Introduction

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I would like to thank A-DATA for supplying the review sample.

ADATA is mostly known for its high end DDR memory aimed at the enthusiast market, which is a shame because they manufacture some other memory products that are really good and sell for a decent price. The company also offers various SDHC cards, which range from 4 GB to an incredible 16 GB. The Turbo Series of these cards is the fastest, as these are so called Class 6, with a minimum write speed of 6 MB/s

Today we will be taking a look at the A-DATA S701 & SDHC card Eee PC Edition. These are themed parts, which go especially nice with the ASUS subnotebook, thus we will focus on use with the Eee PC in this review. If you wish to read up how the S701 and the SDHC Class 6 card from A-DATA perform please take a look at the following reviews:

The following specifications can be found on the A-DATA website:

A-DATA S701 Eee PC Edition

Hanging ornament strap x 1
COB process for PCBA
Retractable USB connector
Support Windows®ReadyBoost
Support USB 2.0, backward compatible with USB 1.1
The inner parts are equipped like a sports car, full of energy. The casing feels like leather.
The shining zinc alloy frame enhances the quality of the casing.
Dimension: 38x20.5x 8mm(LxWxH)
Weight: 11g

A-DATA SDHC Eee PC Edition

Full function SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) memory card for modern consumer electronic devices (Camera/Handset/PDA/MP3 Players) use.
Support CPRM Digital Rights Management (DRM) for SDIO digital media players.
Write Protect Tab to protect data overwritten
File System: FAT32
Enhanced DSC function & flawlessly video recording
Compatible for all devices with SD 2.0/SDHC capability
Special design for Eee PC users
Officially approved by ASUS
Lifetime Warranty

Packaging & Contents

A-DATA S701 Eee PC Edition

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A-Data uses the same packaging shape for the S701 Eee PC edition as with the normal variant of the USB drive. Only the cardboard insert is different. This special version only ships in white, as it is the primary color of the subnotebook as well. It would have been nice if A-Data could also supply colors to match the other color options of the Eee PC, but these are not nearly as wide spread as the white one.

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A white strap with an Eee Pc logo on the metal end is also included. This differs from the black cloth one within the package of the normal S701.

A-DATA SDHC Eee PC Edition

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The SDHC Eee PC Edition is white as well. It also ships in the identical packaging as the normal version, with the only difference being the cardboard inlay once more.

A Closer Look

A-DATA S701 Eee PC Edition

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Taking a closer look at the flash device, the first attribute you will notice is the build quality. The metal alloy casing and rubberized surface give it a very rugged feel. This is the type of flash device which goes perfect on your key chain. Nonetheless, you should not drive over the stick with your car or drop it into any liquid as it is by no means that durable or water proof.

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One side holds the black slider, with which you can extend the USB connector out of the casing. The other side features the same logo as the normal S701 with the addition of the Eee PC logo at the end.

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Sliding the USB connector out of the case, it becomes apparent, that it is a normal USB connector, but without the metal frame around it. This means that you can connect the S701 upside down into the USB plug. Doing so will not harm your system or the flash device whatsoever. The serial number and the actual capacity is etched into the black USB plug itself.

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To use the S701 with the Eee PC, simply slide out the USB connector and insert it into the port of your choice.

A-DATA SDHC Eee PC Edition

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The special edition SDHC card ships in a thin, semi-transparent plastic protector. It is much larger than the card itself. It if did not had the rounded corners, you could probally fit two cards within this box.

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The card is completely white, as is the label itself. It clearly mentions the capacity as well as the format SDHC. The Eee PC logo is also present here. The small text on the bottom reveals the fact that this is a Class 6 card, which means that it has a write performance of 6 MB/s on an empty card. The rear does not have any stickers or labels, only a serial number. When looked at from this side there is no visible difference between a normal SD Card and the SDHC variant.

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Using the SDHC card with the Eee PC is just as easy as with the S701. Simply insert it into the card reader until it clicks. The great advantage is not only the color, but that you can just leave the card in the system and "forget it".

Performance

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A-DATA markets the flash memory modules for the Eee PC, thus we will benchmark both the S701 and the white SDHC card on a freshly installed Windows XP Professional OS with Service Pack 2 and all needed drivers on an Eee PC 4G in white.

