The 8 GB segment seems to have the most variety, in terms of looks, with quite a few eye-catchers here. By far the one that stands out the most is the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium. This slick looking, shiny silver drive actually has a titanium casing that SanDisk claims is "crush¬resistant". Obviously I haven't tested this particular quality (and continue to fight my desire to run it over with a car), but it does feel really sturdy.

In terms of performance, this drive had the best assorted read speed, clocking in at an average of 24.4 Mbps - transferring 4 GB of assorted data in just 168 seconds. Now this is impressive, because all drives seem to slow down considerably in our assorted file transfers - all except this one, though. However it did get beaten in the three other tests, by Kingston's HyperX.

The only grouse I have with the build quality is the plastic slider mechanism, which although it feels as sturdy as any of the other sliders, just does not sit well with the rest of the body construction. A nice metal slider would just make this the perfectly built drive. That said, the plastiC slider's quality is top-notch. My personal preference is towards non-slider flash drives, but the Ultra Cruzer has forced me to rethink that.

In terms of software support this drive pretty much has everything you need - the U3 platform assures you of this. If you're the clumsy type, this is a must buy, because it feels like nothing but a frustrated fling at a concrete wall could scratch this beauty.