Mushkin's Atom USB 3.0 Drive is Teeny Tiny

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

This little guy might be the cutest USB flash drive that we've ever seen.

Mushkin this week announced a brand new addition to its line of storage products. This one is a USB 3.0 thumb drive smaller than the size of a quarter. Dubbed 'Atom,' this little guy measures 19.8 x 16.5 x 7.5 mm and is available in 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB capacities. 

 

The 8 GB model boasts 80 MB/s and 5.5 MB/s read and write speeds while consuming 0.65 W idle or 0.9.5 W at load. The 16 GB model offers 155 MB/s and 11.5 MB/s read and write while consuming 0.25 W idle and 0.67 W load. Lastly, the 32 GB model reads and writes at 155 MB/s and 21.5 MB/s, respectively. It comes 0.2475 W while idle and 0.75 W under load.

"The Atom USB flash drive is designed with ultimate portability and convenience in mind.  Having such a small and accommodating size eliminates the need to eject the flash drive and risk losing it when mobile," said Brian Flood, the Director of Product Management at Mushkin, Inc. "For our users who regularly use slimmer, portable devices such as tablets, the Atom is a definite solution when you need extra storage on a daily basis."

The 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB models are already available on Newegg and are priced at $9.99, $15.99, and $24.99.

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Jane McEntegart
25 Comments Comment from the forums
  • onover
    0.9.5 W at load you say. I don't think numbers have multiple decimal points unless you wish to confuse people with minor updates and revisions.
    Reply
  • de5_Roy
    seems better than this
    http://www.adata-group.com/?action=product_feature&cid=1&piid=236
    Reply
  • Innocent_Bystander
    Looks like a Logitech unifying receiver.

    IB
    Reply
  • ssalim
    If this was apple branded, 8GB = $99, 16GB = $199 and 32GB = $299
    Reply
  • vmem
    I wonder if Intel sold them the Atom brand... such bad rep :P
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    I'm a little surprised thumbdrive manufacturers have not designed products where electronics are built directly under the USB contacts, encapsulated in the connector's "tongue" with only a short strap to pull it out instead of a hard external protrusion.
    Reply
  • xenol
    I feel like I'm going to lose it in the depths of my bag and never see it again. :<
    Reply
  • Tuishimi
    Decent price for them too...
    Reply
  • wemakeourfuture
    ssalim
    If this was apple branded, 8GB = $99, 16GB = $199 and 32GB = $299

    Please do elaborate on this?

    You mean like Apple charging more for storage on their ultrabooks? Oh the 800MB/s speed that no PC ultrabooks offers?

    Or you mean the 1.2GB/s speed in the new workstation that is a fraction of the size of most workstations that have PCI-E SSDs ?

    Or do you mean in their mobile devices where their internal flash storage is magnitudes faster than Micro-SD? Hence each subsequent internal memory upgrade is the same as most other Android manufacturers?

    Also, if Apple made something like this, it would be more expensive but would provide speed that the market has not seen, just like what they have done in their ultrabook lineup.

    P.S. I'm not an Apple stan/fanboy, nor am I hater of PC/Android. I look at things objectively. I bought my wife a Yoga 2 after considering the Macbook Air. No question Apple has the best storage speed, the Yoga 2's Sata III speed needs a 50% increase to match Apple's flash memory speed. mSata III drives are cheaper, so there's a trade-off. If it wasn't for the Yoga 2's display, the Air was the best option for her.

    Reply
  • Cerunnos
    There are actually a few PCI-E SSD options available out there, for example the Vaio Pro 13 has been launched with Haswell and does have (I believe the same Samsung SSD) those speeds. Workstation wise, if you stay with consumer grade drives you will obviously be limited by SATA. Looking up, you get some SAS drives that do actually cap at 1.2GB/s. Seagate for example (and I'm sure there are other enterprise options), has such drives. 1200MB/s peak, 750 sustained over SAS 12Gb/s. What people are referring to is most likely the price of flash storage on phones or tablets that Apple definitely overcharges for. 16->32, 32->64? +$100 each. Those aren't even high performing parts.

    Apple didn't make those parts themselves, and they aren't proprietary. However, they do often charge a large cost for nearly ALL of their flash storage solutions regardless of speed.
    Reply