Memory-Card Reviews

I received this memory/wifi card as a wedding gift last year so that I could use it with my Compaq iPAQ 3765. It installed properly on the iPAQ as well as my Toshiba laptop. I have never had a problem connecting to my Linksys WRT54G 802.11g/b router. The installation process itself was pretty straightforward and simple.

Now, I did have a problem installing it onto my new HP iPAQ 2215, which I purchased a week ago. The PocketPC 2002 driver included with the card will not work with Windows Mobile 2003 for PocketPC. SanDisk does have the 2003 drivers on their website, but as someone mentioned, there is no user guide to aid you with the new driver. After trying several times to install the card, I had to perform a hard reset and installed the card before installing anything else and setting up my activesync partnership.

The other thing I do not like about this card as someone mentioned, is that with Windows Mobile 2003, you cannot turn off the wi-fi part of the card and just access the flash memory. This will drain more battery power from my iPAQ than I would like. Hopefully, SanDisk will resolve this issue.

Other than that,this wi-fi card has been working great for me. I actually just used it in New York City and was able to locate several access points at Chelsea Piers on the West Side and access the internet. Overall, a good product in my opinion with a couple of flaws.

I've had this card for a couple of weeks now. I did a lot of review reading before I got it and thought I'd add my 2 cents now. The card installed fine on my iPAQ 2215. Just make sure you go to the Sandisk website and get the right drivers 1st. Don't use the ones on the CD. The only thing I would like to see is some more advanced network tools. Otherwise, no complaints!

this thing is great i have a ipaq 3600 and it works wonders and i have no problems at all i love it i had a linksys WCF12 but it never worked right so i bought this and it was less and way better the built in 128mb is great why would you buy the others when this is the same price and you get 128mb space

I use a 512MB Sandisk CF card in my Canon S45 camera. I put several pictures on the card, of varying sizes and qualities. None of them displayed onscreen, and even the Preview option showed a sort of colored fuzzed-out picture instead of a thumbnail view. This is the biggest piece of junk I have ever used, thank goodness it was free. I wonder why, they're probably unloading them, or the free ones are all secretly 'refurbished' or something. Shame on Amazon.

Got this "free" from Amazon recently, when I bought a Sandisk CompactFlash card. As some of the other reviews said, it was easy to hook up and worked great right out of the box. However, after using it a bit more, I have come up with a couple small issues. (NOTE: I have a Canon Digital Rebel 6.3MP camera and usually shoot large JPEGs.)

- The memory card reader is relatively slow at reading the large files generated by the camera. The JPEG files from the Digital Rebel are typically between 4 and 6 MB and they can take 10-15 seconds to display. This isn't much a problem during a slide show, but when you want to jump ahead it makes it difficult because the device seems like it isn't responding. You'd think with Sandisk being the current king of fast flash, that the reader would be quicker.

- The card reader cannot (or will not) read files larger than 5.3MB. You get an error on the screen saying as much, if you try. My pictures aren't typically this big, but depending the picture they can be, which is even more irritating because some pictures from a given card will show up while others won't.

- Another warning for those that use high quality digital SLRs etc, is that this camera reads ONLY JPEG files. It does not display RAW files, nor can it extract the embedded JPEGs. Of course, I didn't expect it to do so, but this may not be clear to other potential buyers.

Obviously, I could shoot lower quality (but if I spend that much on a camera, why would I?) or I could convert the images to smaller files on the PC (but this eliminates the ease of use factor). I think if I had paid for this product rather than receiving it free, the above issues might give enough reason for me to return it.

I just love this nifty little gizmo! The set-up is extremely easy-just plug it in and all necessary cables are provided. Then you just plug in your flash card (or flash stick or other-it takes several kinds) and you are now viewing your digital images on your own television! Instead of everyone standing around your small computer screen, you can see your images on your large TV screen.

You can either let the images run via the slide show, or take control and move through your images at your own pace. The remote lets you rotate pictures, and even niftier--it lets you zoom in. The zoom in feature keep the image clear.

The best feature is that you can pack this gizmo up and take it with you. We just returned from an Alaskan cruise (with a ton of digital pictures). So I took this viewer over to my parents, plugged it into their TV and they were able to see all our pictures while sitting back in their easy chairs. No photo's to pass around and around--just sit back in comfort and enjoy!

I would highly recommend this product--it's great!

