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Blue, green, yellow, pink or lilac - the choice of colour is yours. Although some might regard this statement as being fashion related - and why not if that suits you - there is a far more practical reason that I can offer for the different colours used by the Integral USB 2.0 SPLASH Drives. Each colour could be used to identify a specific task or a particular user. For example each family member could have their own colour or tasks, such as finance, letters, personal, recipes and music, could have an easily recognisable memory device.

See also: Flash memory

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But just what is this device that could be regarded as a fashion accessory or useful data storage peripheral? Really it is a mini memory stick or flash drive that has been designed to stand out from the competition. Not only are there five different colour types but each unit has a shock and water resistant rubberised casing to protect the data from damage. I presume the SPLASH part of the product's title refers to its water resistant feature.

This device is lightweight, has a pleasant tactile feel to it and its design is stylish enough for the fashion conscious. This flash device measures 60 x 20 x 8mm (L x W x D). A small LED light on the unit glows blue to indicate when the drive is in use. Units are available with 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB and 2GB capacity.

Although these devices can be used either on a Windows or Mac system, the only software supplied is for the Windows platform from 98SE onwards. Included with the drive is Security and ZIP compression software with password protection entitled SecretZip. This software provides compression and encryption features that can be accessed direct from the SPLASH device without any need for installation. While hardly up there with other ZIP and Security products, SecretZip is adequate for its designated task.

No drivers are supplied with the device but then, in most cases, none are required. The only exception is when using Windows 98SE. In such a situation the drivers can be downloaded from the Integral website. Although this is a USB 2.0 device, it is backward compatible with USB 1.1 for those prepared to accept the slower data rate for this earlier technology.

While a short, metal chain and rubber tag is provided for attaching the device to a belt or key-ring, no consideration has been given to keeping the detachable cover protecting the business end of the product when it is not in use. It may be only minor fault, but I managed to misplace this cover three times in the first couple of days when using the SPLASH drive. The 256MB version, which I have been looking at, costs £34.98 while the 512MB unit has been priced at around £49.99.

http://www.integralmemory.com/product_categ.aspx?prid=39