PNY 256MB Secure Digital Card $50 at CompUSA.com

[bkbroil]

CompUSA has the PNY 256MB Secure Digital Memory Card (item 301938) for $80 - $30 rebate [Exp 1/3] = $50 + shipping. Penny shipping on $150 orders.

[Brad Isaac]

Anyone tried the PNY cards? I took advantage of the sears deal on the Sandisk cards and they are testing pretty slow. Maybe the PNYs are faster?

[bkbroil]

I took advantage of the Kingston 512 SD card for $139 from PC Mall posted on 12/29. I should be getting it in the mail today or tomorrow, I'll run the Pocket Mechanic benchmarks on the Sandisk and the Kingston and post the results.

[Brad Isaac]

Cool! I'll look forward to hearing how fast that one is.

[bkbroil]

I got my Kingston 512MB SD card and I ran the Pocket Mechanic Benchmark utility on them. Here are the results:
----------------------------SanDisk 256MB-------Kingston 512MB
Read Speed:----------.11 MB/Sec-----------.37 MB/Sec
Write Speed:----------.02 MB/Sec-----------.14 MB/Sec
Min Read time:--------.25ms-----------------.25ms
Max Read Time:-------11.25ms--------------15.25ms
Avg read time:---------4.63ms---------------1.31ms
Sectors/block:---------variable 0-64--------variable 0-64
Min. write time:--------1.00ms---------------1.00ms
Max Write time:-------33.00ms--------------34.50ms
Avg write time: --------28.61ms-------------3.44ms
Read write ratio:------.16--------------------.38
Sector size:-------------512 bytes-----------512 bytes
The Kingston kills the Sandisk in Avg Write Time but the Sandisk is slightly better in Avg read time. I think, if I'm reading it correctly ...the Read and Write speed is clearly in favor of the Kingston...

[Brad Isaac]

So are you going to throw your Sandisk into the trash? j/k
Do you notice a speed difference while playing music, movies or whatever you use your cards for? Or is it a "just on paper" type of speed diff?

[bkbroil]

Funny you should ask..I just got back from taking my dog on a walk with my new Kingston 512MB SD card. I started using the Microsoft Plus for Digital Media "Plus Sync N Go" to sync up my 4 and 5 star songs....(Plus Sync N Go is an excellent buy for $19.95 but that's a discussion I'll go into some other time )
The clarity of the songs amazed me..I have used 4 or 5 different Sandisk cards in the past and I thought they were all the same...but, I will never buy another Sandisk again! Listening to the Dead and Nirvana right through to Janis Joplin's "Me and Bobby McGee" caused me to take an extra 20 minute walk with the dog.
Kingston -- My dog thanks you!

[Brad Isaac]

hmmm...what do you attribute this clarity to? Is it purely speed? Because MP3s are just 1's and 0's decoded right? :P

[bkbroil]

You're correct, they are just bits...I don't know what to attribute it to...I do know that the Sandisks always had stoppages in the songs..(dare I say "skips" in the song) but the Kingston didn't have any...
It has to be the speed, that the Ipaq is able to read them easier... I don't know... I claim ignorance on this one...I just know it sounded so much better...
I dunno...maybe I'm crazy....wait a minute... I KNOW I'm crazy.

[Brad Isaac]

Originally Posted by bkbroil

You're correct, they are just bits...

That must be why I get bored so easily with the music these days. All I hear is:
1111 000 101010 010001 01000 0111100 00000001010001 010001 010001 010010 10010001 00000001010101011010 010101110.............