Memory-Card Reviews

I just installed this card to upgrade our 1999 Dell V350 which originally had 64MB. Make sure to read your manual as to which configurations are supported. Mine said it supported 128MB + 64MB, however our computer actually came as 32MB + 32MB which wasn't supported according to the manual, even 128MB + 32MB wasn't listed. I didn't try. I just installed the 128MB card by itself. Clicking in the card is easy if you follow the instructions and click at the edges and not in the center of the card.

After that, hooked the computer back up and it feels like new again! Plus it only took 2 days to get here. Plus we finally got DSL. Now we'll never get off the computer.
Definitely worth it for the computer. Will deal with the carpal tunnel syndrome later.

I recently upgraded my 64MB computer, a 4 year old Gateway, with just one of these and can not believe how much better my computer runs. I plan to install another 128MB in the near future. Installing only takes about 10 minutes and my computer runs like a new one.

Specs on HP Pavilion called for 66 MHz frequency memory sticks, but this dropped right in and worked fine.

Viking makes a good reliable product, at the lower (value) end of the price scale, making it a good purchase value. I use it on a digital camera, and transport it to a laptop. Also makes a good replacement high-capacity floppy disk between laptops. Why should I pay 2x as much for more well-known CF memory when Viking probably manufacturers it? Highly recommended.

I use CompactFlash for most of my digital cameras, and I've become a fan of the Viking brand. However, I still buy by the dollar-per-meg calculation. Currently, this number should always be less than 1. It is curious that the prices on these cards may fluctuate by as much as 20% in one day! I suggest you find the card you want and track it a while. This particular card comes with a great extra at no extra charge: it includes an adapter for your laptop's type II/III slot, a nice touch. [BTW, 'lagniappe' is N'awlins for 'a little extra')

This 64 MByte CF card is a great value since it includes the CF to PCMCIA card adaptor. Many other CF manufacturers want this much for the CF card alone! I bought this CF card for use with a new Canon S-110 for storage of high-res photos. But I also use it for storing MP3 files in my Casio Pocket PC, and now with the PCMCIA adaptor I can use it in my laptop too!

I would just like to say thanks to all the great people who take time to write such excellent reviews. I just bought this Lexar JumpDrive based on the reviews it got, and am completely bowled over by this tiny gadget that holds so much stuff and is so easy to use. Thanks, everyone!

I wrote a rave review about this product on 8 Dec 03. I continue to rate this product 5 stars even though the last 6 weeks I had problems with it. I want to share what I discovered with whoever purchases this product....I am an experienced communciations engineer. I work in the field and right now I am in Asia - its always dirty where I work. Second, my JUMPDRIVE started giving me problems and I wrote 8 messages to Lexar support asking for help/advice..I got back 1 message which was a "canned" message and did not even reference my problem. Do not count on their support group for help. I tried everything to repair it (new USB drivers, new USB hardware ports, different computers, reformats...) but the problem was intermittent sometimes it would work and sometimes not. The FINAL day before I was going to end its life with a hammer I discovered the problem. I decided to open it up and look for bad solder joints...but before I did so and as I was looking where to crack it open I realized that the "write protect switch" (which is a very small opening)had collected some dust in/on it. I moved the switch back and forth with a few times with a paper clip to clean the contacts and BINGO! It works perfect again. I have since put a single wrap of black electrical tape over the write protect switch to keep out dirt/dust. I recommend doing this depending on your environment... Nevertheless, it is a great product but very, very bad support for it....probably because it is so good.

I saw someone use one of these and bought one on Amazon the same day. Now everyone that sees mine runs out to buy one! Imagine carrying something on a key change that stores the equivalent of 350+ floppy disks! I have used this to transfer all of my files to a new laptop and to copy them over to my home PC. Our color printer blew up this week, so with a deadline approaching, I put several large files on this JumpDrive and took them to a local print shop. I also had a presentation to give with several other presenters. Rather than swap out laptops during breaks and rewire them to the LCD Projector, we just stuck our oversized Powerpoint presentations on JumpDrives and plugged them into the same computer. You just stick it into the USB port of any computer and you're in business! Can you tell I love this thing?!

I recently bought a Canon Digital Rebel. When considering memory I initially figured I'd stick with the brand I used with my PowerShot S30: Viking Components. But I wanted the best, knowing that my 6.3MP photos would take longer to be recorded.

I looked at the Lexar 40x first. Lexar has a good reputation and "40x" sounds like a snappy number. For some reason, though, I liked the feedback about this [Sandisk Ultra] card more. So I bought this one and am very glad I did.

