Review: PQI Card Drive U510 USB flash drive

The alloy aluminium casing of the new Card Drive U510 from PQI looks impressive. And measuring just 3mm thick (about the same as three credit cards) and weighing 20g, it's also pretty portable.

The idea is that you can slip it into your wallet. Of course, if you are unfortunate enough to be mugged, this would result in you losing whatever change you might have along with all your data.

The USB2 connector slides out from the rear of the U510 and houses a small LED indicator light. Being much thinner than standard USB connectors, it can be a real pain to hook it up to your PC, especially if you're doing it blind by reaching round the back of your tower case.

The thin strip attaching the USB connector to the card could also be damaged if it's tugged while still hooked up to your PC.

Our review model had a 1GB capacity, which is the lowest available. Should you require more space, you can get models up to 8GB.

The drive comes with USB Notebook Professional software; a fairly simply utility with a password-protection tool and will also sync your emails.

Aside from its thin dimensions there's not much to differentiate the Card Drive U510 from the many other USB drives available and the small USB connector can be a pain to use.