Introduction

I would like to thank A-DATA for supplying the review sample. The company produces some very unique and useful memory products, ranging from a complete offering of notebook and desktop memory over memory cards in various shapes, sizes and speeds to USB storage in many flavors. A-DATA also has licenses to produce such memory devices with themes of Pirates of the Caribbean and Disney.

We have the pleasure to review the Nobility N702 today. It is available in three different colors:


From the manufacturer:

• USB 2.0 certified, backward compatible with USB 1.1
• Snap-on cap design, the cap does not loosen easily
• The LED light relays operating status through the translucent casing.
• Color: Blue/ Red/ Green

Packaging

A-Data offers a lot of very unique flash devices, which are intended for specific real life applications. The Classic Series on the other hand is meant for budget minded users, who simply want a cheap storage medium to carry their data around. The packaging is very simple and is made of transparent plastic. The C701 can clearly be viewed in the front and the back does not hold any extra content. All you find on the rear is some text that mentions the features of the unit. If you look closely at the front, A-Data has used a sticker to cover a phrase: "Support Windows ReadyBoost". This means that the C701 does not meet the requirements set forth by Microsoft:

• The capacity of the removable media must be at least 256 MB (250 after formatting)
• Devices larger than 4 GB will have only 4 GB used for ReadyBoost
• The device should have an access time of 1ms or less
• The device must be capable of 2.5 MB/s read speeds for 4 KB random reads spread uniformly across the entire device and 1.75 MB/s write speeds for 512 KB random writes spread uniformly across the device
• The device must have at least 235 MB of free space
• NTFS, FAT16 and FAT32 are supported
• The initial release of ReadyBoost supports one device
• The recommended amount of memory to use for Windows ReadyBoost acceleration is one to three times the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed in your computer.

Some of these requirements are not dependent on the USB flash drive, so we can narrow it down to a <1 ms access time or the read speed with certain sizes.

A Closer Look

The C701 is part of the Classic series, which means it is just as large as other flash storage devices of that format. The body of the unit is semitransparent and A-Data has printed the company logo on the rear top of the device, while the underside is void of any labels. Once again, there is no apparent way to figure out the storage capacity.


Taking a closer look at the body, you can see the PCB and flash chip. This gives the C701 a modern look. The white end and cap help to underline the fact, that this is a USB flash device of the newest generation, but with the traditional layout.


The cap comes off very easy, maybe even to easy. You may end up loosing the cover if you are not careful. The fact that it can be placed on the back of the device helps a bit, but it does not hold very well on that end either. This is a wide spread problem with USB devices with such a traditional housing.


The LED is located in the rear of the midsection. Thanks to the semi transparent housing it shines right through. It lights up green whenever the C701 is accessed.