419
Backers
$66,607
pledged of $25,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on August 22, 2011.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
Backers pledging $10 or more will receive a pack of stickers with fun designs relating to the isostick.
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
Early Adopters may pledge $75 to get an 8GB *BETA* isostick and a sticker pack. If you choose to be an early adopter, please be willing to file bug reports and test on a variety of computers. The cosmetics of these may differ slightly from the final production devices.
Pledge $125 or more Pledge $125 or more
Backers pledging $125 receive one 8GB isostick and one pack of stickers.
Pledge $175 or more Pledge $175 or more
Backers pledging $175 receive one 16GB isostick and one pack of stickers.
Pledge $225 or more Pledge $225 or more
Backers pledging $225 receive one 32GB isostick and one pack of stickers.
Pledge $575 or more Pledge $575 or more
Small Office Package. Pledging $575 gets you *five* 8GB isosticks. That's $10 off per unit! Includes one pack of stickers.
Pledge $825 or more Pledge $825 or more
Small Office *16GB* Package. Pledging $825 gets you *five* 16GB isosticks. That's $10 off per unit! Includes one pack of stickers.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
Large Office Package. Pledging $1000 gets you *ten* 8GB isosticks. That's $25 off per unit! Includes one pack of stickers.
Pledge $1,075 or more Pledge $1,075 or more
Small Office *32GB* Package. Pledging $1075 gets you *five* 32GB isosticks. That's $10 off per unit! Includes one pack of stickers.
Pledge $1,500 or more Pledge $1,500 or more
Large Office *16GB* Package. Pledging $1500 gets you *ten* 16GB isosticks. That's $25 off per unit! Includes one pack of stickers.
Pledge $2,000 or more Pledge $2,000 or more
Large Office *32GB* Package. Pledging $2000 gets you *ten* 32GB isosticks. That's $25 off per unit! Includes one pack of stickers.
Project By
Has not connected their Facebook account.
Elegant Invention is a small technology start-up. Our goal is to provide affordable hardware and software to make your life easier.
i initially wanted to have the purchase sent to my forwarder in USA, but i can't wait to have it. As such; is it possible for me to top my purchase with shipping to Singapore?
take your time as the product will be even better and love the case design
Hi there. It must be time for another update. I am sure others are as keen as I am to hear how it is progressing and whether the 'hiccup' is now a past issue.
Hard at work on the enclosure and the demo video. There have been a lot of delays and I do apologize. An update will be coming soon explaining what has been going on and where we're at. No worries though, just a hiccup in the process :)
Any updates? Status? Expected delivery?
Good point! I'm not sure if I can get the cost low enough for giveaways like that, does anyone happen to know the typical pricing for that sort of thing?
I am definitely willing to talk if anyone wants their logo on a batch of isosticks--it would be several months before I can do any real work on that though, so just an idea for now :)
@Gregory: You need to go to the right conferences, they do. Best part is that some are rewritable!
Now if some IT related software firms were to give the isostick out as a prize I would love them forever, even if it only had enough room for their software and 1 other, it would be a great starter and most techs could hack in a larger card quickly.
I just wish companies would start giving out USB keys like they used to give out CD's and Floppys :p
That's an AMAZING point Jared. This really is, without intent, a really green product. I figure this was more created to stop time/hassel, but that is a GREAT byproduct of this!
I could have totally used this yesterday! I would have looked liek a champ to the client. Oh well, still got the job done and wasted some CDs.
This should totally be marketed as the green alternative to thousands of disposable CDs everywhere, used once and then ignored or tossed out. We are reducing landfill waste and consumption waste by buying this device.
..... One pledger short..... :D
CAN'T WAIT FOR MY 2 ISOSTICKS!! HURRAH!
Congratulations on the successful funding round! Looking forward to coming developments :)
Eugene,
You can edit a config file or run our included software to choose which iso to load into the drive. The image in the drive (and the config file) will always be the most recently used one.
For example, if you change it via software, the config file will reflect this. Same if you change it by booting into isosel, and so on.
Thanks!
One Query - how will Isosel work with all my images once i am inside the OS. Which image takes precedence?
Canadian backer here. I know that $135 is a wee bit for a USB stick, but I think this software/hardware would really be useful for my work. I'm looking forward to my stickers!
