2GB Kingston SD Card

[handicap18]

Saw in today's advertisments that quite a few places have the SanDisk 1GB card on deal for $19.99 after the INSTANT rebate. So before I loaded the kids into the car and make an extra stop to pick one up I did a little internet shopping and ended up finding at newegg.com the Kingston 2GB with a mini card reader (throw in little toy) for $19.99! I just ordered one. I don't know how long they'll last, but at this price if you have a camera or other device that takes SD cards, this is on heck of a deal. Thought it was my responsibilty as a fine upstanding DISer to pass this info along.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820134080

 

[Groucho]

Good deal...

If someone is actively looking for more memory cards, I'd get on buy.com's mailing list, too. Recently they had a 2g SD card for free after rebate, and since then a 1g SD card free after rebate. A few weeks ago, I got a 1g USB drive for free after rebate. There are some great deals out there.

 

[DebºoºS]

Sounds good. I just bought 2 SanDisk Ultra II 2GB from Amazon for 39.99ea w/ free S&H. 1GB was 29.99. I thought it was a great price. Hmmm maybe not. Oh well, I'll get on the buy.com list and save more next time. Thanx for the tips.

 

[Lachesis00]

I would do the 2 SanDisk Ultra II 2GB over a Kingston, just because I have had excellent luck with Sandisks. I've been using the Kingstons lately with no problems but the one I have doesn't seem to record as fast to the memory card when shooting in high speed.

Thanks for passing the deals along. I am guessing newegg is a good place to buy from?

Sounds good. I just bought 2 SanDisk Ultra II 2GB from Amazon for 39.99ea w/ free S&H. 1GB was 29.99. I thought it was a great price. Hmmm maybe not. Oh well, I'll get on the buy.com list and save more next time. Thanx for the tips.

 

[Groucho]

I would do the 2 SanDisk Ultra II 2GB over a Kingston, just because I have had excellent luck with Sandisks. I've been using the Kingstons lately with no problems but the one I have doesn't seem to record as fast to the memory card when shooting in high speed.

You can check around to see if you can find the write speed of your camera. The Sandisk Ultra 2s are not particularly fast compared to the high-speed cards from most places - just about any 133x/150x card should write faster. If the Kingston is not marked as a high-speed one, it's probably similar or less.

Anyway, if the write speed of your camera is slower than even the slower cards (which is quite likely), then you should see any difference. Never underestimate the amount that your brain can skew what you're actually seeing... if you're expecting one card to be slower, it will probably appear that way. That's why double-blind tests are so important...

Thanks for passing the deals along. I am guessing newegg is a good place to buy from?

NewEgg is extremely reputable. They don't always have the best prices (especially since very few items have free shipping any more) but they are terrific to deal with and are one of (if not the) most respected online vendors for PC hardware.

One thing that's a little weird about them is they give you the option to pay an extra $3 for "rush processing" - don't bother, usually orders ship the same day anyway.

 

[handicap18]

In the little more than 1 year that I've had my dSLR (just under 5,000 shutter clicks) I have not come across a time where I thought I need the faster write speed. Currently I have 2 SanDisk 1GB cards, 1 SanDisk 2GB card, 1 Viking 1GB and 1 Kingston 1GB. I actually get 4 more (at least at the start) images on the Viking and Kingston than I do on the SanDisk. In the end its probably about the same. So IMO I see no reason to pay extra for the Ultra/faster cards that are about twice the price for the same amount of GB's. You might be able to transfer the images a bit faster from the card to the computer, but is 1 minute of time you save worth paying the extra money for? I don't think so. If you have a camera that does video and you use it a lot for video then having the faster cards is probably worth it.

I have yet to fill the buffer while taking pictures and I've also had no issues at all with any of my cards. So I'll stay away from the higher priced cards until further notice. Just my $0.05 worth (gutta account for inflation these days, $0.02 isn't what it used to be )

 

[tinksdad]

I've found that a higher write speed cards aren't particularly affected by the camera as much as the download speed to your computer. If you are using a high speed reader with USB II or Firewire, then the speeds can really make a difference (especially if the reader is optimized for the card, read same manufacture). If the USB is the older version, it will take longer.
That doesn't mean that the old 40 speed card will give you the same performance as the new 120. Just my observations.

I've also noticed that you get much faster transfers using a reader than from the camera, especially with large RAW files.

The main hold up at the camera is the buffer in the camera. The smaller P&S just don't have the horsepower to push the shot through to the card that fast.

 

[Groucho]

The higher write speed is really what you're paying for with the very expensive cards. The Sandisk Ultra 3 and one or two others can write at 20m/sec, which is faster than most of the 133x/150x cards.

However, the read speed of the 133x/150x cards (which is what you see when downloading them to your computer via SD carder) is usually more than double that of the Sandisk Ultra 2s.

Some kind of SD reader is definitely the way to go, especially for those Canons that don't behave like a simple external drive when hooked in via USB, but make you use special software to download the photos. You can get them pretty cheap, I got one free after rebate and my sister-in-law just got one bundled with a 2g SD card for $20 after rebate.

 

[handicap18]

Got my Kingston 2GB card the other day. Works great in the camera with no problem. I will say that for the price it is more than definately worth it if your camera uses SD cards. It also comes with a mini card reader that will read SD cards. I put no stock into this when I purchased this card, however now that I've received it and the reader, I've decided that this deal has added value. The card reader is the perfect size to fit into a camera bag to always have with you. If you happen to be out you can use this reader on any computer with a USB slot. Nice little tool to have in the bag. Many new computers now have card readers built into them or you can buy some that are 12-1 readers that while are not huge do take up some extra room and have a wire attached. This reader is tiny and no wire. Very nice little surprise. I may never use it, but its there if I need it in my bag.

 

[DebºoºS]

Got my 2GB Sandisk Ultras today Had to load em up raw. Took a couple of shots and then downloaded. Not 2GB worth of pics of course so it really wasn't a true test but everything worked perfectly.

We've been ordering hardware from newegg for years and have never had a problem.

Doin the happy dance nowD200 w/18-200vr all set up ready to shoot!