Corsair Drags Flash Drives into the Contemporary Age

With the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface so rapidly taking the place of USB 2.0, in a manner of speaking, Corsair figured it was time to pull three of its flash drive lines forward.

To offer some context before the grand reveal, the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface standard is the newest iteration of the universal Serial Bus.

Where USB 2.0 has a maximum throughput of 480 Mbps, USB 3.0 has about 5 Gbps (4.8 Gbps), which is ten times that much.

This is the main reason that USB 3.0 controller chips were so successful early on, even in absence of native chipset support for the technology.

Now that said support is present and accounted for, however, new USB 3.0 devices have been showing up often.

At the same time, older product lines have been moving forward as well, as is the case with three flash drive series from Corsair.

As the new press release states, The Flash Voyager, Flash Voyager GT and Flash Survivor lines have now reincarnated as USB 3.0 gadgets, with read/write speeds of 135/83 MB/s.

"Our new lines of USB 3.0 flash drives offer great choices for performance enthusiasts and on-the-go professionals." said Thi La, vice president of Memory Products at Corsair.

"The Flash Survivor and Flash Voyager families are known for their ruggedness, reliability, and superior ergonomics, and USB 3.0 speed makes them even better."

Already reaching stores, the items mostly look the same as their original counterparts, although the Flash Voyager did seem to go through a diet.

The Flash Survivor USB 3.0 (73 x 22 mm, rubber shell) are sold in 8 GB ($17) and 16 GB versions ($24).

Secondly, the Voyager GT are water-resistant (also housed in rubber) and sold for $59 (32 GB) and $129 (64 GB).

Finally, the Voyager sell for $28 (8 GB) and $35 (16 GB), with their anodized aircraft-grade aluminum housing (shock, vibration and water resistant).