SanDisk Cruzer Micro replaced my CDs

I had purchased a new car stereo that has a front panel USB input for using a thumbdrive so when I saw a good deal on a SanDisk Cruzer Micro in the 4 GB size I thought I would give it a try.

Well the first hurdle was the U3 feature. It seems that the Sony and perhaps other similar units require a USB mass storage device and the U3 equipped SanDisk Cruzer Micro is not considered compatible. A quick search on GOOGLE turned up a utility on SanDisk's site that removes the U3 and returns the unit to a USB mass storage device. You cannot reverse this process it warns, so you really must consider if this is really what you want to do. If you do not need the U3 feature than proceed through the removal process. After using the utility to remove the U3 function my receiver recognized the drive no problem.

When plugged into my PC running Windows XP the SanDisk Cruzer Micro is seen as a removable external drive, I didn't have to install any proprietary drivers. I simply drag folders containing MP3s over to the SanDisk Cruzer Micro and then plug the unit into my car's receiver. In just a few seconds the music starts playing and there seems to be no lag or slowness to the thumb drive. It is nice being able to pop a small unit like this into the car and scroll through hundreds of songs. Just a few years ago I would need to install a CD changer in the trunk to have this sort of capacity.

Honestly I cannot think of a single negative associated with this product.