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I already have a selection of USB flash drives. My main two are a 16GB SanDisk Cruzer Micro which I bought a little over a year ago and mainly use to store music for my car, and a 512MB Sony MicroVault which I?ve had for several years and has never faulted me. I have several other flash drives of varying sizes lying around as well, but they?ve been sitting in the draw gathering dust since forever and probably don?t work now. Would be interesting to see what kind of 5 year old coursework I have on them if they do?

Anyway, while I can?t really complain about the reliability of these drives, one common complain I have is that they are all made of the same cheapo plastic and all have loose connectors. The MicroVault and the Cruzer Micro have sliding mechanisms, and the Cruzer?s in particular feels incredibly cheap and prone to snapping at any given moment. That?s why I have it sitting in my car and not in my pocket.

Enter the LaCie XtremKey. Now, most of LaCie?s products are made from high quality materials, but the XtremKey goes a little bit further in the quality department. I just thought I would share some of my thoughts on it here, and see whether it is worth the premium price tag.

Design

As all the adverts and product descriptions like to show off about, the XtremKey was designed by Constance Guisset. It's a sleek little chappy, and doesn't look out of place in any modern setup. It has a curved base, so you can stand it upright and use it a a weebl (woot!). Its brushed appearance means it looks quite at home next to some of Apple's aluminium hardware. In fact, it was pretty much designed around Apple's MacBook Pro - despite the wide base, it doesn't touch the desk, though you could probably only slide one hair in the gap. Good luck plugging this baby in an Air. Because it's a bit longer than the standard USB connector, and has a narrow-ish neck, it doesn't get in the way of other USB ports as much as it would seem at first glance. They've clearly thought about that little detail.

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Not touching!

Build Quality

It's made from 2mm thick Zamac - an alloy of zinc, aluminium, magnesium, and copper. LaCie claims it can be run over by 10-ton trucks, survive five metre drops, survive temperatures of +200C to -50C, and can be submerged with your watch to 100m before the rubber O-ring starts letting water through. Reading around the internet, some of those claims have had some disputes, but as with wrist watches you're never really going to test a USB stick to these extremes (well, I'm not, not one I've bought myself), but it's nice to know it'll be ok if it falls out of your pocket onto concrete or into a puddle.

You'll certainly notice if this thing finds itself outside of your pocket though. It isn't a small drive, and it's pretty weighty. It has a strong lock wire thing (liking the technical terminology?) that you can use to put it on a keyring but it's a little big for that. I certainly don't want it rattling around when I'm driving, anyway. At the same time, I wouldn't keep it in the same pocket as anything remotely delicate, like a phone. Mixing a phone with an XtremKey would not bode well for your future communicatory requirements.

Performance

I'll be honest, I'm not interested in read/write speeds and don't really care to test them. Other reviews show that they're impressive (apparently) but real world tests fall short of what LaCie claims is possible. Oh well.

LaCie isn't known for producing flash drives that fry within a couple of months so I expect this will last a while. I'm not worried about reliability by any means, but of course there's only one way of testing that. Maybe I'll add to this review in 5 years time, if I remember.

Extra software

Bundled on the drive is a piece of software that nets you a 4GB Wuala account (without the drive you can sign up for 1GB). It's basically LaCie's answer to Dropbox. I already use Dropbox and the Java client that LaCie ships for Wuala 1. is made in Java and 2. looks as horrendous as any other Java app, so I haven't given it a try. Like I said though you can get a smaller account for free so feel free to try it for yourself anyway.

Interestingly, for such a physically secure device, there is no built in encryption software.

Pricing

I paid ?40 for the 'entry-level' 8GB version (RRP ?44.99). You can get it in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB sizes for ?69.99, ?114.99 and ?199.99 respectively (also RRPs). That's a lot of money. You're definitely paying a premium here.

Summary

So to summarise this piece of **** review. You get a well built, sexy, well performing (apparently) USB flash drive, but you have to pay a premium. I'm happy with my purchase, I don't regret spending ?40 for 8GB at all. I already have cheap sticks lying around, I wouldn't have bought it if it was going to be much the same. I guess you could consider it to be the Apple of the USB flash drive world.

Really, whether you buy this or not comes down to how vain you are and how secure you like to keep your data in the physical sense. A big part of why I bought it is the way it looks and because I don't know anyone else who has one (sounds very Apple-esque, no?), but I also like the security of knowing my data will be ok even if I do accidentally launch it into the middle of a busy road. Yes, you still need to create backups of all your data, but this can be inconvenient if you don't have access to them at the crucial moment. With the XtremKey, you get piece of mind that your data will be safe regardless of what happens, but at the same time you're not stuck with some ugly as sin USB drive that looks like it was made from used Michelins.