Little publicized is the fact that the Sandisk Ultra II blazes along at 60x (9 Mb/s) write speed. That translates to being able to record one more whole image per second than the Lexar, and two or three images more than SimpleTech or Viking Components. (Each card reads at the same speed, I believe -- 10 Mb/s.)

Worried about a trade-off in reliability? It's backed with a 5-year warranty. You can't go wrong with that, folks.

I recently purchased a Sony DSP F828 camera, which uses 8MP per shot, so needed LOTS of memory for it. I also wanted that memory to be as fast as possible, so as not to slow down picture-taking. The SanDisk Ultra II 1 GB CompaceFlash card was my choice (faster and cheaper than the Lexar alternatives I found), and has turned out to be a very happy one.

The only caution for those buying memory for use with the Sony DSP F828 is that its 640 x 480 movie mode is limited to 15 FPS with this memory card, whereas it can do 30 FPS with a MemoryStickPro or a Hitachi CompactFlash hard disk (the other two kinds of memory usable in this camera.) Personally, I don't see this as much of a problem, because if that matters to you, you'll need a lot more than 1 GB of memory. 5 minutes of 640 x 480 at 15 FPS used over 100 MB of memory, suggesting 30 FPS would use up 1 GB in under 25 minutes.

I received this wonderful product as a gift during the holidays. I absolutely LOVE it. If you own a digital camera, this _IS_ the card to use. Lots of room, and fast. I was shocked.
I used this card in a 5 MegaPixel camera, a 3.2 MegaPixel, and a 2.1 MegaPixel. The same results between all three cameras - fast, fast, FAST!
If you need to transfer a ton of files between two computers using a card reader, you'll be glad you've got this card.

This card works perfectly in my 8 megapixel Olympus C-8080 digital camera.

At the camera's highest resolution setting of 3264x2448 pixels with minimal JPEG compression (SHQ in Olympus terminology), I am able to shoot and store 130 pictures. This is approximately 3.9MB per image on average.

At 640x480 pixels with 'normal' JPEG compression, this xD card fits 5324 pictures. It's also very fast and well worth the money and convenience.

I also have the 256MB xD card as a bsckup in case I fill up the entire 512MB xD card before downloading the images to my laptop PC.

In my Fuji F700 camera this card will hold 343 6mp images, and almost twice that at 3.2mp. Can't wait to take my camera on vacation this summer. The nice thing about such a large card is you absolutely never feel like taking a picture would be a waste of space. It'll also hold (not at the same time obviously) about 7-1/2 minutes of 640x480 video with sound.

Transfer rates are blisteringly fast, too. And since the F700 comes with a docking station, I doubt I'll ever have to take the card out.

I use it for my 8 MP digital camera, and I'm pleased with how quickly it receives image data. Its miniscule size is both an advantage & disadvantage: so small it's easy to lose, but it's equivalent to 4 rolls of 36 exposure 35mm film.

This is my first Compact Flash purchase outside of the CF card that came with my Kodak DC215 Zoom camera. I can get 115 pictures with this size CF card, at the highest quality and largest size -- that alone pleases me much. I should note to other first timers that you may need to format the card when you first pop it in your camera. The card otherwise has given me no problems.

This isn't the first Viking Components memory card that I've bought... and it certainly will not be the last! I purchased this card for my new Panasonic PV-DC2090 Palm Cam... it is the perfect addition for the second card slot. I was pleased with the amount of storage capacity for the price... nearly twice as much for the same price as other brands. I've never had any problems with any of the Viking products I've used. Viking always comes through with Superior Quality at the BEST price. The bottom line - this is a great deal!

I got this card free when I purchased the Kodak DX4900 - no problems at all.

Good points:
-1 touch backup -- everything's automated. You just hit 'backup' to backup your ENTIRE handheld, or 'restore' to restore your ENTIRE handheld and it's done. No worrying about compatibility conflicts. You may have apps that may not be compatible with your Visor, but it wouldn't affect the function of the backup module
-It's thorough -- EVERYTHING gets backed up, including but not limited to all PIM data (can't speak for outlook users, as I don't use it, but my guess is that that's also covered), various settings in the "pref" icon, applications, as well as all its data. Examples include your ToDo entries, entries you've made in Bankbook3 (banking software), and even your saved game sessions and high scores from games like Space Trader and SubHunt (for the games part, hotsyncing only restores the actual game only. You'll need to start all over from scratch).
-Works right out of the box -- no extra drivers or updates are required. It's true plug and play just like the vast majority of Springboard modules
-Has limited but nice user error checks -- the only ones I know of are:
>being able to recognize that it (the module) is working with a different handheld/user, so you won't accidentally wipe out your (or someone else's) data on the Visor or backup module.
>being able to recognize that your request to backup stuff is much smaller (like files are missing) than what's already backed up. Good example to illustrate this would be when I deleted whole categories of bank records I didn't need anymore. Before the backup started, it ran a warning that I'll be losing a lot of info on the module if I went through. Deleting all the info was purposely done, but it's still nice to see such checks take place to safeguard your data.
-Fast restores -- Despite the slow backup process (described below), restoring takes considerably less time.
-I've had mine for over 3.5 years, since I had my Visor, and switched to my Visor Neo over 1.5 years ago. I haven't done a lot of restores, but it has been just as reliable, if not more as Palm Desktop and my handhelds.

