Everything's getting bigger and smaller simultaneously. In the world of consumer electronics,
computers are a prime example; storage space, memory, speed, transistor count -
all continually increasing while physical sizes keep shrinking. Modern cell phones rival computers from a
decade ago, and devices a decade from now will no doubt be out of this
world. 

Long gone are the days when Bill Gates proclaimed that
everything we need could fit on a floppy diskette, and immense amounts of
portable storage are simply the status quo. With inexpensive flash memory and thumb drives available in
multi-gigabyte sizes, even the venerable MP3 CD is starting to see a marked
decline. Car stereo systems often
integrate USB ports for those wishing to plug in a flash drive instead of
carrying around a few CDs. 

In some ways, USB portable storage is starting to become a
bit like a commodity, so many manufacturers have devices on the market with
similar performance that it can be a challenge to differentiate one's product.  Patriot memory has come up with a few new
devices that they hope provide enough unique value to not only compete in the
commodity world, but also provide solutions for a niche market. 

Here we are going to be focusing on two of the newer products
from Patriot, the very small Patriot Mini II thumb drive, and the ultra-fast,
super high capacity Patriot Magnum. In
the world of flash drives, they sit on opposite ends of the table yet hope to
suit consumers needs in an exacting fashion. 

Patriot Mini II

Earlier this year, Patriot took their popular Mini series of
USB flash drive and revamped the lineup in a new, smaller form factor and
increased capacities. The Patriot Mini
II gets rid of the cap design found in many current flash drives and ops
instead for a slide-out case. The entire
memory capacity is housed on the lower half of the drive, and like most of
the ultra-small USB thumb drives one will notice that it is a very thin board
that fits into the USB slot, instead of the traditional board with metal
housing. Although it results in a less
snug connection than standard USB drives, the Mini II is so light that it
should not make any difference in standard use.

There is one caveat to the connector, if the drive is
attached to a heavier lanyard it may result in the thumb drive falling out of
vertical USB slots. Sadly this is an
issue that plagues all ultra-mini thumb drives. It�s a bit of a catch 22; the drives are so tiny that on their own it
would seem incredibly easy to lose yet attaching them to something larger
defeats the purpose of having such a tiny flash drive. It would be nice if they included one of the
cables that allow for quick disconnects from a lanyard, but the standard tie
loop key-ring is the only offering within the retail package. At least it does allow for an easy way to
attach the flash drives to backpacks, lanyards, and the like but it would be
nice to have a slightly easier solution.

Most flash drives are commodities these days, on the whole
there aren't dramatic differences in performance or features. With the Mini II patriot isn't looking to
turn any heads with performance, and the drive comes in at a comparable mark to
other similar devices. Where Patriot
does manage to set itself apart can be derived from these lines (right off the
patriotmem.com website):

-The mini II also
brings piece of mind with its unique chip-on-board design (COB), which makes it
both waterproof and dust-proof.-

As someone who has happened to run a few USB flash drives
through the wash, it's a huge plus not to have to worry about whether the drive
will work once the rinse cycle finishes. Of course, please don't go plugging in these devices while they're still
wet. But patriot has been doing numerous
demonstrations of different products over the years, literally submerging thumb
drives in front of crowds, drying them off, and loading up content stored on
the device.

From the aesthetic standpoint, the Mini II are easily one of
the best looking flash drives on the market, and certainly in the patriot
line. The 2,4,8, and 16GB versions
arrive in separate colors depending on size and have a brushed metal feel to
the front sticker. The rest of the device is housed in a white casing which is
of reasonably nice quality. Weighing in
at merely 2.6 grams, the drive is incredibly light and its small size does mean
you can store it in places flash drives have rarely been kept. I keep my 8GB drive in my wallet for
example. Most of the drives are fairly
inexpensive, with the 16GB clocking in at $34 on Newegg.

Patriot Magnum

Take the entirety of the last few paragraphs and flip it completely
upside down, that's Patriot Magnum flash drive! Ok for those looking at a little more detail, the Patriot Magnum comes
in two flavors, the red and black. The
two models are physically the same size (about twice the width of most standard
flash drives) with a lanyard holder on the back and removable end cap. The cap is just a simple pressure fit, snug
enough that it should never come off while walking around, but since it's not
tethered to the flash drive in any way if you're like me it is not hard to
imagine misplacing the cap with frequent use.

