Imation Defender F200

Imation Defender F200 (16GB)

The Imation Defender F200 is one of the most secure--and most expensive--USB drives we've tested. At $269 for just 16GB of storage, this peripheral attempts to justify its premium with an ultra-rugged design and a built-in fingerprint reader that promises to protect sensitive files. Is it worth the splurge?For a thumb drive, the Defender F200 is large, measuring 3.4 inches long and weighing 1.6 ounces. The device has a cover that protects the fingerprint reader when not in use. With that bulk comes added protection: Its casing is a tough metal alloy, and a rubber gasket makes the drive waterproof and dust-proof. A metal ring secures the drive to your laptop lock port or a keychain, but it's really more for looks; there is a clasp that anyone can turn to remove it.The idea of using biometrics on a USB drive is not new, but Imation does a nice job of walking users through the setup process. To configure the Defender F200, we plugged it into a free USB port and ran the built-in biometrics software. We then ran a wizard that had us scan our finger over the fingerprint reader. This setup process took about 10 minutes, mostly because we had to scan our finger a few times to add the profile, then configure drive partitions and add an administrator account.