I have been using a 64 MB SanDisk SmartMedia card in one Olympus D-520 2 MP digital camera for about 7 months, and another 128 MB SanDisk SmartMedia card in a second Olympus D-520 for about 10 months. Both have worked just fine. Have taken probably around 2,000 photos on the 128 MB card with no problems. We read the images directly from the D-520 through USB to iPhoto on an Apple Power Mac dual G4 system, and usually erase the card contents immediately after downloading the images. Everything has worked fine and I plan to buy another 128 MB SmartMedia card shortly.

I have had this 128 meg SM card from SanDisk for over a year and have had no trouble with it. I use it in an Olympus 3040 camera and two different brands of card reader on two different computers, and I have had no problems at all.

I have moved data as well as pictures and Mpeg movies taken with the camera. I only wish I could get 256 meg cards, but I fear that the format has been superceded by the newer XD cards, so we'll probably see no further development with Smart Media.

I gave it 5 stars because it has done everything I have asked it to do with no problems for well over a year. I haven't bothered to time it, as all digital cameras are slow to me after 30 years of 35mm film cameras. Still waiting for digital cameras to catch up on many fronts, although picture quality is getting very close to 35mm. Digital is also extremely convenient and cost effective.

I accidently sent a SanDisk SmartMedia card (without a case) through my washing machine. Dryed it off and was amazed to see that it didn't lose any picture files. Several months later and the card is still working fine.

There have been many stories on the Internet about avoiding Sandisk Secure Digital cards because after using them for a short period of time, they became corrupted causing people to loose their pictures. I have a two month old 256MB Ultra II SD card that just bit the dust as well as causing me to loose everything on the card. I tried everything I could think of to revive the card, but it's stone cold dead. I've been shooting digital for nine years now and have several cameras, so I'm not a newbie. To Sandisk's credit, they are providing a prepaid FedEx label (though I still have to drive to the FedEx station), but I was told it would take 3-4 weeks before I received a new card. This is far too long to wait so I'll be looking at other brands before considering another Sandisk product.

I also have problems with this card. I used it in ZIO USB reader/writer and it didn't work. Then my camera started acting up, and finally card is not recognized in a Minolta camera. I will return it ASAP. BEWARE!

This card might be fast, but it DOES NOT WORK IN KODAK CAMERAS,
and probably others. I called KODAK, and they said it is not within spec. for digital cameras. Maybe other gear?
BEWARE ! ! If you have one, return it as defective to AMAZON.
They stand behind their products (but need to stop selling this one). Try the LEXAR 32X SD CARD from AMAZON. I hear it works.(mine will be here Monday)

I bought this (Sandisk 512 MB Secure Digital) in February and gave it to my mom as a gift in May. She used it in her digital camera and took pictures with it for her college reunion. Afterwards, the card displayed "Corrupt Data" and the pictures were lost! Do NOT buy this card, if you do not believe me, do a search for this card and you will see similar testimonials!
The grief and sadness this card has caused me is not worth its cheaper price!
user be warned!

by the way, the one i have is made in china, i have read these ones are the WORST

[Note: This review was originally posted on 20-Oct-2003 and contains an important update made on 29-Oct-2003! Be sure to read the entire review for details!]

SanDisk's 512MB SD card is by far the cheapest available. In most cases, the other cards are at least 50% more than this one.

I was curious about speed since SanDisk is known for being a bit on the slow side. This card was relatively newly released when I wanted it, so I was unable to find any good speed figures online. Therefore, I bought it anyway -- and ran the speed tests myself.

Testing on a Toshiba/AudioVox Genio e550G with Kai's Speed Test application, I ran the Write Test 5 times with the following results:
Trial #1: 263KB/Sec
Trial #2: 263KB/Sec
Trial #3: 181KB/Sec
Trial #4: 171KB/Sec
Trial #5: 196KB/Sec

Not very consistent, for some reason. I was not running any other applications at the time, so I am not sure why the fluctuation.

For comparison, here are the results using a Lexar 256MB SD card:
Trial #1: 263KB/Sec
Trial #2: 271KB/Sec
Trial #3: 279KB/Sec
Trial #4: 256KB/Sec
Trial #5: 256KB/Sec

So, at their best, the two cards seem quite comparable. It is just that the Lexar card is clearly more stable as far as speed fluctuations go.

In any case, I'm happy with it -- especially for the huge difference in price in most cases. Works for me. Plus, 5-year warranty -- just in case.

- John...

---UPDATE---
The fact that the card always performed well for the first two tests but then slowed and stayed slow until the device was reset was really bothering me, so I contacted SanDisk about it and gave them the same results that I shared here. SanDisk said that they thought the card was defective! I therefore had this card replaced (very quickly and easily by Amazon, I will add) and have just repeated my tests with the new card. Good news! The replacement card is usually faster and much more consistent than the original! It no longer slows down after the first two tests -- the results are repeatable at any time.

