Corsair Padlock 2
Apr 4th, 2010 | By SimonTime to face the facts and see how the Corsair Padlock 2 delivered overall. It is obvious that the Padlock 2 is not the fastest USB drive on the market but it never intended on breaking the records for speed. I will agree that there is room for improvement with the read speed in the 18MB/s range and the write speed in the 11MB/s range.
Those interested in the Padlock 2 will be so because of the data encryption it provides. The hassle-free PIN system is not specific to any operating system and requires no software installation. By memorizing your PIN and the sequence of steps required to unlock the drive you will be able to access your data. The internal battery charges every time it is plugged into a USB drive and so the likelihood of it running dead and leaving you without access to your data will be very unlikely. I would have to say anyone using a software password-protected drive should throw it out the door and get a Padlock 2.
- Advantages
- 256-bit hardware encryption
- Very easy to use, no software required
- Durable rubber design
- Disadvantages
- Room for drive speed improvement
I’d like to thank Corsair for making this review possible.
Nice review. I bought the 16GB version and have to say I am very happy. I wish the drive was a little faster and smaller but it’s not terribly slow and it’s the best solution for me.
I did quite a bit of research and tested other solutions. I had my heart set on the IronKey but I found out you cannot use that drive on just any computer. A lot of public and client computers do not allow portable executables to be run from external drives. The IronKey requires you to run its built-in login executable to gain access to the drive.
Since the Padlock2 is now encased in epoxy, I think its security is more than sufficient. I even added software encryption so I also have an encrypted container for items I really want to secure.