On The...Torture Rack? LaCie's Unbreakable USB Thumb Drive

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[citation][nom]jupiter optimus maximus[/nom]Why not try get a gun a shoot the LaCie USB drive and see if it is able to stop a bullet? If so, i will buy right away...[/citation]
It's pretty rounded. Plus made of metal. Unless you have a really high caliber round, I think it would just be deflected.

Anyway, I am surprised and disappointed that all it took was a hammer. I was hoping that tom's would get to a sledgehammer as the real test.
Maybe they should have made it with that really durable plastic that those special water bottles are made of. I took a pick-axe to it once and hit dead center. It bent in but didn't break.
 
upgrade the metal to Inconel or some other super nickel alloy and blow all those tests out of the water. Good enough for a turbine has to be good enough for a usb key
 
Yes, what's the point? A USB key will usually work through all that except for major impacts, such as a hammer. They are tough little things and will stand up to most challenges.
 
[citation][nom]jupiter optimus maximus[/nom]Why not try get a gun a shoot the LaCie USB drive and see if it is able to stop a bullet? If so, i will buy right away...[/citation]
[citation][nom]alikum[/nom]And chain them together and use as bullet proof vest?[/citation]

Except that rounded metal objects are likely to deflect a bullet's trajectory rather than completely stop a bullet. So in the case of chaining them together to make a "vest", that'd be a horrible idea. And so far as using them in an environment where bullets might be a risk to the USB drive's safety, that's probably the least of your concerns to begin with.
 
these tests are pointless....I've broken soo many drives, including the Cruzer Titanium. The drives are solid when in a protective case, but they are most prone to damage when plugged into a USB port because the USB connectors snap off.

I'd like to see a tough drive that has a reinforced connector.

Most of my drives have died while plugged into a front USB port of a desktop, or while pluged into a USB car CD player.
 
I laughed when you immersed them and alcohol and set them on fire. I'd love to see a video of that.


[citation][nom]jupiter optimus maximus[/nom]Why not try get a gun a shoot the LaCie USB drive and see if it is able to stop a bullet? If so, i will buy right away...[/citation]

That's really dangerous.
 
Keep in mind that even if there are no sparks when you stick metal in the microwave, you are still in danger of damaging it because the microwaves will reflect back to the magnetron.
 
[citation][nom]TA152H[/nom]Next time use a better acid. Nitric Acid will dissolve many things normal acids can't. Of course, Hydrofluoric Acid would work quite well on just about anything, although not a strong acid.I would strongly recommend one more test. Let a goat eat it, and see what happens. The damn things eat cans, so they have a chance against this thing. If the goat displays unusually good memory a little while after eating it, you'll have your answer.[/citation]
Hydroflouric acid will NOT melt plastic, it melts glass, thats why its stored in plastic containers.
 
[citation][nom]lashton[/nom]Hydroflouric acid will NOT melt plastic, it melts glass, thats why its stored in plastic containers.[/citation]
Which is why you should always dissolve your murder victims in plastic containers, and never in your bathtub.

My personal USB key destroying acid choice would have been aqua regia (hydrochloric+nitric), at least 6N.

The 200C thing isn't surprising in the least, most electronic devices are exposed to 260-290C as part of the lead-free solder reflow. Now, I highly doubt either device would survive 300C if you shook them around a little bit while heated (to move the SMDs off their pads).
 
[citation][nom]lashton[/nom]Hydroflouric acid will NOT melt plastic, it melts glass, thats why its stored in plastic containers.[/citation]

Actually, you're incorrect. Fluorine will dissolve most plastics, almost all. That's how Teflon was created. They stored Flourine gas in plastic, and of course it slowly ate through it. The residue at the bottom was Teflon. So, you can store it in Teflon, but it will go through normal plastics pretty readily.

Flourine is the most oxidative element. If it can't eat through something, good luck finding something else that will.

Also, this device is metal, not plastic.
 
[citation][nom]maestintaolius[/nom]Which is why you should always dissolve your murder victims in plastic containers, and never in your bathtub.My personal USB key destroying acid choice would have been aqua regia (hydrochloric+nitric), at least 6N.The 200C thing isn't surprising in the least, most electronic devices are exposed to 260-290C as part of the lead-free solder reflow. Now, I highly doubt either device would survive 300C if you shook them around a little bit while heated (to move the SMDs off their pads).[/citation]

Hydrochloric is a slightly stronger acid than Nitric, but is not as reactive. Hydrochloric acid will only eat away things that will react with the extra hydrogen that is disassociated from the original molecule.

Nitric can dissolve things like copper, not because of the hydrogen, but because of the nitrate that is released from it. This reacts with the copper, not the hydrogen.

HFL is similar. It's not the H+ that makes it very reactive, it's the fluorine that's released, which will eat through almost anything.
 
Hmm... Many people have commented on the fact their thumb drives break when plugged into something...

SO! Auto Manufacturers figured out how to fix that problem with side view mirrors on cars, why not do the same with a USB drive? Install a hinge and a flexible cable between the Standard A Male adaptor and the guts and case of the drive. Inside the hinge, have a little slot that provides enough stability to keep the drive solid and straight when plugging it in, but someone drops a book on it, or attempts to take a step and the USB drive gets in the way of the foot, then it'll bend (preferablly up to 90 degrees, and very close to the face of whatever it's plugged into) and not break. Sure it'll cost a bit to make, but I think this'll prevent a lot of damage to USB drives.

I've seen one case where a "hinge" like I described above would have saved a USB wireless adaptor.
 
I wanted to read this story, but the frigging ads kept lapping over about 2/3 of the text on each page. Thanks, Tom. Ralph L. Seifer, Long Beach, California.
 
[citation][nom]TA152H[/nom]Next time use a better acid. Nitric Acid will dissolve many things normal acids can't.[/citation]

Yes, and it would work much better if you mix it with hydrochloric acid -- dissolves even gold. Which is why it was called "aqua regia".

[citation]I would strongly recommend one more test. Let a goat eat it, and see what happens. The damn things eat cans, so they have a chance against this thing. [/citation]

Popular belief, but goats actually are trying to eat the glue that adheres the label to the can -- not the can itself. (Good joke, though. :^)
 
Isn't it about time to update to a slideshow type interface with small thumbnails under so we can select what we want. This is quite prehistoric. Get with the program tom. And when do we get SLI benchmarks for the new 400 cards?
 
I'm in the Navy. Try immersing the USB key in salt water for an hour. Test it upon removal. Then wait a week and try it again after it has had time to corrode more.
 
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