Introduction

Swissbit is no stranger to memory products with a complete line of various memory related devices and components. Not long ago I reviewed a couple of Swissbit's other products the miniTwist and the retroALOX USB drives. They were very cool and performed well. Swissbit has introduced another addition to their USB drive line called the cirrusWHITE. I really found no problems with the other Swissbits devices I reviewed, they were pretty much perfect; can Swissbit improve on perfection? Let's find out...

First Looks

The cirrusWHITE came to me in its retail packaging, the familiar plastic, sealed clamshell style. The packaging is interesting, a picture of a girl face painted a white color. The back of the package contains a small amount of information about the drive, just the system requirements. No instructions are included, but then again, do you need them for a USB drive? I don't think so.

Getting the package apart with my trusty utility knife we get a better look at the cirrusWHITE. It's white, has SWISSBIT written on one side and the drive info on the other. The lid comes off, and there is a hole for a lanyard in the lid. I think everyone knows how big a stick of ram is so I've included a picture of the cirrusWHITE next to a stick of ram for comparison. It is 2 5/8 inches long by about 11/16ths wide or 67mm long by 18mm wide.

Info from the Swissbit site:

The new SWISSMEMORY USB cirrusWHITE did not just borrow its name from a sunny day cloud: it also puts a spring in the step of everyone who carries it in terms of performance and appearance. Boasting reading and writing capacities of up to 28MB/s and 14.5MB/s and storage capabilities ranging from 128MB to 1GB, the little white gadget is a very powerful tool. The classically beautiful design features blue imprints and an optically integrated cover with a round eyelet. This clever layout makes the new USB-Stick by Swissbit the ideal key chain or Lanyard companion and keeps the mood light weighing in at just eight grams.

Memory Capacity 128MB/256MB/512MB/1GB
USB-Class USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (downward compatible to USB 1.1 Full-Speed)
Performance up to 28MB/s read* up to 14.5MB/s write*
Power Supply USB bus powered (4.4 - 5.25 V)
Power Consumption Suspend: max. 0.5 mA
Idle: 55 - 75 mA
Transfer: 110 - 130 mA
Failure Correction ECC on the fly
Automatic bad block management
Flash Cycles 100‘000 cycles per logical sector
Data retention 10 years
Dimensions (L x W x H) 68 mm x 18 mm x 7.5 mm
Weight 8 grams
Supported OS Windows® XP, Windows® 2000 SP4, Windows® ME, Windows® 98SE ** Mac OS 8.6 **, Mac OS 9.0 (and above), Linux 2.4 (and above)
LED Indicator On: idle
Blinking: data transfer
Operating Temperature 0° C to +70° C (32° F to 158° F) (humidity 5 % to 95 %)
Storage Temperature -20° C to +80° C (-4° F to 176° F) (humidity 5 % to 95 %)
Software Sync Software, Password Protection, only for Windows® XP, Windows® 2000 SP4
Service 2 year warranty
Norms and Standards Europe (CE)
USA (FCC)
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Package Content USB Stick
* Speed may vary due to host hardware, operating system, usage and flash type.
** Driver required for these operating systems. Download available from www.swissbit.com and www.apple.com.

There is also a black version available called the pitchBLACK.

Well ok, that's that... Let's see how it performs.