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Appeared on: Thursday, March 5, 2015
Toshiba TransMemory Pro 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review


1. Features, specifications

Toshiba 's updated range of Super Speed USB 3.0 flash memory USB drives include the TransMemory-EX II drives, which feature increased read and write speeds and are available with capacities of 32GB, 64GB and 128GB.

Based on Toshiba’s Double Data Rate (DDR) NAND, the products designed to read or write 25GB of video content in approximately 5 minutes. The drives are powered by the USB 3.0 port and their specs indicate that they can read data at speeds up to 222 Mbytes/s.The maximum write speed of the new flash memory drives is 205Mbytes/s. of course, the drives are also usable in devices equipped with USB 2.0 hosts with maximum transfer rates of 34MB/sec for reading and 30MB/sec for writing.

The new flash memory drives support software that enables particular blocks of data to be protected with a password lock so files stored in that block cannot be accessed without the password. They also support Windows ReadyBoost which allows use of external memory storage as a cache for the hard disk drive of a PC. Windows ReadyBoost capability contributes to enhanced PC performance, such as reduced time required for PC start up. This function is available for computers running Windows 7 or Vista.

The new flash drives are covered by a five year warranty from the date of purchase. Below you see their specs:

  THNV32OSUSILV(BL8) THNV64OSUSILV(BL8) THNV128OSUSILV(BL8)
Technical Specifications
Available Density
32GB
64GB
128GB
Interface Super Speed USB 3.0, USB 1.1/Hi-Speed USB 2.0
Write Speed
Up to 130 MB/s
Up to 205 MB/s
Up to 205 MB/s
Read Speed
Up to 220 MB/s
Power Supply
Bus powered from USB port
Compatible PC Models
USB Interface (Type A) with Windows 8, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Mac OS 10.0.2 or later (Only support for USB 2.0)
Warranty
5 Years
Dimensions
68.8 mm (L) x 21 mm (W) x 10.5 mm (H) (including a cap)
Weight
14g (main body only)
Operating Temperature
0° to +50°C (Recommended)
Storage Temperature
-20° to +60°C (Recommended)
Operational and Storage Humidity
20% to 95%RH (Non-condensing)
ReadyBoost functionality
Supported

2. A closer look, EX II Pad Locker software

The TransMemory Pro drive retails in the package you see below:

The drive protects the USB 3.0 connector with a cap matching its silver aluminum body, which is textured for grip. The cap can be stored at the rear of the enclosure during use. Overall the drive has a minimalist design and feels kind of fragile despite its metal structure.

The drive includes Japanese and English manuals for EX II Pad Locker security software, along with the security software:

The drive's usable capacity is about 57.6GB.

A special feature of the TransMemory Pro drive is the EX II Pad Locker security software, which can be used to set password for your stored files, FAT32 format for all models even above 64 GB, and also switch between multiple devices simultaneously connected to one computer.

The software is compatible with Microsoft Windows operating systems. It can be installed directly from the flash drive once it is connected to your computer.

Let's start up the Security Software.

Below you see the basic section which shows information about the status of the device. The free available storage space (60948MB). No password or protected area have been set yet.

 

In order to setting a protected area, you should go to the "setup area" tab. Note that performing this setting formats both the Protected Area and
the Free Area, and will erase all data and password settings in both areas. So in case you have already stored data on the flash drive, before formatting, be sure to backup it on another drive.

The next step is to slide the partition to set the Protected Area size, and click on "Set up". If no Protected Area is to be used, slide the partition all the way to the left and set the Protected Area size to 0 MB.

The Protected Area (read area on the drive below) size can be set up to 32 MB of the usable memory range.


Formatting will commence and the Protected Area adjustment will be performed.

The Protected Area can be used when the TransMemory-EX II is reconnected to the computer. The Security Software will be copied after formatting.

You can also set a password for the data stored in the Protected area. Just select the "Status" tab and click on either "Unlock" or "Change Password". Enter "New Password", "Confirm New Password", and "Password Hint", and then click "Setting". The password can be up to 21 single-space characters (uppercase and lowercase are differentiated). Only letters, numbers, and symbols can be used (double-space characters cannot be used).


Note that if you forget your password, you cannot login to the Protected Area. Forgotten passwords cannot be retrieved. In this case, perform reformatting but all data including the Free Area data will be deleted.

If you incorrectly enter your password 3 times, you will be unable to login to the Protected Area. In this case, remove the TransMemory-EX II from the computer before reconnecting.

The EX II USB Flash Memory can be formatted to FAT32, ensuring compatibility between Windows and Macintosh computers. Just visit "Format device" tab and follow a few easy steps. Of course, you can use the Protected Area and Free Area with the NTFS or exFAT file system.

 

In that case, after making settings using Security Software, you should use the Windows OS function to perform formatting. It is also possible to format each area to a different file system respectively.


3. Benchmarks

We measured transfer speeds from the TransMemory Pro 64GB Flash Drive with CrystalDiskMark. Its sequential transfer speeds were measured to be 208.8MB/s read and 183.1MB/s write. Both of these are almost as high as as some other USB flash drives.

In the random 512K block transfers, the Toshiba TransMemory Pro 64GB performed well in read activity (156.6MB/s). However, it was slower in write activity, scoring 24.37MB/s.

Both random read and write of smaller (4K) files was very slow, but don't forget that this is not an SSD.

 

As you see below in the screen shot of the the ATTO Disk benchmark, the drive's write and read speeds gradually increase as the benchmark performs file transfers ranging from 0.5 KB to 8192 KB. For instance, the write speed with small, 4K files was 35.84 MB/s, while reading was a bit faster at 37.88 MB/s.

The drive's speeds topped with 8MB transfers - 145.1MB/s for read and 205 MB/s for write. Notice that the write speed even reached the 210MB/s with 256/512KB transfers.

 

The Toshiba USB3.0 TransMemory-EX II 64GB drive is also compatible with Apple's computers. We plugged the drive into the USB 3.0 port of a MacBookPro 15 Retina (Middle 2014), which was running the OSX 10.10.2 OS.

Below you see the result of the Disk Speed Test by Blackmagicdesign. It is an easy to use tool that measures the performance of a disk performance for working with high quality video. The software write/read tests the disk using large blocks of data, and then displays the result. The read/write speeds for the Toshiba USB drive was 218.2 MB/s and 173.6MB/s, respectively.


4. Summary

Toshiba’s TransMemory Pro EX II USB 3.0 Flash Drive offers high-speed data transfer rate and large capacity storage for
mobile business executives, sales professionals, photographers, and users who need secure and convenient mobile storage solution.

The flash drive comes in a metal, industrial looking design which features an aluminum casing for added durability and a removable cap. Although it's not as slim as other -mainly OTG - flash drives, you should be able to easily fit a USB device in the nearby USB port of your PC or Mac.

The included EX II Pad Locker security software (for PCs only) definitely adds value to the product. It allows you to create your own private and public partitions and even add a password encryption on it to safeguard your data.

The drive's sequential transfer speeds were measured to be 209MB/s read and 184MB/s write, which are both close to the figures quoted by Toshiba. These results are very good although a bit sort of the performance of some other USB 3.0 flash drives, even by 15-20MB/s.

In random large-block transfers, the Toshiba TransMemory Pro EXII 64GB performed decently in read activity (160MB/s), but its write activity was slower, scoring 24MB/s.

The TransMemory Pro 64GB flash drive can be purchased online for 60-70 euros, depending on the store. it is backed by a 5-year warranty.

 



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