INTRODUCTION

   Although during this year’s CES many manufacturers presented impressive and innovative products there's no doubt that the most impressive storage product unveiled was the DataTraveler HyperX Predator 512GB USB 3.0 flash drive by Kingston. Now this was not only because Kingston managed to squeeze 512GB in a flash drive (was bound to happen sooner or later since 256GB units have been around for some time) but mainly due to the fact that the Predator is pretty much the first USB flash drive of its kind since it's basically an SSD in flash drive format. And like if 512GB were not enough Kingston announced that they will release a 1TB version in the following months. After all of the above no one can really wonder as to why we just had to check the latest DataTraveler HyperX Predator 512GB USB 3.0 flash drive out right?

   Kingston Technology Company, Inc. is the world’s independent memory leader. Founded in 1987 with a single product offering, Kingston® now offers more than 2,000 memory products that support nearly every device that uses memory, from computers, servers and printers to MP3 players, digital cameras and mobile phones. In 2009, the company's sales reached $4.1 billion. With global headquarters in Fountain Valley, California, Kingston employs more than 4,000 people worldwide. Regarded as one of the “Best Companies to Work for in America” by Fortune magazine, Kingston’s tenets of respect, loyalty, flexibility and integrity create an exemplary corporate culture. Kingston believes that investing in its people is essential, and each employee is a vital part of Kingston’s success. Kingston serves an international network of distributors, resellers, retailers and OEM customers on six continents. The company also provides contract manufacturing and supply chain management services for semiconductor manufacturers and system OEMs.

   When i first got the inside scoop about Kingston releasing the Predator USB 3.0 flash drive (and generally their Predator line of products) what i really liked was not the capacity or advertised speeds but rather its name since i literally adored the Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger and pretty much every Predator related movie and game title since (who hasn't played all three AVP games?). So as you can imagine i had very high hopes for the Predator 512GB and although Kingston advertises read and write speeds of up to 240MB/s-160MB/s i was very delighted to see that the drive performed a lot better. How much is a lot better? Well let's skip to the main dish and find out exactly that.