By: Mandy J Watson on 11 February 2010 Updated: 1 March 2010 (new benchmark results) Category: Tech > Hardware > Reviews

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Just over four years ago brainwavez.org was launched, complete with its first (tech) article, with the intention of it being primarily a tech-review site, with a little bit of culture thrown in. Instead it became a tech-culture site and we never got around to reviewing hardware and software. Today, that all changes. Behold! A tech review: Apacer's Handy Steno AH160 flash-memory storage device.

This device has been around for a couple of years but it's one of my all-time favourite products and is still available (well, certainly in South Africa - try your local Computer Mania branch), which is testament to the fact that it's a well-designed product with a decent retail and product shelf life.

The Apacer Handy Steno AH160 is a portable USB flash-memory storage device with a "metallic cable trim" (encased in transparent plastic) that runs around the outside of the device. You slide the base off the cap (both parts, however, remain attached to the cable), and then you bend the lid up or down (in other words, out of the way) to make room for the USB connector to be inserted in a computer port. I was initially sceptical about the whole idea but in using it I've found it to be a very innovative design consideration and I've grown to love it. You never have to worry about losing the cap because it's never separated from the rest of the device.

A soft blue LED twinkles to indicate when the device is operating and it comes with Apacer's ACE (Apacer Compression Explorer) software, which compresses files further, but only works with newer versions of Windows, so I must confess that I've never tested it because I work with so many different platforms, including Mac OS.

It looks good, too, as you can see from the images. Besides being small and light the tactile experience is very pleasant (and that's not something I usually notice about a USB storage device). The metallic and plastic red (or green) housing looks stylish and is quite durable as well. My unit only has a few scratches on the plastic surface, which is not unsurprising considering that I've been carrying it around in my bag every day for nearly two years, using it as a personal storage device, as well as inserting it into numerous test machines to transfer files and such.

After all this time the only problem I've ever experienced is that I couldn't use the device with one netbook I tested last year because the netbook's USB port was recessed a bit too far into the machine and the AH160's USB connector is, unfortunately, a little short. Therefore that's the only issue to be aware of if you want one of these storage devices.

Apacer Handy Steno AH160 Benchmark Results* CrystalDiskMark 2.2 Settings: 5 passes, 100 MB test size (5 tests run; results in megabytes per second) Test Type Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Sequential Read: 14.783 14.993 15.048 14.982 15.064 Sequential Write: 7.439 7.469 7.499 7.510 7.524 Random Read 512 KB: 14.753 15.049 15.099 14.873 14.838 Random Write 512 KB: 2.514 2.568 2.584 2.354 2.454 Random Read 4 KB: 4.269 4.089 4.255 4.044 4.077 Random Write 4 KB: 0.027 0.027 0.027 0.027 0.027 Settings: 5 passes, 1000 MB test size (5 tests run; results in megabytes per second) Test Type Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Sequential Read: 14.587 14.571 14.609 14.588 15.247 Sequential Write: 7.914 7.093 7.805 7.133 7.160 Random Read 512 KB: 14.534 14.906 14.876 14.859 15.624 Random Write 512 KB: 2.379 2.479 2.271 2.355 2.594 Random Read 4 KB: 3.602 3.500 3.343 3.522 3.504 Random Write 4 KB: 0.026 0.026 0.026 0.026 0.026 * Note: this test wasn't performed on a device that was brand new and therefore performance may have been compromised by factors such as age, wear and tear, and the fact that sectors have been utilised by data. (In future I will conduct it first when I receive new products. I still have a few older devices, however, in my upcoming review inventory so you may see this disclaimer on some reviews for a while longer.)

Although its smaller capacities are now probably too small for most people (though 4 GB and 8 GB are still suitable for a lot of tasks), this device makes for a great gift [::cough:: Valentine's Day ::cough::], either on its own or with some media files added (such as free MP3s or photos). I'm hoping that Apacer will retain the form factor and release a new version with more storage capacity and a slightly longer USB connector sometime in the future (although the company dodged my question so I suspect not) but for now I'm still happily using the one I have.

The Apacer Handy Steno AH160 review unit was provided by Apacer.

brainwavez.org Opinion

Rating: 9/10

Read/Write Tests Results:* Check Flash 1.10

Settings: Temporary file; Write and read test (Small pattern test); One full pass

Read Speed: 9.706 MB/s