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I'm not a photographer ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well written review and well I would like to get one as well :rolleyes: but I would sure consider it more it had more protection as in encryption as well. The data inside will be protected from physical accidents but not from someone accessing your private data just by plugin it into their pc. :shiftyninja:

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Looks good, but I haven't used a USB Memory key for a long time now, not since using Dropbox for my University work it's let me just walk to campus and download whatever I need.

Good review though. (Y)

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Now, most of LaCie?s products are made from high quality materials, but the XtremKey goes a little bit further in the quality department.

LaCie does not make quality products.

As for this flash drive, I like the idea but wish it was smaller, especially since the cap bends the key in a laptop drive and would get in the way with some other USB devices.

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    • Sihoo Doro C300 Pro V2 Ergonomic Office Chair review: The Ikea of chairs by Steven Parker I've reviewed a few gaming chairs over the past three years or so and generally found them to score well in our reviews. SIHOO reached out asking if I was interested in taking a look at their flagship chair, the Doro C300 Pro V2. I never got the chance to check out its predecessor, but the V2 is described as an "Adaptive Ergonomic Chair." It became available to buy in April of this year. Let's get things rolling with a closer look at the specifications and features. Specifications Doro C300 Pro V2 Model Ergonomic Materials Mesh Back and Seat; Soft PU Coated Armrests Height adjustability 45.5 - 53 cm / 17.5" - 20.9" Seat (w+d) 52 x 43 - 47 cm / 20.5" x 16.9" - 18.5" (adjustable) Backrest 52 – 60 cm / 20.5" - 23.6" (adjustable) Lumbar support Mesh built-in (adjustable) Armrest adjustability 8D Bionic Armrests Rocking angle 105°, 120°, 135° (fixed) Neck support Mesh built-in (adjustable) Net weight 27.3 kg / 59.64 lbs Weight support 150 kg / 330 lbs Colors Black, White Warranty 5 years (upon registering) Price $499.99, $539.99 Introduction At first glance, it looks like a chair that in another life wants to be a Herman Miller; It certainly looks like my Aeron Remastered, but the Doro C300 Pro V2 has quite a few more features and costs quite a bit less. SIHOO says that it is made up of a "DynaCore" system that tracks your movement and synchronizes the headrest, backrest, lumbar support, and armrests as you shift, twist, or recline. They also say that the "SyncroFlex Backrest" molds to your spine, which kind of describes how the mesh fabric works in most ergonomic chairs, but anyway. Below are the meat and potatoes measurements for the chair. Here is the same tech sheet, but in inches. Durability I would be remiss to not talk about the various durability testing this chair underwent before coming to market, as this is claimed on the product page. First of all, the chair is BIFMA-, SGS-, and TÜV-certified. As for durability, the tests undergone were: 100,000 Castor cycles tested 120,000 Armrest cycles tested 120,000 Recline cycles tested 120,000 Gas lift cycles tested 60,000 Armrest durability cycles tested 120,000 Rotation cycles tested Nothing about weights testing, though. Now that's all disclosed, now onto my own personal findings. Assembly The Doro C300 Pro V2 came in two large boxes (1) (2), and everything was packed very well, protecting the different parts of the chair. In the box, there is a folded sheet that explains the 12 steps to assemble it; they are: Remove the bottom cover on the aluminum base; Insert the five legs into the aluminum base and use ten screws to fasten them; Insert the castors into the legs; Replace the bottom cover on the bottom of the aluminum base; Place the Class 4 Hydraulics gas cylinder into the aluminum base; Screw the bottom part of the arm rests, taking care of the orientation using two screws on each side; Use three torx screws to fasten the footrest to the bottom of the seat; Fasten the backrest to the seat using four torx bolts; Fasten the armrests to the backrest using four Torx bolts (two on each side), taking care to note the orientation; Place the chair onto the Class 4 Hydraulics gas cylinder; Insert the headrest into the top of the backrest; Use two torx screws to fasten the headrest to the backrest. There's also an online guide you can refer to. Carefully unpacking the two boxes took around 15 minutes because almost everything is wrapped in plastic and protective foam; the chair assembly itself took around an hour. I say in the above assembly steps to take note of the orientation, because it's not obvious which way around the bottom portion of the armrests go, and although there is an L and R on the bottom of the armrests, it also wasn't clear from the instructions which was actually left or right, facing the chair, or in the seated down orientation? Anyway, I ended up putting the bottom portions on the wrong sides, and after securing one of the armrests, I discovered that although it was on the correct side, the armrest base could rotate a full 360°, but not when bolted to the chair, so I had to remove it, rotate it, and then bolt it back on. Truly an Ikea experience! Also, to complicate things further, although all the parts are labeled from A to X (yes, that's 24 parts) unhelpfully, these letters do not appear on the parts themselves or the package with the bolts, screws, and washers. There's also a pair of protective gloves in the box, but I think they were made for much smaller hands than I have. Even my friend, who is 5.1, had difficulty putting them on. Once assembled, I needed to sit down. Anyway, as I said, it looks quite similar to