08-25-2017, 04:57 PM
[REVIEW] PNY Elite Turbo Attache 128GB USB 30 flash drive
Hi everyone,
Davemchine posted about a deal on PNY Elite Turbo Attache drives a couple of months or so ago. I grabbed 2 of the 128GB models for $34.99 each before cash back bonuses and such. It’s a very good price for a drive of its capacity and seemed like a decent model based on what I've seen of it.
First and foremost, one of the drives was defective out of the box. It was taking several minutes to transfer less than 50 megs worth of data to it from the internal fusion drive of my office’s imac. I wiped the stick and tried it formatted for the Mac and wiped it and formatted it for windows. No difference. Even tried it on another machine, just to confirm it was the drive.
I couldn’t return the drive to Best Buy since I didn’t get around to actually using it until after the return period. So, I did a warranty replacement with PNY. To give credit where credit is due, PNY handled the replacement in a quick and easy manner. However, I learned a couple of things that will make me avoid PNY products in the future.
PNY doesn’t necessarily replace the drive with the identical or similar model. They will replace the product and they can replace it with a different item. I found this out when I questioned why I received a slightly different model drive as the replacement. Tech support’s response was “The sole obligation is to replace the product, but the warranty does not say "with the same item".” That means, if I purchase PNY Elite Turbo Attache 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive and return it to PNY under warranty because it’s defective, they can send me an entirely different model and capacity drive.
Fortunately, in the end, it turns out the replacement is the same drive, just in updated packaging. Nonetheless, I’d be _very_ leery of buying more PNY flash drives because of their attitude about the warranty replacement. Imagine if that drive had cost me $100 and, upon replacement under warranty, I received a 16GB model that was USB 2.0. to say I’d be unhappy is an understatement.
Here is a link to a PDF of PNY’s warranty for flash drives:
Makes me wonder what would’ve happened if I’d purchased a PNY SSD. Are the terms the same for SSDs? Not that I’d by another PNY product.
That said, the drive has performance issues. Definitely slow on the mount, slow on the dismount, slow on the read and slow on the write. Using it feels like driving Ford Pinto with its brakes locked in comparison to a SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 flash drive which is like driving a Porsche 718 Boxster.
The slide cover design of the drive makes it annoying to attach and remove from a USB port. I keep wanting to grab the slide cover when connecting the drive. ‘course, this makes it close over the USB connector. Easy enough to adapt and grab it by the end or push it by the end but, still, it’s annoying!
Definitely avoid these drives. Yes, they are “decent” but that’s being kind. If you need a great USB 3.0 flash drive, stick with the SanDisk Extreme. It’s more expensive but a far superior drive.
Robert
Hi everyone,
Davemchine posted about a deal on PNY Elite Turbo Attache drives a couple of months or so ago. I grabbed 2 of the 128GB models for $34.99 each before cash back bonuses and such. It’s a very good price for a drive of its capacity and seemed like a decent model based on what I've seen of it.
First and foremost, one of the drives was defective out of the box. It was taking several minutes to transfer less than 50 megs worth of data to it from the internal fusion drive of my office’s imac. I wiped the stick and tried it formatted for the Mac and wiped it and formatted it for windows. No difference. Even tried it on another machine, just to confirm it was the drive.
I couldn’t return the drive to Best Buy since I didn’t get around to actually using it until after the return period. So, I did a warranty replacement with PNY. To give credit where credit is due, PNY handled the replacement in a quick and easy manner. However, I learned a couple of things that will make me avoid PNY products in the future.
PNY doesn’t necessarily replace the drive with the identical or similar model. They will replace the product and they can replace it with a different item. I found this out when I questioned why I received a slightly different model drive as the replacement. Tech support’s response was “The sole obligation is to replace the product, but the warranty does not say "with the same item".” That means, if I purchase PNY Elite Turbo Attache 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive and return it to PNY under warranty because it’s defective, they can send me an entirely different model and capacity drive.
Fortunately, in the end, it turns out the replacement is the same drive, just in updated packaging. Nonetheless, I’d be _very_ leery of buying more PNY flash drives because of their attitude about the warranty replacement. Imagine if that drive had cost me $100 and, upon replacement under warranty, I received a 16GB model that was USB 2.0. to say I’d be unhappy is an understatement.
Here is a link to a PDF of PNY’s warranty for flash drives:
Makes me wonder what would’ve happened if I’d purchased a PNY SSD. Are the terms the same for SSDs? Not that I’d by another PNY product.
That said, the drive has performance issues. Definitely slow on the mount, slow on the dismount, slow on the read and slow on the write. Using it feels like driving Ford Pinto with its brakes locked in comparison to a SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 flash drive which is like driving a Porsche 718 Boxster.
The slide cover design of the drive makes it annoying to attach and remove from a USB port. I keep wanting to grab the slide cover when connecting the drive. ‘course, this makes it close over the USB connector. Easy enough to adapt and grab it by the end or push it by the end but, still, it’s annoying!
Definitely avoid these drives. Yes, they are “decent” but that’s being kind. If you need a great USB 3.0 flash drive, stick with the SanDisk Extreme. It’s more expensive but a far superior drive.
Robert