To get the best performance, both units were formatted with NTFS instead of FAT32. While this is generally not possible for drives smaller than 64 GB, certain tools give you the option nonetheless. Using NTFS is recommended in this environment, as you may want to save files larger than 4 GB on the memory devices. It would have been nice if A-DATA could format the unit with NTFS right from the start, this saves the user some hassles, or worse the realization that his 4 GB+ file cannot be stored on the medium on the road.

The SDHC card reader properties were changed from optimization "for quick removal" to "Performance". This is easily done the following way:

Right-click on My Computer and select Properties
Click on the Hardware Tab
Click on the Device Manager button
Click on the little + next to Disk Drives
Right-click on USB2.0 CardReader SD0 USB Device and select Properties
Click on the Policies tab
Click on the Optimize for performance circle
Click on OK

NOTE: This information was found on the EeeUser forums.

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We first determined the speed of the internal 4GB SSD drive on which the operating system resides. Turns out that the unit is quite speedy with read values well beyond 30 MB/s.

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Taking a look at the write speeds at various file sizes using ATTO, it becomes apparent that the SSD has serious troubles with files smaller than 64 kb. This is normal for flash based drives. Beyond such small file sizes, the internal solid state drive manages around 15 MB/s write speed.

A-DATA S701 Eee PC Edition

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Next we inserted the S701 8 GB USB flash drive and compared the results with the internal drive. While the USB memory performs quite well, with around 25 MB/s in read speed, it still lacks when compared to the internal SSD of the Eee PC.

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Taking a look at the write performance, it becomes apparent that the S701 is no match for the internal storage of the ASUS subnotebook. With a write speed of around 5 MB/s it manages just a third of the performance of the SSD.

A-DATA SDHC Eee PC Edition

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The white SDHC card does not manage to beat the internal SSD of the notebook either and only manages just above 17 MB/s in read performance. This is just about half the attained result of the SSD.

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Write performance is similar to that of the S701, with just over 5 MB/s. This seems to be a limitation of the internal SDHC card reader of the Eee PC, as the A-DATA Turbo SDHC Class 6 16 GB variant manages almost 10 MB/s of writing performance.

Performance Summary

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Value and Conclusion

A-DATA S701 Eee PC Edition

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The A-DATA S701 Sport Series Eee PC Edition can be had for a mere 30 € for 8GB.

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Very good read performance
Small & light weight
Solid construction
Retractable USB connector
Color to match Eee PC
Eee PC themed strap
Priced the same as the normal S701 series

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Write performance quite slow for use as a secondary hard drive
USB connector does not hold well when plugged in
Does not come formatted with NTFS out of the box
Not available in every Eee PC color

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<tr><th>8.9</th>
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A-DATA SDHC Eee PC Edition

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The same capacity Eee PC Edition SDHC Class 6 card should set you back just as much - 30€

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Good read performance, considering the medium
Fits perfectly into the Eee PC
Large capacities available
No dongle - simply insert it and leave it there

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Internal SDHC card reader of the Eee PC kills write performance
Does not come formatted with NTFS out of the box
Not available in every Eee PC color

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<tr><th>8.8</th>
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The A-DATA S701 and SDHC Eee PC edition are essentially identical to the normal variants of these flash memory devices. A-DATA has only colored and branded the parts to go well with the Eee PC. Considering this, the only reason you would go for this edition is the fact, that you would want to use it with the ASUS subnotebook. The USB drive does attain very good read speeds, while the SDHC card manages to be quite fast for such a format as well.
The write speeds on the other hand are certainly nothing you would want to see on any device used as a hard drive, but the fault seems to lie with the ASUS Eee PC, which does not manage to squeeze out the most out of the Flash drive and not even half the write speed on the SDHC card. The latter performance drop stems from the internal SDHC card reader. But considering that both the S701 and the SDHC card are meant to be used as a secondary drive, not a primary booting one, they should work fine in such a scenario.

Overall, even if the performance numbers seem low, when compared to the internal SSD drive of the Eee PC, each of the two units we reviewed here perform well in respect to their interface and format. It is hard to say which one of the two would be the better choice. The SDHC card has a slightly better write performance and can be inserted permanently into the Eee PC, while the S701 offers great read performance but is a bit loose when connected and needs to be removed every time you wish to move around with the subnotebook.

Marketing their durable, portable and fast flash memory devices for the Eee PC is a great idea from A-DATA and luckily the company is not asking for a price premium over the normal variant of both parts. It would be good to see further difference between the two series, like NTFS formatting on the Eee PC parts for example.
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