Dane-Elec LifeBytes (8GB)

As part of the ever-growing Dane-Elec family of flash drives, the Dane-Elec LifeBytes drive (8GB) ($12.99 direct) has all the hallmarks of other flash drives in the Dane-Elec line, like a quirky, youth-oriented design and an affordable price tag. It also shares some of the same drawbacks of its brethren, namely an all-plastic construction and so-so performance. But given the fact that it's geared a younger crowd that's typically more interested in flair than transfer speeds, its shortcomings are forgivable, and in that regard it's a decent choice for youngsters, though it could stand to use some sort of password protection.

Design and Features
The LifeBytes drive's square-shaped chassis is fairly tiny, and its rounded edges bring to mind an App that you'd find on an Apple iOS. It weighs next to nothing since the entire drive - including the USB plug ? is constructed out of plastic. The Lifebytes drives are available with four different designs: a mustache, a peace sign, a tribal design, and a tattoo (our review unit), and it was decked out in an all-black design with hints of gray on the retractable USB plug, the sliding mechanism on the left side, and the titular tattoo design on the face. A slit on the lower right side of the drive allows it to be attached to a lanyard.

Like other Dane-Elec drives, the LifeBytes flash drive ships free of preloaded software. While we're not typically fans of preinstalled programs, it is somewhat troubling that a drive marketed toward a younger crowd doesn't feature any sort of password protection. I'm not a parent, but I can imagine that no one would want their child's readily accessible personal data falling into the hands of a total stranger. You'd be better off buying a drive along the lines of the Editors' Choice Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ (8GB) . It's not the coolest looking drive by any measure, but it offers a level of security that most parents would appreciate.

The LifeBytes drive offers 8GB of storage space, with 7.58GB of usable space. Its price tag of $12.99 breaks down to $1.62 per GB, giving it more bang for the buck than the Dane-Elec Marvel Avengers USB Drives ($1.87 per gigabyte), the Verbatim Store N' Go Clip-it USB Drive ($1.83 per gigabyte), and the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ (8GB) ($1.75 per gigabyte). Only the Duracell Rugged USB Drive (16GB) proved to be a better value, boiling down to $1.25 per GB.

Performance
The LifeBytes drive is a decent performer compared to other drives in its price range. In our timed data transfer tests, it produced a write speed of 4.4MBps and a read speed of 19.42MBps. While the LifeBytes' write speed was identical to that of the Dane-Elec Marvel Avengers USB Drives (4.4MBps write), it was slower than the Verbatim Store N' Go Clip-it (6MBps write). The LifeBytes' was a more solid contender when it came down to read speeds, outpacing the Avengers USB Drives (16.3MBps read) as well as the Store N' Go Clip-it (15MBps read). Moreover, the LifeBytes drive outperformed the Duracell Rugged USB Drive (16GB) (4.1 MBps write; 12.5MBps read) on both write and read speeds. Conversely, the DataTraveler Locker+ (8GB) (9.6MBps write, 24MBps read) outgunned the LifeBytes drive on both prongs.

The Dane-Elec LifeBytes flash drive is a decent choice for younger consumers looking for an affordable and (arguably) stylish way to transport their data. It's not the fastest or most rugged drive available, nor is it intended to be. However, parents seeking peace of mind would be better off purchasing a flash drive with password protection for their children, like our current Editors' Choice for flash drives, the DataTraveler Locker+ (8GB). Its lack of a cool design is more than offset by the level of protection it offers.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dane-Elec LifeBytes with several other flash drives by side.

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