PS If you can start getting the MSRP down I would definitely love to help you dive into the Canadian tech markets. I envision that this tool could be indispensable for IT staff and computer shops.
Vitali,
We're aiming for removable MicroSD when we move into production :)
Thank you for your answer, i`m on my work lunch time, so can`t read it now, but i will read your blog post later.
And the second question - is there any possibility that you can make those MicroSD cards changeable? Because it would be a big plus, I could care as much data as i need and don`t need. :D
Vitali,
Thanks for the pledge!
With the current design they cannot go faster, it is a limitation of the CPU we are using and the use of MicroSD cards. Most flash drives use very specialized processors which only pass data back and forth, isostick must do much more processing.
If you want some technical details, I talk about this a little bit in my blog post here: http://blog.elegantinvention.com/…
Thanks,
Eric Agan
Hello,
Is it possible to make them faster? I know flash drives can have speed up to 30MB/s approximately.
Thanks!
Can't wait to get mine! I really hope you guys successfully break into retail with these so I can get more for myself and point my technician friends to them!
I just wanted to post on here my thanks! You have been BEYOND proactive in terms of feedback even though I know you are very hard at work developing this new toy for all of us to enjoy!
I'm very glad things are working out for this project! For BOTH our sake!
Keep up the hard work, and keep the updates coming! I know it may seem trival but even posting things like "picked the colour for the enclosure" will keep all of us very excited! :p
But again, I still am amazed at the time spent with feedback! It makes me feel very confident this level of feedback will continue once the device is actually in my hands!
Thanks again and keep up the great work :)
Nils,
We'll certainly try! Thanks for the feedback!
I really like your project and I am looking forward to buy an IsoStick when they are available at a good price.
I had many situations, when I was repairing computers for friends and family, where I would have loved a tiny usbstick from which I can boot some Isos.
Unfortunalty even the 125 bucks for the 8GB version are pretty expensive if you are using this tool just for "fun" and not for professional purpose.
I hope you will be able to lower the retail price a bit ;)
TadMSTR,
Thanks! We do have an email announcement list here: http://blog.elegantinvention.com/…
You can also follow the RSS feed for the blog at http://blog.elegantinvention.com/… or follow us on twitter, we're @elegantinvent
If you bring a model of this into production with a removable card slot and the card itself optional, as I have a few lying around not being used, then I would definitely buy one. As of right now I don't have an immediate need for one but would like to have one eventually. Do you have a mailing list so people like myself waiting for new revisions might be notified when they become available?
Congrats on reaching double your goal. I hope to see Newegg carry your product(s) some day.
Gary, interesting idea. We will keep that in mind for future additions to the isostick family!
On design costs I was referring to the enclosure design/costs ...
How about a "Pro" version that would be like a small hub with several MicroSD slots with a USB CABLE to connect to the computer's USB slot. You could also have a USB slot on the "ISOhub" for a flash drive as well. This would certainly be cheaper to manufacture and you might could use an existing hub design thereby bypassng design costs ...
Thanks for the info Thomas, it was very helpful. Now maybe I can bring myself to dig deeper and go for that 32GB isostick. It sure sets my geeky heart atwitter!
Nick,
As Thomas points out, Windows XP should work fine even if your format your computer NTFS. For images over 4GB, our software will automatically split the file and isostick will work just fine with it.
Hope that helps!
Nick, a lack of NTFS does not mean you cannot install Windows XP or that you cannot use it in Windows XP.
The only issue that is considering NTFS vs. FAT32 is that you cannot use images over 4GB in size (Filesystem doesn't support it), but there are not a lot of standard images over 4GB anyway.
exFat could also fix this issue, but they would probably need a license to support it, and it's only XP and newer that supports it.
I was prepared to pledge $225 for a 32GB isostick until I read that an NTFS version was a low priority and therefore not expected soon. Because I'm a Windows XP user, this is a feature I'll need sooner rather than later, so I'll just back the project at the $1 level for now. I bet you'll get more backers at higher levels if you were to make NTFS a higher priority. Please consider making it so.
Arthur,
Indeed! Bunnie has been kind enough to give me some advice regarding microSD sourcing.
