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Pavo USB Flash Pen

Ed Steele July 9, 2003 1



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The Pavo Pen is a ballpoint pen with a USB Flash RAM device in it. That is to say that it’s a big pen for big nerds. Read on for an explanation.







Flash RAM is a kind of RAM that keeps its contents without power. USB is a current standard computer interface. USB Flash RAM devices are relatively simple products that bundle a USB interface and some Flash RAM into a small package, often small enough to go on a key ring. Plug them into a USB port on a modern Windows PC or Mac and they pop up as a drive. No external power, batteries, or drivers needed. Plug and play at its finest.

The Pavo Pen is basically a short pen with a USB Flash RAM device screwed on the back. However, that’s selling it short. Here are the pros and cons that make it more than just another boring storage option.

Pros

  • It’s a pen! Like any typical ballpoint pen, one quick twist and you can write a quick note.
  • It’s stylish. Sure, a blue marble effect isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s much nicer looking than a typical key-chain USB storage device.
  • It’s a good USB storage device — no embedded hub, security device or any of that junk, thus no drivers needed for anything except Windows 98. The Windows 2000 computers in some student labs I manage are particularly sensitive to this and they love it.
  • It’s 128MB. That’s more than an original Zip disk.
  • It’s fast. I have another 32MB USB device that’s much slower than this pen.
  • It has the cutest activity light you’ll ever see. It’s a little blue LED embedded in the very top of the pen that you see through the translucent shell.
  • It comes with a USB extension lead (for awkward USB ports), Windows 98 drivers and an ink refill.

Cons

  • It’s big. It’s bigger than an old, classic, four-colour pen, but not as big as those monstrous 10-colour pens. Not for small hands.
  • It’s pricey, even with the introductory special. US$90 (plus postage) is a lot, even if per MB it’s competitive with the 32MB device I bought a little while ago.
  • The packaging is that sharp sealed-all-round-the-edges plastic stuff that’s a bugger to get open without wounding yourself. Careful where you cut, you might damage the driver CD or instructions.
  • The website ordering system could be better, though that might be fixed by now.

I love it. It’s already got the working copy of my website and my Diablo II characters on it. The package I got also included a heap of other pen stuff, but I don’t know how long that offer will last. I got refills, pens, pencils and styli — all in various different combinations. The light-up stylus looks particularly handy. Visit the web page for a full list of the bundled extras.

(Update: Since receiving my pen from Platinum Pen, Think Geek have started stocking them too, but without the extras by the looks of it.)





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About the author: Ed Steele View all posts by
Photographer and technology critic Ed Steele is the creator and editor of GadgetMadness and has been finding and reviewing the coolest gadgets first since 2003.


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One Comment »

  1. r c hoppin February 21, 2011 at 11:32 pm -

    I have had trouble finding refills for this pen.

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