- home
- reviews
- news
- downloads
- cnet tv
On GameFAQs: The top 10 game collections
- log in
- join CNET
- welcome,
- my profile
- log out

Cell Phones
Desktops
Digital Cameras
Laptops
MP3 Players
TVs
All Categories
Forums

Simplify your laptop buying

Ultimate Holiday Tech Guide

Home
Reviews
Flash Memory Cards
Meritline.com flash memory cards
Meritline Pen Drive

Meritline Pen Drive

Reviewed by

Jasmine France

on 04/02/2004

Review
User reviews
Specifications
Compare
Shop

Add to my list
Print
E-mail
Share

See all Meritline.com products

CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
Detailed editors' rating
Average user rating: Write your own review
See all user reviews

Email me when this product is available

Quick specs
Memory type: Flash
Flash memory form factor: USB Drive SmartMedia card SD memory card CompactFlash Card Memory Stick Memory Stick Pro PC Card
Memory storage capacity: 128 MB
See full specifications

Add to my list Product summary

The good: Works as a pen.

The bad: Expensive; feels cheaply made.

The bottom line: Meritline's Pen Drive adequately combines a pen with a USB flash drive, but it also feels a bit gimmicky and cheap.

Read full review

Compare this flash memory card to:

Meritline Pen Drive

Iomega Micro Mini

Editor's rating: 3.5 out of 5

Meritline Rist Memory Watch

Editor's rating: 4.0 out of 5

Meritline High Quality/High Speed Pen Drive

Editor's rating: 3.5 out of 5

Crucial Gizmo

Editor's rating: 4.0 out of 5

Compare selected

CNET editors' review

CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
Detailed editors' rating

Reviewed by:
Jasmine France
Reviewed on: 04/02/2004
Released on: 01/08/2004

Unlike many other so-called pen drives, Meritline's Pen Drive is actually a functional pen. Made of two halves that screw together, the Pen Drive's top half consists of the USB interface and a standard pen clip; the bottom half contains the ink cartridge and the pen tip. Screwed together, the Pen Drive measures about 5.75 inches long, but the USB half measures just 2.75 inches long. With a diameter of 0.5 inches, the Pen Drive blocked a neighboring USB port when we plugged it into our PC. We solved the problem by using the included 8-inch USB extension cable. Meritline includes an extra ink cartridge for the pen and an installation disc with driver software.

The Pen Drive is made of a brushed-silver metal with some shiny silvery accents. A faux-rubberized grip near the tip makes for comfortable writing and indicates where to twist to expose the pen tip. We found the Pen Drive's weight nice for writing, but the overall construction felt cheaply made.

This drive has 128MB of storage and comes in black or silver. You can also choose whether you want a USB 1.1 or 2.0 interface. The $65 USB 2.0 model we tested breaks down to a cost of about 50 cents per megabyte, which is on the expensive end of the price spectrum.

Return to CNET's USB flash drive roundup.

Most helpful user reviews

Average user rating: 0 stars Not yet available
Back to product review
My rating: 0 stars Write review

Showing 1 of 1 user review
2.0 stars

0 out of 5 people found this helpful

"Ever loose your pen?"

on June 30, 2004
See 1 user review Write review

Thanks for your submission!

Thank you for helping us maintain CNET's great community.

Submit your review

Meritline Pen Drive

ORLog in with your Facebook account

You are logged in as . Please submit your review for:

Meritline Pen Drive

1. Rate this product:: (Mouse over the stars to rate this product and click to set your rating.)
2. One-line summary:(Summarize your review in one line. 10 characters minimum; required.): 0 of 55 characters
3. Pros:(Tell us what you like about this product. 10 characters minimum; required.): 0 of 250 characters
4. Cons:(Tell us what you don't like about this product. 10 characters minimum; required.): 0 of 250 characters
Bottom-line summary:(Explain to us in detail why you like or dislike the product, focusing your comments on the product's features and functionality, and your experience using the product. This field is optional.): 0 of 5000 characters; Submit

Submit your reply

Summary:(10 characters minimum; required): 0 of 1000 characters; Submitcancel

E-mail this review

E-mail this to:
Add your own personal message:(1000 characters maximum): 0 of 1000 characters; Sendcancel

Report offensive content

If you believe this comment is offensive or violates the CNET's Site Terms of Use, you can report it below (this will not automatically remove the comment). Once reported, our staff will be notified and the comment will be reviewed.

Select type of offense:: Offensive: Sexually explicit or offensive language; Spam: Advertisements or commercial links; Disruptive posting: Flaming or offending other users; Illegal activities: Promote cracked software, or other illegal content; Comments (optional):; Reportcancel

Compare prices for Meritline Pen Drive

This product is currently not in stock at any of our online merchants.

Email me when this product is available

Recent user reviews

Average user rating: 0 stars Not yet available
Back to product review
My rating: 0 stars Write review

Showing 1 of 1 user review
2.0 stars

0 out of 5 people found this helpful

"Ever loose your pen?"

on June 30, 2004
See 1 user review Write review

Thanks for your submission!

Thank you for helping us maintain CNET's great community.

Submit your review

Meritline Pen Drive

ORLog in with your Facebook account

You are logged in as . Please submit your review for:

Meritline Pen Drive

1. Rate this product:: (Mouse over the stars to rate this product and click to set your rating.)
2. One-line summary:(Summarize your review in one line. 10 characters minimum; required.): 0 of 55 characters
3. Pros:(Tell us what you like about this product. 10 characters minimum; required.): 0 of 250 characters
4. Cons:(Tell us what you don't like about this product. 10 characters minimum; required.): 0 of 250 characters
Bottom-line summary:(Explain to us in detail why you like or dislike the product, focusing your comments on the product's features and functionality, and your experience using the product. This field is optional.): 0 of 5000 characters; Submit

Submit your reply

Summary:(10 characters minimum; required): 0 of 1000 characters; Submitcancel

E-mail this review

E-mail this to:
Add your own personal message:(1000 characters maximum): 0 of 1000 characters; Sendcancel

Report offensive content

Select type of offense:: Offensive: Sexually explicit or offensive language; Spam: Advertisements or commercial links; Disruptive posting: Flaming or offending other users; Illegal activities: Promote cracked software, or other illegal content; Comments (optional):; Reportcancel

Special sponsor stores

Dell Shop

Meritline Pen Drive

Review
User reviews
Specifications
Compare
Shop

Add to my list
Print
E-mail
Share

Explore more on cnet

More on this product: review; user reviews; specifications; compare; shop

Before you buy: Editors' top storage; See all hard-drive reviews; See all burner reviews

More on hard drives & burners: Storage forum

Reviews & advice: Site map; Editorial policies; Meet the editors; How we test; Forums; Internet speed test

Popular topics: Apple iPhone; Apple iPod; Cell phones; Dell; GPS; LCD TV

CNET sites: CNET Site map; CNET TV; Downloads; News; Reviews; Shopper.com

More information: Newsletters; CNET Mobile; Customer Help Center; RSS; CNET Widgets; About CNET