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alanjg007
31-05-2015, 02:57 PM
13129

There are flash drives, and then there?s the SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive. It?s a little wider than most, but with good cause: it? a unique device that doesn?t just plug into USB ports. There?s a little pop out Lightning connector that means that 32GB, 64GB or 128GB of solid state storage can be plugged straight into a recent iPad or iPhone to bolster their storage too.

The good

It?s an open secret that Apple makes huge profits charging enormous markups for extra storage in its iPhones and iPads. Want 64GB on board instead of 16GB? Prepare to pay the Apple tax. Matters would be much cheaper if we could just pop a micro SD memory card in as you can on most other smartphones and tablets, but let?s face facts: that?s never going to happen.

In the meantime, the SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive for iPhone and iPad is the next best thing. It works as a regular thumb drive: pop the cap off, plug it and and transfer all your files over. The flip out Lightning connector is its USP however: install the iXpand Sync app on your iOS gizmo, plug it in and suddenly you can transfer files just like it was any PC, not a locked down Apple device. It opens videos too, and in many more formats and codecs than Apple?s own player supports.

That?s really all there is to it. It?s dead handy for moving files without a Wi-Fi network or a laptop to act as a go between - in a classroom, say - and an essential device for anyone going on a long holiday or trip: you can keep all your holiday snaps, docs and even movies for the flight on here without issue. It?s well built, looks as premium as its price, and the connector works at multiple angles so you won?t have any issues using it while your device is propped up on a table.

The bad

We can?t grumble at the price - ?57.99 for the 32GB model is still cheaper than the markup Apple charges, as is ?84.99 for the 64GB and ?129.99 for the 128GB version. In fact, since it fills a large empty gap in the market - though Apple?s Lightning connector has been around for a few years now, it still feels as though there are fewer accessories supporting it than versions of Apple?s tablet - it has very few faults.

The grumbles we do have revolve around size: it is rather wide, which means you won?t be able to use it side by side with other USB peripherals on many computers. It?s also only USB 2.0 rather than 3.0 so files transfer quite slowly on the PC side of things. The FAT 32 formatting also means you can?t have files bigger than 4GB, which might rule out some lengthier HD videos.

The bottom line

Sometimes all the free cloud storage in the world is no good if you can?t get an internet connection. If you?ve run out of space on your iOS device or want to quickly transfer files between them - not something otherwise easily done - the SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive is an easy solution you can slot in your pocket. And hey, it?s cheaper than paying for an iPhone with more storage at least.
source (http://gadgetshow.channel5.com/review/sandisk-ixpand-flash-drive-iphone-and-ipad-review#sthash.tJy5hb1j.dpuf)

berley
01-06-2015, 09:34 AM
It sounded alright until it came to the price, I personally wouldn't pay that much for it.

alanjg007
01-06-2015, 12:43 PM
....i think thats reasonable.:dunno: 32gb extra storage in your iphone is probably ?300 in apple's warped view of pricing