Kingston 64GB DataTraveler HyperX 3.0 Review

👤by Tim Harmer Comments 📅18-07-12
A Closer Look




Kingston's DataTraveler HyperX 3.0 line follows the aesthetic design of many other products in Kingston's HyperX line, with blue sections of the housing imbued with a bright metallic pain finish. The vivid blue and matt black colouring with stylised X evokes the HyperX SSD line especially, but also mirrors the HyperX Blu DRAM line design.

The rubberised coating of the black area's give the drive a grippy, tactile finish - it shouldn't be easy for it to slip out of your hand if you're a little rushed. Even if it does, the ruggedised design means that it should survive accidental drops. Some USB drives will rattle when shaken, indicating that the housing is not tightly securing the internal PCB; the DataTraveler HyperX has no such issue.



A nice additional touch is that the drive lid can be securely attached to the rear, which will certainly prove to be useful in ensuring that the lid isn't misplaced when in use. Other companies are experimenting on lidless solutions with a sliding mechanism, but Kingston's approach is simple and effective. The rear of the drive also features a blue flashing activity LED.

Whilst discussing the housing, we should take particular note of the dimensions and a potential compatibility issue. The drive dimensions are necessary to account for circuitry and flash chips, but that does result in the drive being taller and wider than many. On a standard motherboard I/O backpanel this will cause the drive itself to obstruct ports directly above, generally another USB or network port.



Small form factor systems and configurations which use the majority of I/O ports will need to be especially aware of this issue. An example would be the recently reviewed ZOTAC ZBOX AD11 PLUS, which locates USB 3.0 ports near to the HDMI port and can cause the Drive to foul the HDMI connector. As with any flash drive, using a USB 3.0 front panel port is sensible where possible, but we're aware that not all chassis and motherboards have that option.



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