Big Manufacturer, No-Name Brand
Written: Feb 04 '08 (Updated Feb 04 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast write speed, very cheap, good read speed
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: If you need a non-SDHC SD Card, you're limited to 2GB of space. Thus, speed and price is important. This A-Data card satisfies both.
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| nad_masters's Full Review: A-Data Technology (TURBOSD150X2G) (2 GB) SD Card |
Taiwan seems to be the place where most tech commodities such as flash and DRAM memory are manufactured, and most of them are bought by big names companies that re-brand them as their own. There are a few companies that are now marketing their own manufactured goods in their own name. And why not? Micron (now Crucial) did it.
A-Data seems to be such a company (along with ATP). Founded in 2001, it's a relatively new kid on the block. However, one can't help but notice that they can be found in NewEgg and Fry's Electronics and are usually priced very competitively (read: the cheapest). In fact, I've reviewed their A-Data 4GB microSDHC Class 6 Turbo series as well. It was priced at $27 after mail in rebate, which makes it a great deal. It was also a very speedy card, too (as long as you have the right card reader.
As usual, I rarely pass up a good deal on storage, and for under $10 at NewEgg ($3.79 after mail in rebate), I just couldn't pass it up. with so many SD Cards already in use in various devices, I figure it'd be nice to use these cards as "cartridges" - think Nintendo cartridges.
Before, my train of thought was "buy the biggest one and leave it in the device". Now with prices for flash memory dropping, my new train of thought is "I'll buy a bunch of the ones on sale and if I run out of space, I'll swap it".
A-Data Line of Flash Memory
A-Data have 3 different lines of flash memory. Just like SanDisk and other big-name flash memory brands, A-Data have several products targeting different write speeds. They have the Speedy, Super, and the Turbo.
Speedy is actually their slowest (standard speed) line, while Super is their mid-range (a bit faster) at 80x. Turbo is their fastest in their line, which they claim 150x faster. Normally they mean 80x or 150x 150kb/sec (which is the speed of the original 1x CD-ROM drive - which is what audio CD data rates are). Using that number to rate speed, therefore, is very misleading.
Packaging
The A-Data 2GB Turbo SD Card is packaged in a molded plastic clam shell. It's much like the plastic blister packaging except you don't really need scissors to tear it apart. Instead, the package is stapled closed and is easily opened just by removing the staple. The plastic clam shell unfolds easily, giving you access to the SD Card inside.
Inside, the SD card sits in a plastic SD Card carrying case. Not sure why they don't just make them smaller so it's about the same size of the SD card itself. They are almost twice as large as the SD Card itself! They are included with almost every SD Card purchase now that it doesn't seem so special. Not only that, but you probably have lots of them. A single plastic case that holds multiple SD Cards would be more impressive. Especially for those who have the "swap the cards" mentality.
In Use
Like most other SD Cards, it's easy to use. Just stick it into a SD Card reader or any SD compliant device to use. Since every device uses storage in their own special way, you'd have to refer to the device's manual.
The 2GB card is recognized in Windows Explorer as having 1.93 GB of space, which is about right. It comes already formated in FAT. If your device can work with FAT32, you should go for it, since FAT32 uses the space more effectively. Unfortunately, transfer rates will be a bit slower when using FAT32. All tests are done in FAT (since it's the most compatible format).
Like all SD Cards, there is a small tab on the left that serves as a write-protect switch. This allows you to set it so that the card can only be read from. This means you won't accidentally erase your precious photos, MP3, or any other data you may have stored.
Performance
Writing a 700 MB file to the SD Card (formated in FAT) took 64 seconds, which translate to 10.94 MB/sec. That's a very quick transfer rate, and is actually faster than SanDisk's Extreme III card (2GB as well). The SanDisk Extreme III wrote at 9.16 MB/sec, and cost almost 4 times as much as the A-Data! It's slightly slower than the 11.45 MB/sec the A-Data 4GB microSDHC card.
Reading is also blistering quick! I was able to get a read speed of 23.33 MB/sec! That means I read a full 700 MB file in only 30 seconds flat! That's slightly slower than the A-Data, but it's dwarfed by the SanDisk Extreme III's scorching 36 MB/sec.
While the read speed is good, it's not as fast as the fastest card tested. Read speed isn't everything, though. You must remember that the write speed is what matters when it comes to taking photos. Read speed only comes into play when you copy contents off the SD Card to your PC. While it's nice to get that stuff off as quick as possible, most people will trade this for the ability not to miss any photo opportunities due to a camera waiting for the SD Card to catch up while writing.
Conclusion
This A-Data Turbo SD Card is much faster at writing than the more expensive SanDisk Extreme III. And the best thing? It's much cheaper, too! Sure the A-Data card is slower than the SanDisk Extreme III with reads, but as stated before, most would be fine with the trade off.
The A-Data excels where it counts and is dirt cheap. And for that reason alone, it is a very good buy.
PS: For those who are wondering, I have a lot of SD Cards go through my hands. I either loose them or flip them (turn around and sell the ones I bought on sale for a small profit - then turn around and get a new one!). I have never had one failed on me, and my favorite card of all time is the A-Data Turbo 4GB Class 6 microSDHC I bought for $27 (after mail in rebate) at Fry's Electronics. :)
Recommended:
Yes
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