Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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147 of 149 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Compatible with newer cameras, December 22, 2005
The Fujifilm 1GB "Type M" xD flash memory card works in the latest models of digital cameras from Fujifilm, Olympus and other manufacturers that utilize the xD format. The "Type M" designation means this memory card uses on-board compression and decompression as data are written and read. Without the compression, xD memory cards cannot achieve more than 512MB of storage since they are physically so small. This compression, however, does cause incompatibility with older digital cameras that must use the "regular" type of xD card. This means 1) you should check the digital camera's manufacturer website to see if your particular model can use "Type M" xD card; and 2) if not, you can only use up to 256MB xD cards without compatibility concerns.
(There's a different kind called "Type H" xD card which uses a different compression scheme than "Type M" cards. I haven't seen any Type H cards being sold in the U.S. yet.)
This Fujifilm 1GB card is manufacturered by either Toshiba in Japan or Samsung in South Korea. BE SURE TO GET THE TOSHIBA VERSION! My first two were made by Samsung and both failed after a few uses. Very terrible quality. I almost wanted to write a one-star review here on Amazon. But my third card, which I finally ordered from Amazon, was made by Toshiba and it's been working totally fine even in sub-freezing temperatures. So heed my advice: if your card is marked "korea - made by samsang" be sure to return it and get another one from another store. You just don't want to risk using a poor-quality memory card. Shame on Fujifilm for shortchanging its customers. (Update: I got two from Amazon and both are made by Toshiba.)
(Unfortunately, you cannot tell who manufactured the card from the packaging. It just says "Made in Japan or S. Korea." You'll have to cut-open the packaging to see the marking on the back of the card itself. So be sure to buy from a store that allows full-refund returns.)
The xD card has pretty good read and write speeds. As I mentioned earlier, the "Type M" designation means the employment of data compression, but this is totally transparent to the user, i.e., you needn't think about it at all. I've read on the web that this compression does entail a small speed penalty, but for all practical purposes you won't notice a thing at all. The bottleneck is usually with the camera I/O (input/output circuirty) so the tiny speed penalty is not going to matter. Again, be sure to get the Toshiba version of this card so ensure highest reliability and speed.
In the end, I feel this is a good memory card. And the one I bought from Amazon made by Toshiba has proven itself just as reliable as my Lexar CompactFlash and Secure Digital cards. I haven't had any problems at all. On the other hand, the design specs of the xD card cast a shadow on its future.
In terms of performance, I think if you don't need to shoot a lot of pictures at a time, a 256MB xD card, which uses no compression (at least not as much as Type M), is a better choice, both for speed and durability considerations. In fact, I now think I should have gotten 2 or 3 256MB xD cards instead of a single 1GB one. If I store 1,000 pictures on this and it fails, I lose the 1,000 pictures.
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89 of 95 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is the Best xD picture card ! I can take pictures all I want...., August 13, 2005
Hi! I just recently received my Fujifilm 1 GB xD picture card from Amazon.com and I must say I LOVE IT!
I was unsure at first, if this new Type M picture card would be compatible with my old Fuji Finepix 3800 digital camera- but I did some research on the Fuji.com website and I am happy to report that it is compatible with the Fuji Finepix 3800 camera! You can also go to the fuji.com website and look at their xD compability chart if your unsure if it will work for your camera - I would definitely check before purchasing.
I am now able to take as many pictures as I can possibly take (I doubt that it will be more than the range that this card can hold) and not have to worry about deleting ones that may take up my picture card. Did I already say that I love having this 1GB picture card? =)
I don't use the video mode in my digital camera as often as I should, since I rely on my camcorder. But, I decided I'd test it out for this review and it works fine, but I would like to point out that my Finepix 3800 model only goes up to the 320 x240 mode. The packaging on the xD says that it may give video difficulties if your digital camera uses video that shoots at 640 x480 pixels or if you have these particuliar camera models listed as follows: E550, F810, S5000, S5100, S7000 and S20 models. I do not use my video mode, so this did not concern me, I was more concerned about first, if it was compatible with my camera and second, how many pictures it would be able to hold. But if you do have those particuliar model numbers noted above and you DO use the video mode on your digital camera, you may want to think about it before purchasing the type M picture cards.
If your digital camera takes the Fuji xD picture cards - you definitely have to upgrade to this 1 GB picture card. I currently own a 16mb and two 128 mb xD picture cards (all bought before this new type M picture card), why buy all of these, when you can just buy one 1GB picture card.
It is perfect for me because my family and I will be going on a Disney vacation and the last thing I wanted to worry about during my vacation, was having to review all my pictures on my picture card just to free up some memory (for those with a 16mb picture card, you know what I mean). But now I can happily click away.
Here is what is listed on the back of the package of the xD:
6 Million Pixels:
680 pictures on the normal mode
341 pictures on the fine mode
4 Million Pixels:
1065 pictures on the normal mode
537 on the fine mode
3 Million Pixels:
1305 pictures on the normal mode
586 pictures on the fine mode
Note from myself: The above numbers may vary beacause I currently own a 3.2 Mega Pixel camera and my camera says I am able to take about 816 at the highest quality mode and not 537 as the fuji package label suggested, but fuji does note that approximate numbers may vary depending on the camera model.
The Fuji packaging also says that this xD picture card Type M is compatible with ALL 2005 Fujifilm models. It also says that this picture card is NOT compatible with the following finePix models F700 and 602. Video mode may experience interruption of movie recording at 640 x 480 pixels and/or increased processing times for on the E550, F810, S5000, S5100, S7000 and S20 models.
Pros:
1) It's 1 GB and definitely blows away my old 128 mb xD picture card!!! I am kicking myself for not getting this sooner.
2) I am now able to take as many as 816 pictures on the highest quality - which for my camera would be at the 3 M Fine mode and 1728 at 3M normal, and over 7995 at the O.3 mode (lowest quality)!! These numbers are with my Fuji finepix 3800 camera, numbers may vary with your own digital camera - it may be more or less depending on the type of camera you currently own. My current camera is only a 3.2 mega pixel camera. If you own a 6 mega pixel camera, it will probably be lower, but I bet still a lot more than the 512 mb picture card.
3) The price is right, I was initally going to buy the 512 mb picture card at Walmart for $73, but I'm glad that I now have 1 GB to use, and only paid around $12 or so more for a 1GB picture card, plus amazon.com threw in the free shipping for me, what more could I have asked for. (By the way, amazon.com shipped mine via USPS First Class mail).
4) Why carry three various picture cards, when you can just purchase one 1 GB picture card.
Cons:
I thought about some con's just to be fair and balanced, but I could not think of any, as of yet.
I hope my review helps you determine whether you would like to purchase it or not. Happy picture taking from one shutterbug to another! =)
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71 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
My pick of media, October 27, 2004
I use a number of different cameras over the course of a week and have 4 different (5 counting Microdrive) card types (MS, SD, CF and xD) to deal with and without a doubt the best of the formats is the xD media. xD cards are certainly faster (From writing to the same computer through a card reader) and my seems to drain batteries less (Though this could be camera specific and without wiring up a test circuit I could verify it is the card tat is draining less).
If you camera gives you the choice of using xD or another format go for the xD card, If you are deciding between two cameras of equal quality (and more importantly you like) and one uses xD and the other uses another format... go for the xD camera.
xD advantages
Less Battery Drain
Faster Write Times
Small size and low weight (Though as it stays in the camera most of the time this is a non issue)
xD Disadvantages
They cost about a 1/3 more than most other formats
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