| Article Index |
|---|
| LaCie iamaKey Review |
| Features, Specifications and Size |
| Performance: ReadyBoost |
| Performance: Real World Access |
| Problems |
| Conclusion |
| All Pages |
I don’t think I’ve ever found a “perfect” ... well ... anything really. I can find problems or annoyances everywhere, if I look hard enough – even my own work. Especially my own ... well let’s not go there.
The LaCie iamaKey is a pretty good device, but three things struck me as I was reviewing:
- There’s no activity light on the key.
- The dust cap is tiny, clear and extremely lightweight – so it will get lost, no matter how careful you are.
- It’s a little expensive compared to most of its competition.
The lack of an activity light is quite likely due to the size and shape of the iamaKey. It would have been quite difficult to find a good spot to have the LED that wouldn’t have detracted from its disguise on a keyring; about the best place I could come up with would be on the inside of the hole in the head of the key. This would permit the light to be hidden discreetly but still provide an indication of how hard the key was working.
Without it I do fear that people (who have been conditioned to just yank the key out of the computer) will lose data because there is no way to tell whether a file copy really is completely done.
The dust cap issue doesn’t bother me too much, but it’s worth being aware of. The USB connector spec doesn’t really seem to have nailed down a good method to protect the connectors from dust and dirt, and a USB key kept in a pocket full of lint really needs a cap. Nevertheless, the connectors are out in the open and it won’t be difficult to give it a quick clean with a small soft brush.
As for the price, it’s definitely on the high side. It’s not impossible to find a cheap 8GB USB key for under $30 (Australian) and there are dozens under $40 so the $70 that LaCie’s Australian distributors recommend is not particularly competitive.
