Packaging and Accessories


As you can see OCZ uses the much maligned plastic clamshell package for its flash drives. While the clamshell is the de facto standard for all flash drives why did OCZ have use it? This was a great missed opportunity by OCZ to help distinguish themselves as true leaders of the industry. Security and protection of the device must be the major considerations when designing a cheap throwaway package; BUT shouldn't the end-users "ease of opening" also be taken into account? Doesn't the protective packaging of a product give the customer their first impression of a product? Someone really needs to take this to the next level and come out with an improved package container that is as shoplifter-proof as the traditional clamshell. However, since this is the industry standard OCZ can’t really be faulted for following industry as a whole.


As with most other flash drives, the accessories that came with the ATV are very sparse. However, a very nice touch was the inclusion of not only a key ring but a cap holder. This is an unusual way of ensuring that the cap is not misplaced but the only concern with this setup is in regards to the way the cap holder is attached to the drive. At the back end of the drive is a hole making the whole back end one big lanyard ring through which the key chain goes. This is not the problem, in fact this is a very secure and durable mounting point. The problem is everything else about this back-end. The keychain that comes with this drive is of fairly light weight, some would even say “flimsy” construction but even this is not as bad as the small non-reinforced lanyad ring built into the back of the cap holder. This amounts to little more than a thin circle of rubber that easily deforms when trying to remove the cap by pulling on the chain. Without being very careful in how one removes the cap this small rubber ring will probably break fairly quickly.

The other thing that is missing from this flash drive is inclusion of any encryption software. While this is not a big deal and there are many good and free encryption programs on the market. It is just puzzling why OCZ did not see fit to include one.