.  It's only a 2GB but for just $14.97 it was so reasonably priced how could a girl resist!

I bought this specifically for the purpose of using it with the Ready-Boost feature that is inherent with Windows Vista - I'm just slightly "Tim the Tool man" oriented when it comes to my computer (the "more power" not the "clutzy go wrong" traits though) and any extra boost of power there is always a good thing.  I'd read mixed information on the Ready-Boost option - some people found little to no benefit while others praised its increase in quick access in a number of areas so I decided that I'd give it a try.  If it didn't make any difference I would simply have yet another Flash drive to worry about losing.

This Flash drive is all of an inch in length and about a 1/2 inch in width.  It comes with a switch blade type cover which I like and which means one Flash drive with no cap to worry about misplacing.  Opening the drive's cover reveals the USB port connector.  When I first tried it I plugged it into the hub I'd also purchased and the Ready-Boost option which is pre-built into the flash drive gave me an error that the drive wasn't suitable as a Ready-Boost utility. Oh oh.  That's not good!

I quickly realized,  however that it was the hub that was causing the error and once I switched the flash drive to another USB port of its own the Ready-Boost screen popped up and it was a quick matter of clicking the Boost button and I was all set.  The Flash drive has a cylindrical red indicator light where the cover connects to the bottom of the flash drive and indicates that it's receiving or delivering data which is  a nice visual indicator that clearly allows you to see the drive at work and quickly catch any failure that could  eventually occur as the drive ages.

This is a high speed USB Flash drive and I have to say - if you are operating Windows Vista and you're on a laptop - especially if it isn't one of the newest laptops on the market, you may find that you can begin to enjoy your laptop's boost in response time again.  My laptop is now almost 3 years old and since incorporating Ready-Boost last evening the improvement has been very noticeable and I'm able to zip from file to file and have numerous windows open for applications of different resource demands and I'm actually liking the response I'm getting.

This flash drive is also good for storing and sharing digital images, music and more and with the integrated LOCK security application you can even store files or documents that you don't want others to have access to by applying passwords quickly and easily.

It is backward compatible with USB 1.1 as well as  2.0 support for Windows Vista, Windows 2000 and WinXP and is Hot Plug and Play compatible.  Depending upon the hardware configuration, software applications and uses you may have for this drive - the package indicates it may be slower than indicated - however, I've had no issues with speed and frankly, I would recommend this to others who want to boost the response time of their Vista equipped laptop in particular.  When used as a Ready-Boost device it is recommended that it not be used to store a large amount of other data at the same time - otherwise response time could be compromised.

Overall, this was a great purchase that just might allow me to hold off having to purchase a new laptop for just a bit longer.That alone is definitely worth the impulse buy.