Hardware Bistro

Product: OCZUSBR2DC-32GB
Manufacturer: OCZ
Supplied by: OCZ
Price: 60USD/RM186
Launch Date: July 2008

 

USB flash drive is a very common device nowadays but there are some unique or great models in the market which are valuebale for us to take a deep look on them. OCZ is a well known brand for computer memory, power supply as well as USB flash drive. Today let us take a look on OCZ Rally2 performance USB flash drive besides the OCZ ATC (Extreme Performance) and Diesel (Portable) series.

 

Company Profile

OCZ Technology Group, a member of JEDEC, designs, develops, and manufactures ground-breaking, high performance memory and premium computer components. OCZ products are the first choice for users needing high-reliability, enthusiast-grade solutions. OCZ continually invests in R&D to push the limits of performance, speed, and value for consumers, system integrators, and OEM clients.

At OCZ we have one primary goal, and it is to make sure that every customer is 110% satisfied. Every employee at OCZ is dedicated to accomplishing this goal. Our engineers are constantly developing the fastest and best performing products.

 

Features

High Speed USB 2.0 Certified
True Plugand Play (Compatible with MAC OS X)
Dual Channel Technology
Available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities
1GB -32GB Dimensions: 2 5/8"(L) x 5/8"(W)x 8.0mm (H)
64GB Dimensions: 87.0mm (L) x 16.0mm (W) x 8.0mm (H)
Aluminum Chassis
Orange LED Status Light
Lifetime Warranty

 

Package & Contents

 

OCZ Rally2 is stored inside a sealed plastic container which is pretty standard with other common USB flash drives. Most of the unique selling points of OCZ Rally2 are stated on the packaging like "True Plug & Play", "Ultra Fast Dual Channel", "Rapid Transfer Rate" and Sleek, Durable, Lightweight Aluminum Housing" and etc.

 

Most of the valuable USB flash drives will be bundled with additional accessories to compete with other vendors and this is same for OCZ Rally2 where a lanyard is given. The bundled lanyard is pretty long and there is no issue to hang it around the neck but we prefer a shorter lanyard or keychain as we believe most of us will not hang it over their neck. Another blazing feature of OCZ Rally2 is the lifetime warranty; good to see such commitment from OCZ.

 

A Closer Look On OCZ 32GB Rally 2

Unlike other USB flash drive vendors, OCS doesn't have plenty of series and models for selection as this is what OCZ has been practicing by only producing performance and valuable products to their customers without simply producing any "so-so" quality products. Currently there are three series for OCZ USB flash drives; ATV Turbo & Rally2 Turbo for extreme performance, ATV & Rally2 for performance while Diesel for mainstream performance with portable size.

 

Each of these models comes with their unique selling points like ATV for waterproof, Rally2 for performance with reasonable cost and Diesel for mini portable USB drive. The difference between Rally2 Turbo and Rally2 is the read speed; 30MB/s and 15MB/s. It is good to see such extreme performance models which is giving another option for the customers. However the available capacities are quite limited for Rally2 Turbo; 4 & 8GB only while the highest capacity for Rally2 is 64GB; quite up to market trend.

 

OCZ Rally2 comes with standard dimension and good to see aluminum housing is used which is not only look solid but also better in term of heat dissipation. Currently the available capacities for OCZ Rally2 are 1, 2, 4, 8 and 32GB (we doubt the 1/2GB are still available for sale). Anyway our review sample here is a 32GB version which is one of the hottest models after 16GB with acceptable price. Both of the Rally2 Turbo and Rally2 look identical in term of everything but the status LED for Turbo version is orange color rather than blue.

 

OCZ Rally2 doesn't come with chained cap or swivel design which could be better to avoid the cap is misplaced or lost. The read and write speed for OCZ Rally2 are around 30-35MB/s and 8-15MB/s; quite standard and OCZ claims that Rally2 is a dual channel USB flash drive which looks like a marketing term for us since we didn't hear of any dual channel technology on USB flash drive before; anyway let's test it out before make any conclusion on it.

 

Installation, Testing & Performance

Same with other USB flash drives, OCZ Rally2 is also a plug and play device where neither a driver nor software setup is required; just plug in and you may start to use it. The blue status LED looks cool for us; neither too bright nor too dim. Some users might have difficulties with certain USB flash drives due to its thickness but there isn't any issue for OCZ Rally2 since it is a pretty slim USB device.

Test Bed

Notebook: HP EliteBook 2540p
Processor: Intel i7-640LM @ 2.13GHz
Memory: 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
Hard Drive: 250GB 7200RPM
Display: 12.1" LED-backlit WXGA anti-glare
Graphic Card: Intel HD Graphics
Optical Drive: Panasonic 9.5mm DVD RAM
Router: TRENDnet TEW-639GR
Monitor: Dell 22" Wide Screen LCD
Speaker: Edifier R501
Mouse: SteelSeries Ikari Laser
Mouse Pad: SteelSeries QcK+
HeadSet: Arctic Sound P311
Operating System: Window XP Pro SP3/Win 7 Pro
Ambient Temperature: 27 Degree Celsius

We have tested OCZ Rally2 with couple of standard and popular benchmarking tools likes HD Tach, HD Tune, sisosoft and ATTO Disk. Based on these results, OCZ Rally2 is having average read at 23MB/s which fall under mainstream performance; actually it is quite close to extreme performance category. Anyhow in real life practice, we are quite satisfied with OCZ Rally2 performance; fast reading and writing without any lagging or non-responding issue; pretty reliable.

 

Verdicts

Looking for a high performance USB flash drive but without emptying your pocket? If yes then you may consider OCZ Rally2 which is a reliable brand, comes with life time warranty, high performance, solid aluminum housing and etc. The availability capacities for OCZ Rally2 are ranging from 4GB to 32GB currently. If you have little more budget to spend then choosing OCZ Rally2 Turbo is even much better where it comes with amazing write speed but the highest capacity is still stuck at 8GB; we're looking forward to see higher capacities to be released for this Turbo model.

 

Pros:

+ High performance with reasonable price
+ Solid aluminum housing
+ Turbo version is available
+ Lifetime warranty
+ Lanyard is given

Cons:

- Prefer more bundled accessories

 

Thanks to OCZ for providing this sample for us to review.

 

 

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