Memory-Card Reviews

01-27-03:
You can get the USB 2.0 version for 59.99 at CompUsa and many other places. So spending 62 bucks for the older slower technology is just silly. USB 2.0 is 10-40 times faster.

Got this from my friend who payed about $20 for it and then upgraded to USB2 so he gave me the "old" one.
It's great! I never installed any drivers! right away I used it constantly to move files from my PC to my PDA, mp3s, e-books, etc. Since a computer just detects it as a removable USB drive, you can use it anywhere with almost any machine.
I used it with SD, CF and Memory Sticks, on a Win2k machine and a Linux box.

Those "all-in-one" deals are okay, but who wants 6 "Removable Drives" popping up every time you plug it in??? yech.

On the downside:
This is obviously way overpriced. I suggest buying it elsewhere.
And I suppose if you really want to shuffle files directly between cards, this one isn't for you.
Note: Never try to format a Memory Stick from your PC using this card reader. Now that adapter doesn't work anymore. :( (but the rest do :) )

'Professor' from Pittsburg said that CompUSA sells a USB2 version, so I went to the store and checked. Unfortunately, what I found was a USB2 version that comes in a rectangular box (with multiple slots) about 2.5 times bigger. For desktop use, that's probably alright, but the FlashGO is small enough to tote around -- fits right in your shirt pocket! The transfer speed is really not that dismal; beats using a Zip-drive any day. Very reliable, works everytime it's plugged into a computer.

Even for a 3.34 megapixel point-and-shoot digital camera (e.g. Nikon 990), this 96MB card isn't overkill, considering when each image is about 1MB at 2048x1536 at highest JPEG quality. Uncompressed TIFF files are 9MB _each_, although they're painfully slow to save. So, I bought two, and I'm thinking about getting a third one for longer trips.

I now have 3 SanDisk CF cards that I use between digital cameras and a Windows Pocket PC. The oldest (15 MB) is well over 4 years old and I've found them all to be reliable and worked in a broad variety of cameras, readers, and PC Card laptops.

With my 2 Mpixel camera set to uncompressed TIFF, each shot takes 5MB, so I bought a second 96MB card.

Complaints? make 'em cheaper and faster (a 5MB write takes a l-o-n-g time).

is there such a thing as too much memory? i think not. this product deserves more than one star. san disk has a great reputation and i've never had problems with any of their flash memory. if you don't need that much memory, get a smaller capacity card.

Ok, if you are interested in this product, I'll assume that you already own a Rio, so I guess I can't try to talk you out of that.

GOOD - Small, easy to carry around, cheap compared to OTHER flash memory manufacturers.

BAD - Expensive compared to CD-R, MD, etc.

UGLY - Bad memory clusters will cause skips over time.

Basically, if you have a Rio, and need more memory, this is the stuff to buy. Don't try and find Camera flash cards, and figure out how to use them in your Rio. That would not only be a nuscence, but also would end up costing you more. If you don't own a Rio, and are considering buying one, take a look at my reviews of the PMP300 and the PMP500.

- E-Mail me at nairos@home.com if you have any questions -

Even though the 16mb disk adds more memory i would personaly try the 32mb disk for optmum expansion

This mp3 player is the ultimate in portable music players. The only thing bad about it is that there is only 32MB on memory in it. Also the flash memory cards are not that easy to get ahold of from where I'm at. And I believe that this item should be shipped anywhere in North America, not just the U.S!

I bought this camera in 2002, about 2 months after my son was born. Within the 2 years we have had the camera it has been in the shop 3 times, the 3rd time just last week. The problem is when we fold out the LCD to take some video there is no picture, if you flip the LCD monitor over to the front the picture will work fine, but flip it back to normal and there is no picture. It takes great video when it's working and now that I have XP it works great uploading video to the computer. Unfortunately it has been in the shop about half the time we have owned it. I'm waiting for it to come back and stop working again so I can trade it in under Best Buy's warranty.

I've had this camcorder for a two years now. Gotta say that it works very well. It has good focus even when you're at max zoom, but when you're zoomed in that much, you need to put the camcorder on a tripod, otherwise the recording will be very shaky.

The one feature that I don't like about the camcorder is the Night Alive technology for shooting during nightime. You get a golden/yellow picture and things get really blurry as the target moves. It's really annoying and I NEVER use it. So if you're looking for a camcorder that will give you great night time recording, don't get this one. Get something with an infrared emitter, it will let you shoot good video even with NO light present.

JVC products have always been a favorite of mine and have always proven to have outstanding products. the JVC GRDVL720U is no exception. This Camera is inexpensive, and has all the bells and whistles you could ask for from a lower-end camcorder. You can transfer Digital Video to your PC by Firewire, and easily transfer Digital Stills through USB. Great quality and design. The unit fits in your hand with all buttons readily available.

Do your homework before buying. Make sure it will work with your computer. I received a reply two weeks later from SimpleTech after contacting them twice that it would not work and to return for a refund. It is not that simple.

One must do his or her homework before buying or installing additional memory into a computer.
1) Consult your PC/motherboard manual and make sure that what you are buying is in fact right type of memory for your PC.
Things to watch for are memory type, bus clock speed, and max size of memory supported by the slot. Don't buy a 512Mb memory for slot that supports only 256.
2) Before you install memory into computer ground yourself! Don't go rubbing your feet on that polyester rug of yours so that there's a little ark emitted everytime you touch something.

Should you follow these 2 rules there will be no problems with upgrading memory, otherwise, blame no one but yourself.

No complaints about this purchase. I upgraded a 256MB Dell desktop to 512MB for very little money.

I've noticed improved performance with little effect on my wallet.

A great product!

If I had to buy it again, I would have opted for the more expensive rugged connection. I don't know how long this cheap little plug will. Other than the card is excellent - and seems to have a low power consumption.