Bad points:
-Backups are relatively slow -- I have about 5.9MB of used memory on my handheld, and each backup session takes almost 4 minutes. This figure is better on the Original Visor or other Visors with less used memory, but it's still going to be pretty slow compared to hotsyncing. Some of you may replace hotsyncing with backup modules for various reasons, but I'll bet that you won't be backing up on the module that liberally. This takes much more patience, not to mention more battery power.
-All or nothing -- Mentioned in another review as well. Restoring/backing up the whole handheld is generally the ideal thing you want, but suppose you accidentally delete an app, or it'd be easier to just restore an old version of some set of records rather than manually undoing everything. You'll get those modifications you done to be undone, but so will everything else you've done since that time, like new appointments you set up or new phone numbers you recorded since then.
-Kinda bulky -- In the age of high capacity SD/MMC cards and DVD +/- R/RWs, one would scoff to see only 8MBs in such a plastic cartridge. There aren't many other backup modules for Handspring though, and the smaller SD cards mean u just lose them easier.

WHO SHOULD BUY THIS?
-People on the road, going through extended periods of time without having access to a laptop or desktop to synchronize their info
-People who have, foresee, or are worried of their desktop AND handheld crashing. (For me, it was using Win98 SE, loading a bunch of 3rd party games and apps, and having to reset both of them often)
-People who find forty to sixty-five dollars a small price to pay for losing extremely critical data
-People who REALLY want to keep their high scores (expansion flash memory cards are another alternative)

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
-Unless you're handheld is constantly bugging out (in which case you should consider getting a new unit that's more stable), than it'd be wise to keep that and the module apart for as much as possible. Specifically, if you're out on the road and keep the module plugged in, you'll be defeating the purpose of utilizing a backup module if your handheld (and the backup that's plugged into it) gets stolen, lost, or falls into a wishing fountain and shorts out everything. Technically you >could< restore from you're desktop, but the whole idea of having a backup is so that we wouldn't have to place all our trust in our desktop AND handheld right?
-If you feel you have a solid, stable PC and/or handheld, then you could easily get away with making backups every 2 weeks or once a week. If you just added a lot of important data to your handheld, then backup right away. Otherwise don't bother. The slow backup process will seem much less painful if you cut down on the number of backups you need to perform.

-Obviously, apps and files only on plugged in expansion cards aren't backed up, but those files on expansion cards would be backed up already in the case that you lose handheld and desktop information.
-In case it's not mentioned, this product has 8MB of memory, so it'll work for every type of Visor handheld except for the Visor Pro. For original Visor users, you don't get to save 2 - 4 profiles on there. Only one just like the rest of us.

Look, you know you need this if you own a Visor. Just buy it already and give yourself some peace of mind.

Here's my testimonial: I bought the backup module nearly a year ago and never had to use its restore function. I would just back up every week or so and go about my business. Then I cracked the screen on my Visor somehow and couldn't use the stylus for any data entry. Handspring sent me a replacement Visor (for $85 and they shipped it the next day) and I simply plugged in the backup module and I was back on track without missing a beat. I keep a ton of applications (Pocket Quicken, Dietlog, Fitsync, Noah Lite Dictionary, Avantgo, Vindigo, etc.) on my Visor and thankfully I didn't have to reinstall any of the software.

The convenience of the backup module means I will probably remain loyal to Handspring for the duration, especially if I ever upgrade from my Visor Deluxe to the Edge or Prism. Transferring all of my stuff from one Visor to another was simply a breeze with this backup module.

very helpful. When you're on the road and have to hard reset (happened to me), this is a life saver.

I have a PC in home with Windows 2000 and another in office with Office XP. The reader works fine in Windows XP, it works like another drive. But I had problems using it in Windows 2000, the driver generated an error, I contacted Simpletech Service by e-mail and recieved excellent service, they guided me to correct the problem, unfortunately, it was not possible to do that reader works, now i will upgrade to Win XP in home.

