Memory cards are one of those things you just cant live without in today?s world.
To that end, we at MSMobileNews present:
THE SANDISK MEMORY ROUNDUP
Why Sandisk you ask? Well, for my money at least, Sandisk products have a tendency to perform flawlessly, be compatible with pretty much everything and with a 5 year warranty on all their memory cards, you can?t go wrong. In fact the only thing I don?t like about Sandisk products is how infuriatingly difficult it is to open the packaging!
Enough about the why, how about the what? Well, the lovely people at Sandisk sent us over the current ?standard? of Smartphone memory, a MiniSD, the possible future of Smartphone memory, a MicroSD and a great little accessory for hooking these babies up to your computer with ease, a MobileMate card reader.
?Over 60% smaller than a full-size SD card?
We?ll kick off with the MiniSD, a format I?m sure the majority of you out there are familiar with. At the time I received this little bundle of goodies, Sandisk?s 1GB MiniSD wasn?t yet officially available in the UK so they sent over a 512MB instead. However, the 512MB card is probably your best option if you want a good trade-off between price and size. For example, a 512 can store TomTom Mobile 5 and the Great Britain Plus map and still leave you with over 250MB free for music/apps/movies while also being quite cheap. Now some of you out there may argue that you can get generic cards cheaper still but what happens if it doesn?t work in your device and what happens four and half years down the road when it packs up? Will they fix it for you? Nope. Sandisk will though, as you?ll still be under warranty. The other nice thing about Sandisk miniSDs is that they come with a full size SD adapter, so it can be used in your PC/Laptop card reader, digital camera, PocketPC etc.
?The future??
Sandisk recently (July) added SD security to their little known TransFlash format and renamed it to MicroSD. What is MicroSD I hear you ask? Well, I can sum that up in one word, tiny! Seriously, I know the world is slowly getting miniaturised but this is just incredible. When I first held one in my hand I couldn?t believe it. MicroSD is:
?...an ultra small, semi-removable flash memory module based on the miniSD card and TriFlash designs for future mobile phone products, especially the transfer of personal content between microSD/TransFlash-enabled phones.?
Erm?semi-removable?
?Due to the ultra small size of the product, it is not intended to be handled or removed on a frequent basis.?
That may sound like overkill but when you actually handle one of these you?ll understand why. These beauties are wafer thin, 1mm to be exact, are 15mm long and 11mm wide. That?s about half the size of a sim card!! What?s even more amazing is that not only do they expect to have a 1GB version by the end of the year but a 2GB version some time in 2006! The only known Smartphone to currently adopt this format of memory is the Samsung i300 (stay tuned for a review of that soon). I would say I?d love to see this format used in all future WM devices but do we really need another format to contend with? They do come with a full-size SD adaptor but Sandisk currently have no plans to make a MiniSD adaptor which, when you think about it, would be quite handy.
?Ideal for memory-enabled mobile phone users and photo travel needs?
Finally we come to Sandisk?s MobileMate SD+ 5-in-1 reader. Now, adaptors are all well and good, but there?s nothing like being able to pull the memory card out of your device and put it straight into your reader and that?s what the MobileMate lets you do. This is a great little device that can read SD, MiniSD, MicroSD, MMC and RS-MMC all in a package that?s about the size of a lighter! It?s USB 2.0 compatible and even comes with two different USB covers; one to attach the MobileMate to your keys and one to clip it onto your belt. Personally, I wouldn?t use either. I?d be too worried about loosing the reader and being left with the cover even though it does have quite a snug fit. The only problem I have with this reader is that it doesn?t install itself as USB mass storage i.e. you can?t just plug it into a computer and start using it, which is a real shame. This aside, it?s still a pretty impressive little device. I can?t think of any other readers out there that will take all the SD formats without the need for an adaptor.
As you might be able to tell, I?m quite a fan of Sandisk?s products. I've been using them for a fair few years and have never had any problems. Whenever I?m asked to recommend memory cards, I always tell people to go for Sandisk as I know they won?t be disappointed.
For more information on Sandisk?s products, go HERE
nedge2k
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