If you are buying Sd cards in bulk from China it might be worth reading this post. The flash memory industry is known for being notoriously seedy. http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/…
Woo! Thanks for all the wonderful feedback :D
Matthew, not a bad idea regarding a 'Pro' model!
Thomas, excellent point regarding EFI booting, it /should/ work with isostick, we'll test it later on and be sure to post our results!
I empathize, I'd love to get them in the hands of everyone as soon as possible, too!! The more money we get, the easier that will be, so let's keep at it and see how high we can go!
Thanks again to everyone who has pledged and/or mentioned isostick, I'm so happy this is becoming a reality!!
I look forward to putting all those live Linux distros in one place...
24 days + funding delay and enclosure manufacturing delay... *wimpers* Gonna be 2-3 months before I get my new toy! :)
And it's funded :)
Congratulations, now we just have to wait :(
Thomas: Agreed. I'd LOVE to be able to actually make my payment now, to help get the ball rolling. Ah well.
Almost there, it's a shame that early backers can't get charged early so you can start funding already :P
I have another question, not sure how exactly to phrase it, but for example the Windows 7 images have both traditional BIOS code (MBR) and EFI code, if you burn the image to a disc you can boot with the EFI code if your motherboard supports it, but for example if you make a USB stick for it, the Windows 7 usb tool will basically only write the MBR code, making EFI boot impossible.
As you're basically just emulating the image, it should be possible, but i'm thinking that the bootloader may actually prevent that, any thoughts on that?
Just had a thought about the SD card swapping. Since it will require a more complicated case of some kind, presumably raising the price, make a 'Pro' model has a case that allows swapping of the card, and make it optional to buy an SD card with it.
85% funded! NICE! Just posted some more links to help out. Giddy with excitement about getting my isostick.
Jerry,
Thanks! The isostick does actually support MicroSDXC's capacities, but the microcontroller we're using limits the speed to what is specified in the FAQ (12.5MiB/s read, write depends on the card but won't go above the read speed). Still, much faster than an optical drive :D
Jeremiah,
Thanks! We'll see what we can do about having a removable microSD card when we move into production after this, the more we get through this Kickstarter the easier that will be!
I also agree that a removable MicroSD/MicroSDHC version would be a useful idea. On that note, might as well support MicroSDXC as well. I'm looking forward to using this invention of yours and will be happy to provide feedback as needed.
I'm wondering how feasible it would be to do something like this with with an SSD instead of flash, for greater storage and faster speeds? Obviously that would require branching out past FAT32 (exFAT maybe?).
In any event, thank you for your efforts to make the lives of IT folks a little easier.
I work in a data center and a own a computer business; a product such as this is truly a godsend. If I had more money, I'd contribute more -- this is by far one of the most innovative Kick Starter projects I've yet seen! I'm glad I could contribute, and most of all -- I can't wait to get an isostick of my own! $125 is a small price to pay for such a useful tool / toy. However, I would second that motion for a microSD card slot -- maybe a future Kick Starter project? That's really a very wonderful idea -- especially with all the ISOs that I have! I'd definitely be willing to fork out a bit more for something like that, too.
Thanks for this -- I hope it's a screaming success.
Sean, thanks for the support!
That will be tricky, but it might be possible. There's structural supports in the rear of the enclosure, cutting them means you'll need to tape it together or similar. Also you'll need to remove or replace a capacitor on the rear which helps to hold the microSD card in. It's easy to slide a card in and it "snaps" into place just beyond the capacitor, but removal is tricky to say the least. It wasn't intended for that.
For what it's worth, it looks like several months from now I might be working on a more hacker/maker friendly version with no enclosure. It would be cheaper, and "bring your own microSD" style. See:
http://blog.elegantinvention.com/…
and
http://blog.elegantinvention.com/…
This is a very cool project, and I can't wait to get an isostick. However, I think not making the MicroSD slot accessible is a major reduction in the functionality/versatility of the isostick. I know the first thing I'm going to do when I get mine is remove the housing and cut the end off of it to make the slot accessible and install a class 10 32GB card.
Waiting with bated breath.
Jared, thanks for the support! We plan to add floppy and harddrive emulation later. It may not be available when the isosticks first ship but we'll release an update with that functionality. :)
I'll update the FAQ to reflect this.