The cases are aluminum and of very rugged construction,
though you can of course expect to pay for quality. While the magnum may not win out in the
portability scene when compared to products like the Mini II, it does have
something that other flash drives can't boast about. For all those tech geeks who remember gathering
with their circle of friends to show off the latest and greatest toys, someone
was proud of owning the biggest, best, fastest, etc. With the magnum you've got the hummer of the
flash drive market - boasting either 64GB or 128GB. Yes, a 128 Gigabite flash drive. Going to a friend's for the weekend, take
over your entire movie collection! Feel compelled
to back up every single email, word document, and picture you've taken for the
last decade - the Magnum is your solution. 

More realistically, the magnum is a great option for the
on-the-go IT specialist. It's a cinch to
store multiple corporate PC disk images on for when the boss manages to
download yet another virus and fry the computer. With the magnum it's not just about size,
patriot realized that with such large capacities they would need to push the
limits on data transfer for USB 2.0. With its 210X read speed, pulling data off the Magnum makes the device
usable as an alternative storage device for netbooks, watching high def movies,
and dumping all those pictures your camera trigger happy aunt took last Christmas
onto your grandparents computer. 

It is well built with a shockproof case (making it a rugged
alternative to hard disk based external drives), has a huge storage capacity,
and incredible read speeds. As with all
patriot products, it's backed by a lifetime warranty. Still, it is heavy for a flash drive weighing
in at nearly 20 grams. The real concern
for most users happens to be the price. The 64GB drive is currently selling for $120-$140, and if you really
want to impress the ladies, the 128GB magnum will set you back a hefty $335-$360. The magnum may be for a niche market, but it
is quite the conversation starter. 

Wrap-up / Contest

The Patriot Mini II is an attractive ultra-portable flash drive
that can be found at great prices in current retailers. These days most students should definitely have
a flash drive through high school and college, and the Mini II is an excellent
choice. In my college career I worked my
way through about 8GB worth of content, but mileage will vary wildly. Outside of digital arts or computer science /
engineering majors a 16GB flash drive should perfectly suit students. Outside of the classroom, there are plenty of
times that having a tiny flash drive in your wallet can come in useful.

The magnum on the other hand seems geared towards a far more
niche market, based both on price and size. There's no doubt that the device will suit its target market well, but
it is yet to be determined whether that market is very large. At the rate memory capacities have been
increasing in commodity flash drives, it wouldn't be out of the question to see
a 64GB USB3.0 flash drive a few years down the road in a form factor more like
the current mini IIs. Until then, there's
no doubt if you want to win the 'who has the biggest' contest, the magnum is
the way to go.

We've been partnering with patriot for several years now,
and their incredible sponsorship has allowed us to give away a variety of
prizes to clan and community members. So, let's get to the fun part. If
you want to win either the Mini II or Patriot Magnum 64GB simply follow the
following steps:

1) 1) Make sure to have your full address in your
profile. By full address I mean, what
you would give to a friend to mail you a letter.  Name, Address, Zip, State, etc. If you are overseas for customs reasons we
need to include a phone number and email address.

2) 2) Post a comment to the NEWS ARTICLE (Commenting on this link) stating whether
you think we should give away 2 64GB Magnums, One 64GB Magnum and Four 16GB
Mini IIs, or eight 16GB Mini IIs. Also leave
your thoughts on the products, what you like, dislike, etc. What we give away depends on what you all
want!

3) 3) Tell your friends about the contest! (We'll have more contests shortly, so there
will be plenty of chances to win)

Want to hear news about contests, winners, and other strange
tidbits? Follow @H2ORip on twitter. Last night an impromptu winner got a copy of
Shadow complex. Nobody on my friends
list has gotten close to me in the proving grounds on the game, but feel free
to leave a shoutout on my forum profile page as well if you've been playing the
game. http://www.pmsclan.com/forum/member.php?u=7

Winners will be chosen approximately 1:00AM EST on October
12^th, 2009. Best of luck
everyone!

Ryan "H2O Rip" Chaply

PMS | H2O Clan Operations

PMS Clan Inc Editor in Chief

http://www.pmsclan.com