Fast, easy, and simple to use. I bought this along the a Simpletech 64mb SD card from Amazon for my m515 and they work perfectly. Get it and notice almost zero transfer time from file to card.

Hard to find, but this is the one you need for your new Minolta Dimage X and other devices using the new, smaller memory card. It also is known as the "mini FlashLink".
Good deal, REAL FAST, and shipping from Office Depot exceeded all expectations.

I needed a card reader for the proprietary XD memory used in my digital camera so I bought this reader. It is a great value for this price because it reads 8 different formats of memory cards. Great if you use several formats of memory cards or have friends with other cards.

It hooks up via a USB docking station and is backward compatible with the older USB standard. It also comes with a short USB connector if you do not want to carry around the docking station. It just plugs and plays in Windows XP. It creates 4 removable disks in my computer for each memory format because there is 4 slots and each slot fits 2 different memory formats. This makes it possible to move data from one format to another very easily with some obvious limitations.

Overall a Keeper

In my opinion this is the best memory card reader you could get. The price at Amazon is a good deal, plus with the free shipping you won't make a mistake. Here is the summary:

Pros:
1. It looks elegant. The colour combination of silver and black makes it look like a serious tool you could display even in an office environment.
2. Comes with a bonus stand to enable the display at an upright position. Saves space in a cluttered environment.
3. Comes with another USB cable to you could position it horizontally (flat) on a table. You will have to keep the stand, in this case.
4. USB 2.0 speed which means faster transfer speed.
5. No drivers needed if you use the latest Windows XP or Mac OS X operating system. I use the Mac and there is nothing to install.
6. 8 in 1 memory card reader. Try finding that in othe products at that price and design. You connect as much memory cards that could fill the slot and they will appear individually in your desktop. This means you can transfer files between memory cards without having to transfer and use your desktop as a holding place.
7. Each slot has its own individual lights to indicate correct installation and file activity transfer.
8. Light and portable.

Cons:
1. Light - plastic construction. Feels fragile, but I guess SanDisk knows better on making it sturdy.
2. The cable for the bonus stand is long, but the extra cable supplied to lay the product flat is short - and I mean short! This is a plus for those who bring this with their portable computers and don't need the extra long cable. A big minus for those who wish to forego the stand, but decide to use with their desktop on a desk. You will need to connect it to a hub if your USB plug is nowhere close.

All in all a great buy for the price.

I got this reader to read my Compact Flash, IBM Microdrive, Secure Digital, and XD cards. I've had it for a few months now and it has transfered all my image and video files from all my cards without any trouble at all.

The nice thing also is that it doesn't require any drivers - just plug it in and it's ready to go. Has lots of pretty LED lights too!

It adds 4 drive letters to your computer. Unfortunately they only have generic names ("Removable Disk" in WinXP). The manual tells you which slot each drive letter refers to, though. It also came with some bundled software (Adobe Photoshop Album) but I haven't tried it.

The docking base has a cable that is approximately 42 inches long. It also comes with a USB cable that's like 3 inches so you can hook up the reader to a laptop without using the docking base.

It's definitely a very handy reader. The fact that it can read 8 types of cards seemed like overkill to me at first, but when I got a new camera that required Secure Digital cards, I was relieved that I didn't have to purchase an extra card reader.

Kingston - very fast and reliable service. Shipped right away 2 day shiping was free.

I have two of these cards, and use them primarily in a Canon 10D digital SLR camera. I have had absolutely no problems, either writing data to them or extracting files later. The medium capacity card is very convenient for most digital camera users. For the Canon 10D, a 6 mega pixel camera, maximum JPEG file size at the highest quality setting averages about 2.5MB, and typically about 90 images can be saved to the card. Using the card in a lower resolution digital point and shoot camera, capacity would of course be many times greater.

The card performs reasonably well even when taking a series of images in rapid succession, say four or five in two second interval. With a digital point and shoot camera, transfer speed should not be an issue. Kingston's reliable, competitively priced card should meet the needs of most users.

I purchased this card @ Dell with rebates for less than tearty backs (errors on purpose). So far, it works flawlessly. It reaches close to 1MB/s read rate when used with USB 1.1 card reader. Dpreview.com tested this card with Firewire CF reader and it read data at rate of over 4MB/s.

Highly recommended as all Kingston products. I am thinking about buying another 256MB from Viking to use as "spare tire" since I shoot at highest resolution and best quality with my A70. I can fit around 170 pictures (JPEG) on 256MB CF card.

Additionally, CF card with reader can be used like floppy except its capacity surpasses 1.44MB by a lot.