my Herman Miller. And here is the back of it. If you look at the product page and on Amazon, it seems like a lot of thought has gone into the chair itself and what it's capable of, but there is no mention at all about the castors, and this is an area where I think the chair trips up quite quickly. I found it difficult to move the chair in any direction. I asked a friend who came to visit me earlier this week to test my findings, and she said that the wheels were "no good," so it definitely isn't just me. I am 6'2 myself and a big guy, I work from home and gained a few pounds from mostly staying in and the hell away from other people. However, the Doro C300 Pro V2 is rated for up to 150kg (330lbs), which in my case is used well within its max rating. Ergonomics The number of adjustments you can make, right up to setting it in nap mode — which I haven't fully tested yet — is what you'd expect from a premium chair. Yes, you can go up and down (max 7.5 cm adjustment), rock back and forth (with tilt adjustment), and lock the chair between three stages of 105°, 120°, 135°, which is not quite as flat as the AndaSeat I tested at 160°. Some thought has also gone into the "8D" armrests, too, which are cushioned but quite firm; you'll only know it if you press hard into the PU-covered tops, which give about half a centimeter, but it's enough to ensure your skin won't get awkwardly stuck to it in warmer (or sweatier) conditions. It almost feels like plastic and is very easy to keep clean. However, the armrest positions move far too easily, and I am not sure what that "elbow" function is. Maybe it is good for a short person with short arms, anyway, I never used it and kept it flat at all times. There are eight levels of adjustment for the armrests, they are: backwards, forwards, swing left/right, height up and down, tilt, and 360° rotation, which can be handy for desk clearance. As I said, the armrest pads shift far too easily, which could give off an ergonomic vibe, but who wants the armrest sliding when you are shifting weight? The height adjustability does lock into place when lifting and adjusting. Comfort This is ultimately what it boils down to at the end of the day, right? Quite a lot of reviews praise the comfort of this chair, and I don't disagree that the mesh seating is quite comfortable. I am used to the material from my daily Herman Miller. However, the backrest cannot be locked into place, and this is actually a feature; as you shift or recline yourself on the chair, the backrest moves with your body. It took some getting used to. The lumbar gives ample support, but I would have preferred an adjustable one built into the seat base, as this causes the backrest to move up and down at will. Again, as with my previous chair review, this chair is also rated for tall people, but nowhere in the product documentation does it say how tall. Being 6'2 myself, I'm happy to say that the backrest is tall and wide enough, and thought has been given to being able to adjust the neck rest, but as others have mentioned in their reviews, people as tall as 6.2ft is about the limit for the neckrest. Conclusion What I didn't like The footrest is rated for 15kg (33 lbs), which to me seems a bit light, and after looking online, it seems like a chair footrest for adults must be at least twice that rating. In all honesty, they are just hollow metal tubes, so it is not recommended to let a kid sit on them. I also feel like it doesn't really go out far enough for my height, so that kind of puts the dampener on me being able to use it regularly. I'll just have to continue to use my subwoofer as a footrest! I do not like the armrests being able to shift around as easily as they can, and they are a little too forward-positioned in the chair to comfortably sit close to my desk, because even in the lowest height position, they don't allow me to go under the desk like is possible with my Herman Miller. I also feel like this chair could have been delivered partially constructed, especially the armrests on the seat, and why the aluminum base wasn't already pre-constructed (without the castors) is baffling, considering it would have fit in one of the two boxes that way. The instructions also need to be clearer. 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Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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    • The only reason I want to know where you from is because if you are not from the U.K, then why should you care what we in the U.K do or don't do? Racist I am not, I am fed up with the amount coming over here and feel they can come over here and think we need to support them. Do you know how much it costs this country to support these people coming over here? Even when we give them a place to live it is not good enough. We had a barge that was being used to house immigrants, oh but that was not good enough. A mate said to me at the time, when he was homeless, he would have been happy to live on the barge, instead of ending up sleeping on a bench on the beach. I am not scared to say what my family heritage is, unlike you who is scared to say where they are from or where they live. Father side U.S, mother side Wales, still have family living in the U.S. A mate who sadly died a few years ago, had a load of people from different races recording in his studio, I got on with all of them. Skin colour don't bother me, where they are from don't bother me. Religion don't bother me as long as they don't push it onto me and it is not crazy stuff. I am not religious. But if you are not living in the U.K, then why should you care if we are in the E.U or not? This the problem, too many people poking their noses into where it don't belong. But you believe what you believe, if you think I am racist, then be it, I really do not care. Just grow a pair
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