Corsair Survivor GT 8 GB USB 2.0 Drive

[Chris Gohlke]

Today's review is a little bit of a change of pace from our normal reviews here at Digital Media Thoughts. Normally, we put products through the wringer, but it's not often that we get the chance to run them over with a car. In this review I'm going to to be looking at the 8 GB Corsair Survivor GT USB 2.0 Drive. This drive promises extreme durability, quick speeds, and encryption, all in one package.



In this review, we will see how this drive stacks up in all three departments. Of course, the fun will be trying to break it. The mayhem begins after the break.

Before we try to destroy it, here is a look at what you get. In addition to the drive, you get a USB extension cable and a set of Corsair dog tags which can be used as a lanyard to carry the drive around. As you can see, the drive is composed of two pieces, with the USB portion screwing into the protective aluminum housing and sealing with an O-ring.

Figure 1: In the box.

Figure 2: Open.

I subjected the drive to various forms of abuse to see what it could take. First, I froze it in a block of ice, then I ran over it with my car, and finally, I let it go for a spin in my washing machine.


Figure 3: Frozen in a block of ice.

Figure 4: Run over by a car.

Figure 5: A spin in the washer.

You can see, the aluminum casing of the drive received some minor cosmetic damage and the stickers started to peel off due to getting wet. Other than that, the drive was fine. Suffice it to say, if you're carrying this drive on you and something happens that causes it to break, the fact that your drive got broken is probably the least of your worries.


Figure 6: Minor cosmetic damage.

Having survived my physical tests, I decided to test its speed. Corsair claims that this drive is up to 5 times faster than the average USB drive. My tests showed a 22.9 MB/s average read speed, which was more than double the speed of the slowest drive I owned but not quite as quick as the Lexar Lighting drive I normally carry with me. So it certainly is quick, but I'm not sure what they were using for their average USB drive specification.

Finally, Corsair, includes a copy of the open source True Crypt application. This program uses AES-256 encryption, which is considered sufficient to protect classified information up to the Top Secret level for the US government, so it is probably sufficient for anything you have. Personally, I don't like the fact that you have to install the program on any computer you want to be able to access encrypted information on. I prefer the method used by some other drives I own where the encryption software is run right off the drive and therefore does not require a separate installation. But for a solution to that problem, I will be looking at another Corsair drive in the next few weeks that handles security in an entirely different way.

If indestructibility is high on your list of requirements, you don't need to look much farther than this drive. The fast performance and strong encryption is a bonus. But, don't expect to get away cheap either. While Corsair indicates an MSRP of $129.99, I could not find any retailers selling it at that price, but you can pick it up on Amazon for $190.43.

[Chris Gohlke]

Today's review is a little bit of a change of pace from our normal reviews here at Digital Media Thoughts. Normally, we put products through the wringer, but it's not often that we get the chance to run them over with a car. In this review I'm going to to be looking at the 8 GB Corsair Survivor GT USB 2.0 Drive. This drive promises extreme durability, quick speeds, and encryption, all in one package.



In this review, we will see how this drive stacks up in all three departments. Of course, the fun will be trying to break it. The mayhem begins after the break.

Before we try to destroy it, here is a look at what you get. In addition to the drive, you get a USB extension cable and a set of Corsair dog tags which can be used as a lanyard to carry the drive around. As you can see, the drive is composed of two pieces, with the USB portion screwing into the protective aluminum housing and sealing with an O-ring.

Figure 1: In the box.

Figure 2: Open.

I subjected the drive to various forms of abuse to see what it could take. First, I froze it in a block of ice, then I ran over it with my car, and finally, I let it go for a spin in my washing machine.


Figure 3: Frozen in a block of ice.

Figure 4: Run over by a car.

Figure 5: A spin in the washer.

You can see, the aluminum casing of the drive received some minor cosmetic damage and the stickers started to peel off due to getting wet. Other than that, the drive was fine. Suffice it to say, if you're carrying this drive on you and something happens that causes it to break, the fact that your drive got broken is probably the least of your worries.


Figure 6: Minor cosmetic damage.

Having survived my physical tests, I decided to test its speed. Corsair claims that this drive is up to 5 times faster than the average USB drive. My tests showed a 22.9 MB/s average read speed, which was more than double the speed of the slowest drive I owned but not quite as quick as the Lexar Lighting drive I normally carry with me. So it certainly is quick, but I'm not sure what they were using for their average USB drive specification.

Finally, Corsair, includes a copy of the open source True Crypt application. This program uses AES-256 encryption, which is considered sufficient to protect classified information up to the Top Secret level for the US government, so it is probably sufficient for anything you have. Personally, I don't like the fact that you have to install the program on any computer you want to be able to access encrypted information on. I prefer the method used by some other drives I own where the encryption software is run right off the drive and therefore does not require a separate installation. But for a solution to that problem, I will be looking at another Corsair drive in the next few weeks that handles security in an entirely different way.

If indestructibility is high on your list of requirements, you don't need to look much farther than this drive. The fast performance and strong encryption is a bonus. But, don't expect to get away cheap either. While Corsair indicates an MSRP of $129.99, I could not find any retailers selling it at that price, but you can pick it up on Amazon for $190.43.

[Jason Dunn]

Awesome torture tests Chris - I'm impressed it survived all that. 8O

[msknutson]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

Awesome torture tests Chris - I'm impressed it survived all that. 8O

Reminds me somewhat of the 'toughbook' technology. Impressive what it can survive - but, as soon as that usb extender cable is lost, it seems that the drive itself may be too big/wide to fit anywhere comfortably. usb ports are jammed so close together that i sometimes have trouble even with smaller drives. I have an ATP ToughDrive that is like this, rubber coated, and it is tough, but a bit wide.

As for speed, I have a drive rated at 150x, but it makes me wonder where they found their specific value of x. same for other vendors, as Chris has stated.

Wow- msrp is certainly only a suggestion for this one so far!

Nice review!

[Chris Gohlke]

Originally Posted by msknutson

Impressive what it can survive - but, as soon as that usb extender cable is lost, it seems that the drive itself may be too big/wide to fit anywhere comfortably. usb ports are jammed so close together that i sometimes have trouble even with smaller drives. I have an ATP ToughDrive that is like this, rubber coated, and it is tough, but a bit wide.

Actually, at the USB end, it is really very slim, not much thicker than the connection itself. So, unless you have really tightly spaced ports, and a bunch of long and wide items in them all, I don't see it as much of a problem.

[James Beatty]

If I could find a tough 16GB drive with "driverless" hardware encryption I'd be set to keep all my data on me 24/7. Minus insane amounts of AAC music files of coarse.....

[Jeremy Charette]

Man, I wish MY reviews were this much fun. :?

:lol:

Great job Chris.

[Dyvim]

I'll stick with my SanDisk Cruzer Titanium. They've been out for years now and they're tough as nails (easily survive the car test and worse) and are slim and attractively designed. And they have pretty fast write speeds.

[leslietroyer]

Does it float -- so if I drop it in the water -- I can get it without putting on diving gear??

Thanks

[Chris Gohlke]

Nope, but it is rated down to 200 meters.