Powerhouse Technologies Migo USB 2.0 flash drive (512MB)

CNET editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Setup and ease of use : 7.0
  Features : 8.0
  Performance : 4.0
  Service and support : 6.0
  Overall score: 6.0 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Jon L. Jacobi
• Edited by:
  Felisa Yang
• Reviewed on: 03/04/2005
• Released on: 06/08/2004

With flash memory thumb drives already a consumer commodity, vendors try to differentiate their products with value-added software. That's cool with us, but we're not sure that any set of utilities is worth the steep price of Powerhouse Technologies' tiny silver USB 2.0 Migo thumb drive, especially when the unit's write performance is less than one-sixth that of Verbatim's Store 'n' Go Pro--a product that's half the price with software that's nearly as full featured.

The application that Powerhouse Technologies is charging the hefty fee for is Migo.exe (also available for the iPod), which provides both password protection and a take-your-desktop-with-you, data-sync function. The first time you run Migo.exe, you have the option to create a password and a password hint. If you decide to do this (and you must have administrator access on each computer you plan to use, so you shouldn't do it if you plan to use the service on public computers), you must run Migo.exe from the thumb drive's still-visible, 10MB unencrypted partition each time you use the drive.

The chameleon desktop/data sync feature works well--within limits. It will copy some of the look of your desktop, Internet Explorer settings and favorites, and your desktop and Outlook data into the thumb drive's Synchronized Computers folder. You can pick folders and even specific files that aren't on the desktop, and within Outlook, you can synchronize your in-box, subfolders, contacts, calendars, and tasks. You can also instruct Migo to synchronize only files and folders that have changed within a certain time period, say, 30 days. We were disappointed to find that clicking the option to synchronize your desktop won't automatically sync folders on your desktop, just files; you have to choose folders manually. While the Migo app is running, you'll see a drop-down window at the top of the monitor screen that holds thumbnail images of the desktops you've synced, each with its own name. Click one, and the desktop of the host machine changes to match. To restore the host machine's normal desktop, simply choose Logout from the taskbar or Migo's system tray icon. Unfortunately, Migo works only with Internet Explorer 4.01 or later and Outlook, not Outlook Express. As is often the case, Mac users and those who avoid Internet Explorer are out of luck.

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