Lenovo gets flashy with Olympics-inspired drives

This Olympic USB flash drive bears the same design as the Olympic torch.

(Credit: Lenovo)

Computer maker Lenovo threw down some dough to become a sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, not only designing the Olympic torch but sponsoring athletes and supplying computers for the games' data and media teams. But the Chinese company may make some money back by hawking items like Olympic-themed USB flash drives that sport hefty price tags.

While America got stuck with boring flash drives bearing only the Olympic rings, visitors to Lenovo's Chinese Web site fared better with five types of interestingly designed USB flash drives (site in Chinese).

Lenovo announced the Olympic torch design, also featured on a Lenovo laptop, in early 2008, though the design didn't impress first reviewers.The 4GB flash drive sells for the equivalent of around $142.

Other patterns from Lenovo feature the adorable cartoon mascots of the Beijing Olympics: Beibei, JingJing, HuanHuan, YingYing, and NiNi. A medallion style is currently sold out on Lenovo's Chinese site, while a $29 4GB stick, and a $58 256MB oval-shaped drive, are for sale, with inexplicable price differences. The last of Lenovo's designs is a $58, 1GB oval flash-drive sporting the Olympic rings.

The five cartoon mascots from the Beijing Olympics adorn several types of flash drives, including this style.

(Credit: Lenovo)

But perhaps the coolest, and most unnecessarily over-designed Olympics-related flash drives can be found on Everything USB.

According to that site, Lenovo also makes a set of titanium Olympic flash drives engraved with the Olympic mascots and sold in a mahogany box. However, we could not find those drives on Lenovo's Chinese site, nor could we locate the price. But if one Olympic flash drive is $142, imagine the cost of five metal ones with wooden box.

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