Conclusion

OCZ's ATV was a real pleasure to test since it held up very well when pitted against our battery of extreme tests. In many cases its performance was spot-on with what OCZ promises and its price is quite fair compared to some other flash drives on the market. Even after being frozen, drowned, buried, dropped, and even lost the drive performed as good as new. This is astonishing as it was tested way beyond what anyone would consider “normal” abuse and therein lies the market segment this drive is targeted at: people who are hard on their flash drives. No matter what I threw at it, the ATV continued to work without any issues. Indeed, the exterior of the drive does a very impressive job of keeping the internal protected from just about any situation you could put it into.

No matter which way you cut it, this drive caters to a particular market segment. While it is able to deliver performance under any circumstance, it does so while sacrificing size and some ergonomics. There is absolutely no way that you will want one of these drives on your keychain and if you actually enjoy you pocket bulging out, be prepared for lint sticking to the ATV like no tomorrow. I also had some issues with the performance when it came to write speeds and random access time even though read speeds were extremely good. It should also be mentioned that the keychain is flimsy to say the least and it is the one thing that needs some serious revision on the ATV.

Overall, the ATV is a slightly above average performing drive wrapped in an exceptionally durable case. If you cannot justify the price of OCZ’s ATV Turbo line then this may be a very good alternative if you need a rugged drive.


Pros:

- Fast read times
- Rugged & Durable
- Lifetime Warranty


Cons:

- Size
- Weak Cap holder & chain
- No included encryption software
- Slightly disappointing write times