passwordsFAST Compact Offline Password Keeper (Encrypted)

Great idea.This device is little bigger than business card, small enough to hold by one hand and comfortable to be operated by two. Well designed, slim and solid.Standard security devices, usually, are built to be less attractive and this one i found more appealing aesthetically.I was sceptical about membrane keyboard when placed my order, but actually I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s feels like a true push-buttons even with “hardware” clicks!User manual on one page is very instructive style “short and sweet”.Very useful searching functionality.So far so good :)To my personal “wish list” I would like to have a free note option with 128 or more characters space. For some vérifications just user and password are not enough, there are some questions and answers.Good continuation!I’ll be glad to know about future developments.

I had high hopes for this product even though the cost was low and the data entry tedious, because my requirements were modest. However, there are other limitations that prevent me from recommending it.1) It’s made in China, so there’s the possibility of backdoors, should this fall into the wrong hands.2) The password key to unlock the device is limited to eight characters, even though entries can store 32 character passwords.3) With usage over time, it’s likely the keys to unlock the device will wear, giving clues to the password.4) Not all valid password characters are available: braces, brackets, tildes, back tick, equal sign, and back slash are missing.5) Some of the characters have weird representations. 96=%. 8c=&.6) However, the real deal breaker is that hackers have unlimited amount of retries to break in. When the number of password unlock failures exceed the limit, it just locks you out for a period of time (but if you don’t want to wait, take out the battery and reinstall it). The correct behavior would be to clear all the entries and reinitialize the device to factory settings.

I hesitated to buy this due to multiple poor reviews, but then realized that those reviews were generally not about things like lost data, device dying, etc. The other decice I considered buying here on Amazon received many reviews related to those very issues, and seemed too iffy to take a chance upon. Since price of passwordsFAST was reasonable, I ordered it (fast delivery) and while waiting to use it I watched the video tutorials on the device's website.Very informative and helpful, so that upon opening my device for the first time I was able to enter password, etc., and begin immediately adding entries. The videos are somewhat redundant but they get their points across. There are two main cautions: Do not press two keys at the same time, you must first press Fn or "Blue" Function key before utilizing it for all entries involving "blue" keys, such as numbers and punctuation marks; do not press or hold down the Shift key while also pressing the letter you wish to capitalize...press Shift and then the letter. This can be time consuming but soon becomes second nature.Now, about having enough waiting time, especially while learning, before screen reverts to previous one and current (only) inputted data is lost. This is easily adjustable and can be extended to quite a long period of time. Just check the paper instructions that come along with device on how-to, and you can also learn how to change contrast level of screen.Yes, the keys are sometimes a pain and I'm only entering about 6-7 passwords before taking a short break. However, the only one I'm really having a problem with is the backspace, and I have a feeling that is because it is the outermost key and I may not be positioning my finger the same way I do with other keys. I'm going to try using a pencil with eraser on the end and see if that works better for all keys.I hope that future iterations of the device will have improved keyboard...are you listening to all the complaints about this, seller? Overall, I would buy again so that I can have offline access to my passwords. (I attempted to use an online password vault on a free trial but found it complicated, confusing, and time consuming to learn.)It's so nice and small that I just know I will lose it around the house, so for now I carry it in my bird binocular case which is too big but hard to lose (picture)! Manufacturers might try making a brightly colored case for this device, large enough to be easily found, and not an expensive material...something simple that has snap closing.ADD: I've found that using the keys is much easier if I press them with an angled eraser that fits on the end of a pencil...see photo.

I like this device a lot! I've got a good many years of age on me, so it took using it a little while before I finally caught on to the instructions. The instructions weren't hard to understand, it's just that I'm slow catching on at my age. If you're a little older you'll understand what I mean. Anyway, the device is compact, just slightly larger than a credit card and about as thick as 3 or 4 credit cards. It will easily fit in a shirt pocket or pants pocket and there's no problem programming your Usernames and Passwords. You can easily scroll through them to check on a forgotten password or you can enter a couple of letters of the site, such as: "19" from "19th CENTURY BANK" and it will find it for you, although I hope that's NOT your bank! Up to this point I would recommend it to anyone. BUT, here comes the rub. The 8 and the 0 are pretty much undiscernible. There is a totally unnecessary mark through the zero that makes it look like an 8. So, if you've forgotten a password that contains an 8 or a 0 or both and you find it in PasswordsFast you might still have to go with the Trial and Error method before you get into the website. For Example, you have a password that contains: 1908. In PasswordsFast the 8 and the 0 look alike. So, is it 80, 08, 00, 88. You might get locked out before you try all the possibilities. I would give it two thumbs up were it not for that one problem. In my eyes, that's reason enough not to recommend it. You might not be quite as particular about that problem. If it doesn't sound like a big deal to you, then this Password Manager would be hard to beat. It really is a top notch Password Manager. If you think you wouldn't run into the problem I described then the PasswordsFast is a good choice. I'm not trying to badmouth an otherwise good product.