Worked correctly on my Sharp Zaurus with no configuration required. I just plug it in (or unplug it) and the built-in software does the rest.

This is an excellent product. I have used it successfully to connect to 2 networks, I have also installed a thin client and used it to connect to a Citrix server. A lot of people complain that it is difficult to remove from the Jornada. My response to that is, once you have it in, why in the world would you ever want to remove it. Does this sound like a review for the Jornada?

I recieved the WRONG PART even though I supplied the proper part no. and make of computer. wasted 12 hours tring to make it work. When I complained, Viking said,, OH WE SENT THE WRONG PART. Even though THEY WERE AT FAULT I had to pay return shipping and go to the hassel of returning the part.Then had to wait A WEEK to recieve the proper part. When I complained to AMAZON.COM.. I was told that I would have to work it out with Viking.I DIDN'T PURCHASE IT FROM VIKING.I probably will not buy from you people again.dpacesr@aol.com

I was surprised when suggested I install the Viking 128MB PC100 DIMM on my own computer. A screwdriver was all I needed. The helpful support assured I disconnected power supply to my PC and placed the new added memory component gently in the designated slot. I found more interest with computers in seeing the benefits of assisting with my own upgrade.
I didn't even know what PC100 DIMM had to to do with memory. I'm happy with the product.

My Compaq is running absolutely marvelous right now... thanks for the help on finding out what exactly I needed to order. :)

I left this compact flash card in my jacket pocket by mistake and WASHED THE JACKET IN MY WASHING MACHINE. As I was unloading the washer, I saw it at the bottom of the washer....I immediately wiped it off and put it back in my camera...hoping it was ok. ALL 133 photos were STILL THERE!!!

Worth every penny!

I have used it multiple times in a single day, and it produces great results without fail.

The previous reviewers seem a little confused. It's a type I card, works the same as any other type I card. You can pay extra for a high speed card, but this one runs the same speed as any other standard speed card. Doesn't seem fair to me to post a review without understanding the product, or to compare to products in a different price range.

Easy to use and install until you upgrade to Windows XP. Program can't be removed after upgrade and and there is no driver from SanDisk to support XP. Consider Microtech Zio.

This reader worked in Windows XP for me! I just plugged it into my USB hub and it was recognized as a drive. I did not load the installation disk, like some others have done. It's using XP's native drivers.

Though it's documentation is third world, installation was so easy, I didn't deduct points. I popped in the CD, clicked "English," then the correct Multimedia card image (the one, perhaps. tricky, point) and 15 seconds latter, I was rebooting. When I came back up, the lights on my now-USB-connected drive, indicated success and my 64 MB card (which effortlessly slipped in and out of the slot), was recognized as a new drive. File manipulation is easy; just pay attention to using the proper file-tree protocol, so the hand-held recognizes where the files are.

I purchased a new Sharp VLZ-5U in January. The camera is very ergonomically designed and relatively easy to use. Auto-focus is consistent, playback and record controls are well layed out, and overall image quality is reasonable. Low light image quality is very grainy, but this is common in many comparably cameras. Camera fades to white instead of black, which I can't stand, and you can't turn off.

My biggest gripe is that the camera developed a mechanical ticking sound during playback and record after about 4 months that is loud enough to record on the tape at an annoyingly high level. The sound depends strongly on what position the camera is held, but is unfortunately worst when held in the normal video shooting position. I tried different tapes, retensioning the tapes, and checked online for solutions, all to no avail.

I finally sent the camera to one of Sharp's recommended warranty centers (Sharp does not accept the cameras back directly, so you MUST use one of thier 3rd-party providers for warranty service) including a detailed description of the problem, only to find that Sharp's warranty is one year on parts but only 90 days on labor. They wanted $172.50 flat rate before even looking at the camera (even if the repair took only 5 minutes!), and they only warranty the repair for 90 days.

I also have reservations about servicing these cameras in non-factory conditions; I have this nagging feeling that once a camera like this needs major work it will never be the same...

Given the problem that this camera developed early on, the high and inflexible service costs, and unacceptably short warranty perion on both the original camera and rework, I am going to junk the VLZ-5U, give a vote of no confidence to Sharp camcorders, and buy a Canon or Sony.

This camcorder seems to work fairly well doing its main task (recording video), but mine seems to have a few bugs. I'm not sure if something is wrong with it or that's just the way it is. When trying to set options in the menu, the menu will sometimes disappear without warning. I've checked to make sure I'm not accidently hitting any button to make it disappear and so far it looks like it does it on its own. I've also had the unit say the memory card is full when trying to take a still image and the card has maybe 1MB of 8MB used when I plug it into the computer to download (also it says on the screen I have about 48 or so images worth of space left).
One thing that really annoys me right now is trying to get the DV (IEEE1394) port to work with my PC. When I plug the unit into my PC it doesn't detect the device in any way (doesn't show up under connected hardware). It also does the same thing on my Powerbook G4.
I called Sharp's tech support and the person I talked to said they don't support that port and wouldn't offer any other advice on it. I don't understand how you put a port on a device and don't support it. I later find out that this camcorder isn't on the list of supported camcorders for iMovies (the Mac software) right now and I can't find any support under Ulead's software either. So is there support for this port on this camcorder anywhere?

I had a sharp viewcam before, the vlnz100 and it was the worst piece of electronics I have ever owned. After a year I couldnt take it anymore and called sharp corporate who helped me by sending me this new camera the VLZ5u. So far this camera has been great. Super small design which I love, takes good video, decent still pics. I use it along with my Apple iMac computer and the iMovie program to create great professional style movies. As one of the other reviews says, the camera is not on the official Apple list of supported cameras, but I have had no problem yet with it. All and all, a good buy!