A short while back, I reported on Dane-Elec's announcement of a flash drive comparable to the size of a jelly bean, and a rubberized case for standard protection from whatever might get in the way of your flash drive. The drive measures 1cm thick, and 4 cm long, still managing an impressive 2GB of storage, and high speed read and write rates.
The drives come in a variety of different (jelly bean) flavors such as vibrant blue, orange, and lime green.
My previous flash drive has done me well, and I figured flash drives are all the same. After testing out the Mini-Mate, I noticed even the smallest details can make a difference.
Material
I'm usually on the go, busy with school-work and having a flash drive is vital to getting my files around. One problem I had with my previous drive, was that it would slip out of my shorts or pants because of lack of friction between the plastic flash drive and the material of my pants. The rubber casing of the Mini-Mate allows more friction, and it doesn't move around when I'm moving around.
The rubber casing also allows the drive to be in more harsh conditions such as sand, and water. Anything that goes onto the surface just slides off with ease.
Size
To be more accurate, the device is about the size of 2 small jelly beans, or 1 large jelly bean. With the wide varieties of jelly beans available, I couldn't search the grocery store to make that comparison 
.
Enough about the jelly beans; this device is very miniscule, portable and handy. It keeps a low profile while being carried, or plugged into the computer, and for the average computer user the name 'Mini-Mate' truly suits the product.
Compared to Dane-Elec's previous model
The Test Results are in
Here are the benchmarks of the previous model, Dane-Elec ZPen:
And here is the Dane-Elec Mini-Mate:
As you can see, the Mini-Mate is considerably faster, and quite speedy for a device of it's proportions. For the price ($20), that's pretty good! Of course there are faster drives on the market such as the Kingston Datatravler Elite or the Corsair Voyager. Unfortunately with the extreme speed drives comes higher costs. The Mini-Mate definitely fits the budget.
Wrap-up
As a general consumer, I would rate this as a great flash drive. To the businessmen, and more professional users; you may find that these features will suit your needs. As a consumer based flash drive, this drive should have much appeal to students, and those looking to store your files without the security or extreme speeds that the more expensive drives offer.
If you are looking for a new standard flash drive, I'd really recommend picking up the Mini-Mate. You can grab them online, or at many chain retailers for about $20.
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