Memory formats and portable drives
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Interesting article over at the NY Times on memory formats. e.g. CF, SD, xD, MD, Memory Stick etc. Not highly technical of course but more about trends. They seem to think CF will wane with SD becoming the kingpin and Memory Stick hanging in there (because of Sony's muscle). This seems to correlate with Canon's inclusion of a SD port (while retaining the CF one too) on their just-released Canon EOS 1D MkII. Anyone used SD before, what are your thoughts on it? The other thing I wanted to ask is does anyone have experience with portable harddrives like the FlashTrax or the Vosonic. 2 hours battery life does not sound like an awful lot to me, but what is it like in practice? ta. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? Einstein says...
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Interesting article over at the NY Times on memory formats. e.g. CF, SD, xD, MD, Memory Stick etc. Not highly technical of course but more about trends. They seem to think CF will wane with SD becoming the kingpin and Memory Stick hanging in there (because of Sony's muscle). This seems to correlate with Canon's inclusion of a SD port (while retaining the CF one too) on their just-released Canon EOS 1D MkII. Anyone used SD before, what are your thoughts on it? The other thing I wanted to ask is does anyone have experience with portable harddrives like the FlashTrax or the Vosonic. 2 hours battery life does not sound like an awful lot to me, but what is it like in practice? ta. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? Einstein says...
I have a SanDisk Cruzer with a removable 256 MB SD card, which also goes along nicely with my iPAQ 3835 (it's old, I know). It very fast and handy. I definitely like having a removable SD card over the typical fixed-size USB disks because I can always upgrade or swap out a full SD card (not that it has happened yet). When I was shopping for a new digital camera / digital SLR, I did try looking for one that accepted SD but at the time only the HP cameras did (and with all the problems I've had with HP, there's no way I was considering one of them!). I decided on a FujiFilm S7000 digital camera over the Canon EOS Digital Rebel, which I believe only takes CF. Unforutnately, the S7000 takes CF (although it's not recommended for power consumption reasons) and xD, Fuji's "version" of SD. I hate having to reinvest in memory technology! So, if you're considering a camera that accepts SD (I'm glad to see Canon is - they're a good company and my dad - a professional photographer - sticks with them), great! If you don't have much choice, though, Fuji's xD memory card is also pretty good and has different read/write times depending on quality, where SD seems currently fixed at 3 M(b|B)/sec. If you're interested in the SanDisk Cruzer (at the time, the only such USB "drive available), see http://www.sandisk.com[^]. I'll warn you, however, that the retractable shank isn't long enough to fit into most desktops like the Dells with the front-side USB ports. Fortunately, the SanDisk comes with a dongle for just such problems (although it's annoying to carry around in addition to the Cruzer, which does have a handy little belt-loop case).
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I have a SanDisk Cruzer with a removable 256 MB SD card, which also goes along nicely with my iPAQ 3835 (it's old, I know). It very fast and handy. I definitely like having a removable SD card over the typical fixed-size USB disks because I can always upgrade or swap out a full SD card (not that it has happened yet). When I was shopping for a new digital camera / digital SLR, I did try looking for one that accepted SD but at the time only the HP cameras did (and with all the problems I've had with HP, there's no way I was considering one of them!). I decided on a FujiFilm S7000 digital camera over the Canon EOS Digital Rebel, which I believe only takes CF. Unforutnately, the S7000 takes CF (although it's not recommended for power consumption reasons) and xD, Fuji's "version" of SD. I hate having to reinvest in memory technology! So, if you're considering a camera that accepts SD (I'm glad to see Canon is - they're a good company and my dad - a professional photographer - sticks with them), great! If you don't have much choice, though, Fuji's xD memory card is also pretty good and has different read/write times depending on quality, where SD seems currently fixed at 3 M(b|B)/sec. If you're interested in the SanDisk Cruzer (at the time, the only such USB "drive available), see http://www.sandisk.com[^]. I'll warn you, however, that the retractable shank isn't long enough to fit into most desktops like the Dells with the front-side USB ports. Fortunately, the SanDisk comes with a dongle for just such problems (although it's annoying to carry around in addition to the Cruzer, which does have a handy little belt-loop case).
