nad_masters's Full Review: SanDisk Extreme® III 133x (1 GB) SD Card (SDS...
With flash memory makers always putting claims about their product's performance on the packaging, how much of that is true? There are several flash memory I've tested that doesn't seem to be anywhere close to the claims, and a few that meet or exceed expectations. The SanDisk Extreme III 2GB SD Card was tested not too long ago, and my friend decided to pick up something smaller because it'd be more affordable. At half the size, and half the cost ($18.50 at Newegg), is it just as fast?
SanDisk claims that their SanDisk Extreme III 1GB SD Card can read and write at 20 MB/sec, which is the same with their 2 GB card. But how does it perform in real life?
In the Box
Just like the Extreme III 2GB SD Card, SanDisk recognizes that the Extreme line is a premium product so it is well packaged in a cardboard box with fancy retail designs. It also comes with the SD card itself with a plastic holder and a Velcro-flap carry case adorn with SanDisk's own logo.
Basically it's the same package as the 2GB card.
Performance
Since I found out that the built-in card reader on my laptop is holding me back (read my review where that skewed my results), I since purchased a Dynex card reader that claims to be able to read SDHC cards. It should also be able to read and write to flash cards much faster and without restrictions as well. The write speeds for the A-Data microSDHC card seem to have benefited from the changing the card reader. So I decided to use the same reader to test the SanDisk Extreme III. It was the same method I used to test the 2GB card.
I copied a 504 MB solid file to the empty card and then read it back. Writing to the Extreme III took 54 seconds, which translate to a 9.33 MB/sec transfer rate. This is a far cry from the claimed 20 MB/sec write speeds! It's still pretty quick for a SD Card, however. It is also a bit faster than the 2GB card! The speed is so similar that I think it's within the margin of error.
When reading the file back, I managed a 14 second read speed, which translate to 36 MB/sec even! This is about where the USB 2.0 bus is saturated. It is also way faster than the claimed 20 MB/sec rated read speed. This is exactly the same speed as the 2GB version of the card.
At this point, I feel that the flash memory write speed is rock solid (not bottlenecked), so SanDisk's claim of 20 MB read/write must be an average of both the read and write speeds together. That's a very deceptive way of representing the performance.
Conclusion
The cost for the SanDisk Extreme III 1GB SD Card is $18.50 at Newegg, which isn't too bad for a high-speed card. It is about half the cost of the 2GB card. However, I purchased the A-Data 4GB microSDHC Class 6 card, which comes with a microSD to SD adapter, is faster with write speeds (11 MB/sec). And the cost for the faster A-Data card is $32 at Fry's Electronics. I also had a $5 mail in rebate, which brought the cost down to $27! For not much more, you get four times the capacity, faster writes, and works in both microSD and SD slots! The only downside with the A-Data card is that it is a SDHC card, which means you'll need to buy a different card reader, adding more to the cost.
If you have a device that is not SDHC compatible and need fast writes, you'll have no choice but to go with a fast standard SD Card. The SanDisk Extreme III 1GB card is such a card you'll need. It is quick, but only performs half as fast as what SanDisk promise. Still, 9 MB/sec is still faster than most flash media usually writes at. I still feel that it'd be better to spend twice as much to get twice the capacity and get the Extreme III 2GB card since you will definitely find yourself needing more space with today's 8-10 megapixel cameras.
If you are on a budget, though, $20 is not that much money for a quick SD Card. It holds around 250 pictures at the highest quality settings on my friend's Canon SD870IS, which is a 8.1 megapixel camera. The 2GB card gives him twice as much pictures (500, according to the camera).
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