For comparison, here are the new figures for the 512MB SanDisk card:
Trial #1: 329KB/Sec
Trial #2: 263KB/Sec
Trial #3: 341KB/Sec
Trial #4: 279KB/Sec
Trial #5: 318KB/Sec

As you can see, the card is now performing at or above the speed of the 256MB Lexar that I had previously tested. I am now quite satisfied with this card -- it appears to be giving the same speeds or better than other cards well above this price range.

- John...

I placed my order on the 10th & got it 4 days later.
That was not what I expected. I wasn't scheduled to get till the 20th - 23rd.
Talk about speedy delivery.
Oh & the card works GREAT! Can't beat a 512MB SanDisk Card for $74.00.
I will sure be using Amazon again!

I use the one of this size and brand card that was included with my SanDisk cruzer reader. The card is extremely fast, and is extremely reliable. I also noticed that the SanDisk Cruzer worked a lot faster than my digital camera, so it's a good buy for a few extra bucks if you want to get that.

There are two reasons many people have had trouble with Sandisk SD cards.

First, the obvious, like any storage device, it must be formatted before use.

The reason SanDisk does not format the card in the factory, is likely due to the fact that it takes longer to manufacture that way. Second is that some items, such as some digital cameras, must reformat cards. There are also the issues of FAT16, FAT32, or VFAT (FAT32 with long filenames, etc.) Most PDAs would want VFAT, but many digital cameras can't handle it, and some even require the older DOS FAT16 format, as it is much easier to handle with small processors.

Additionally the SD card standard is designed that some devices will accept a maximum size, or only a certain size. Many earlier Palm PDAs only supported 64MB, but most newer ones support more.

This is one of the cheaper SD cards I had seen. I have had this card for about two years and it has never given me a problem to this day. I recommend this product

I have two of these cards. One for my PDA and a 128MB one for my camera. They work as advertised and the transfer rate seems decent.

I purchased this SanDisk 128 MB Secure Digital Card for my Toshiba PRD-3300 digital camera. The first time I received the SD card from Amazon.com, I plugged it into my camera, formatted the card per the specification in the instruction manual and started taking pictures. The pictures came out scrambled on the replay option. I tried reformatting the card but then I got the message "card error". I thought that the card was defective and I returned it for replacement to Amazon.com. In approximately 4-5 days I received my second SanDisk 128 MB Secure Digital Card. I repeated the same procedure of formatting, picture taking and so on but I was getting the same result and the error message. I was ready to send the card back again, but before I did I thought I'd check around the web to see if there is any compatibility issue of this card with my camera. I went on Toshiba web site to see if I can find any compatibility issue with this card. Sure enough when I checked for new Firmware it had this:
"Latest Firmware Upgrade Features:
Improved compatibility with SanDisk brand SD Cards manufactured after May 2002, specifically for high capacity SD Cards -
128MB SanDisk SD Cards
256MB SanDisk SD Cards
Upgrade your PDR-3300 for use with these cards."

I followed the instructions, upgraded my firmware to the latest revision 1.04A and now my camera recognizes the 128MB SanDisk SD Card and it is working great.

The other two reviewers with a Toshiba PDR-3300 camera are having problems. I wonder if they took the time to visit the Toshiba website. There you can download and install a firmware upgrade to the camera that takes it from 1.02 to 1.04. This update fixes problems with the large capacity Sandisk cards. I could take 8 pictures with the included 8 meg memory card. With this 128 meg card I can take over 150 at full size. The transfer rate is incredible. I see no reason to go with a more expensive brand. Recommended for this camera after the upgrade.

I bought it for use on the Toshiba e755 six months ago. I did not find any problem. It runs surprisingly fast, so I put a lot mp3s in it and my pda can be used as a small size ipod :)

Sandisk has started production of the 1GB SD card and they will be shipped to distributors by late Jan. 2004, according to PC World web edition. This comes almost a year after the initial product announcement, and will be welcome news for digital photographers who take lots of 5+ megapixel TIFF pictures. I'll order one when Amazon offers it and post a review later.

The item description above from Amazon is for two SanDisk 128MB CompactFlash cards. But, Office Depot's review below says that this is for one 128MB Sandisk CompactFlash Card and a reader. I placed an order for the two cards, but instead I was shipped one card and a reader from Office Depot. Hence, you are not getting what you think you are. I knew the price was too good to be true.