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The SimpleTech Bonzai (www.simpletech.com) also uses a removable SD (or MMC) card.
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I have a SanDisk Cruzer with a removable 256 MB SD card, which also goes along nicely with my iPAQ 3835 (it's old, I know). It very fast and handy. I definitely like having a removable SD card over the typical fixed-size USB disks because I can always upgrade or swap out a full SD card (not that it has happened yet). When I was shopping for a new digital camera / digital SLR, I did try looking for one that accepted SD but at the time only the HP cameras did (and with all the problems I've had with HP, there's no way I was considering one of them!). I decided on a FujiFilm S7000 digital camera over the Canon EOS Digital Rebel, which I believe only takes CF. Unforutnately, the S7000 takes CF (although it's not recommended for power consumption reasons) and xD, Fuji's "version" of SD. I hate having to reinvest in memory technology! So, if you're considering a camera that accepts SD (I'm glad to see Canon is - they're a good company and my dad - a professional photographer - sticks with them), great! If you don't have much choice, though, Fuji's xD memory card is also pretty good and has different read/write times depending on quality, where SD seems currently fixed at 3 M(b|B)/sec. If you're interested in the SanDisk Cruzer (at the time, the only such USB "drive available), see http://www.sandisk.com[^]. I'll warn you, however, that the retractable shank isn't long enough to fit into most desktops like the Dells with the front-side USB ports. Fortunately, the SanDisk comes with a dongle for just such problems (although it's annoying to carry around in addition to the Cruzer, which does have a handy little belt-loop case).
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Am I the only one who thinks USB is just one of the best technologies to have been invented? Take this simple fact; USB 2.0 devices can work with USB 1.1. only supporting systems. Sure, it will be slower but holy mother of god, it still works! Other technologies break on older systems. It can carry power, data, installs easier than peanut butter on buttered toast, is small and plugs in neatly. What is not to like about this lovely technology? No, not as fast as FireWire, but who has FireWire, FW is more expensive and harder to install from what I have seen. Go USB. Thanks for the other info, Heath. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? Einstein says...
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Am I the only one who thinks USB is just one of the best technologies to have been invented? Take this simple fact; USB 2.0 devices can work with USB 1.1. only supporting systems. Sure, it will be slower but holy mother of god, it still works! Other technologies break on older systems. It can carry power, data, installs easier than peanut butter on buttered toast, is small and plugs in neatly. What is not to like about this lovely technology? No, not as fast as FireWire, but who has FireWire, FW is more expensive and harder to install from what I have seen. Go USB. Thanks for the other info, Heath. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? Einstein says...
Yep, its all backward compatible. But your naming is slightly out of date. Due to a discrepancy in the 2.0 spec a vendor could create a device that operated at 1.1 speeds and still sell it as 2.0. To combat this they revised it so that now instead of USB 1.1 and 2.0 you have USB and USB HiSpeed. Matt Newman
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Yep, its all backward compatible. But your naming is slightly out of date. Due to a discrepancy in the 2.0 spec a vendor could create a device that operated at 1.1 speeds and still sell it as 2.0. To combat this they revised it so that now instead of USB 1.1 and 2.0 you have USB and USB HiSpeed. Matt Newman
Thanks for the info Matt, will be handy to know when I look into some USB storage devices. Guess it is not so perfect after all :) regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? Einstein says...
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Thanks for the info Matt, will be handy to know when I look into some USB storage devices. Guess it is not so perfect after all :) regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass South Africa Christopher Duncan quoted: "...that would require my explaining Einstein's Fear of Relatives" Crikey! ain't life grand? Einstein says...
Its still all compatible, just new names that are meant to me more clear on what you are getting. Matt Newman