Image Courtesy of Mimoco (yes, this wallpaper is included)
Everyone has a few flash drives lying around these days but unless you have a Han Solo mimobot with a Carbonite case key chain then you have no shot at defeating the Dark Side. One of my favorite stops at CES was the mimobot booth and certainly for good reason. If you are a fan of Star Wars or any comic book heroes then mimobot probably has something for you. Thomas an I had a nice conversation with Evan who was working the booth that day and he hooked us up with a review unit of the Han Solo 4GB flash drive. There were plenty of fantastic options to choose from but when I saw the included carbonite key chain case I knew that was the one I had to have.
Han sits about 2.5″ tall by 1″ wide. Not terribly small but certainly small enough to slide into your pocket. The carbonite case is about 3″ x 2″ and not quite pocket friendly but fits nicely into your bag during your travels. Certainly larger than your average thumb drive but a small price to pay to have 4GB worth of Rebel Alliance with you at all times. The ABS plastic drive feels pretty durable,and has a slight texture to it on certain areas like the hair and eyes. I can’t exactly say that the drive is sealed but after a closer inspection there looks to be a paper-thin gap where the LED is shining through during use. I would not take Han swimming but would feel pretty safe to say that it’s water-resistant (although Mimoco makes no claim to that assessment). The LED on the bottom lights up blue during read/writes so you can easily tell when the drive is in use. Overall a pretty solid little drive, the cap fits snugly as well so you wont have to worry about Han’s hair falling off during transport.
The Carbonite case is what sold me on this one. It’s a molded silver plastic case that securely holds the drive while not in use. They even added some foam padding inside to keep the drive protected as well as a small key chain lanyard in case you wanted to attach it while you travel. The case is thin but feels pretty rigid and the plastic hinges should hold up to some minor abuse. The case adds about $7 to the normal retail for the other drives but is definitely worth the little extra for a cool accessory.
I ran a few tests using Crystalmark to see if there was some quality memory inside. The tests results turned out pretty decent, on par with most other standard flash disks. Not quite as fast as Han’s 12 parsec Kessel run, but fast enough for your everyday space pirate. The larger size chips may turn out to be faster, but keep in mind that these tests were just a benchmark for all the spec heads out there, otherwise who really cares…? I mean, you get an included carbonite carrying case! Mimoco also includes some great wallpapers, icons, and screen savers on the drive. You’ll have to purchase one to see how cool they really are but I can tell you that it’s a nice added bonus that I did not expect.
This 4GB drive will run you $29.95 for the 4GB, $39.95 for the 8GB, and $49.95 for the 16GB. In my eyes it’s a small price to pay for such a cool little flash drive. If Star Wars is not your thing or you prefer the dark side of the force, Mimoco has may other mimbots to choose from at various prices. Be sure to check out their site for more details.
What I like:
- good detail in the artwork
- solid construction
- Carbonite carrying case
- Avatars, Wallpapers, and Icons included on the drive
- 1 year warranty
What could be improved:
- the drive sits upside down when inserted in most USB ports, takes some fun out of it. (I assume that was done so you can see the LED activity light)
Special thanks again to the good people at Mimoco for hooking me up with this sample for review
Via Mimoco
