FujiFilm 256 MB xD Picture Card

Rating:
Summary: Embrace Change
Review: The first complaint I always read about these cards is "They're pricey". Pricey is paying $200 for a 4 Megabyte SIMM for my 486 PC back in the day! Technologically speaking these cards read and write faster and consume less power then any of their rivials (not to mention they are much smaller too!). The prices on these cards has already come down a decent amount in the past few months. It's no different than when SD cards were twice the price of CF now they are only about 50% more. You get what you pay for and if speed, capacity, low power consumption, and small size is what you're in need of, that's what you buy. Having used devices that use CF cards and SD cards I'll say that I appreciate the xD card and find them to be reasonably priced for their advantages over SD and CF. Fuji is a quality company and it's good to see they aren't giving up on R&D of newer media. That said... I hope xD cards stand the test of time and stick around long enough for me to wear out my Olympus C-5050!

Rating:
Summary: Embrace Change
Review: The first complaint I always read about these cards is "They're pricey". Pricey is paying $200 for a 4 Megabyte SIMM for my 486 PC back in the day! Technologically speaking these cards read and write faster and consume less power then any of their rivials (not to mention they are much smaller too!). The prices on these cards has already come down a decent amount in the past few months. It's no different than when SD cards were twice the price of CF now they are only about 50% more. You get what you pay for and if speed, capacity, low power consumption, and small size is what you're in need of, that's what you buy. Having used devices that use CF cards and SD cards I'll say that I appreciate the xD card and find them to be reasonably priced for their advantages over SD and CF. Fuji is a quality company and it's good to see they aren't giving up on R&D of newer media. That said... I hope xD cards stand the test of time and stick around long enough for me to wear out my Olympus C-5050!

Rating:
Summary: Worked great -- for a month
Review: The FujiFilm cameras seem like an exceptional value with excellent features, but how reliable is the xD card storage medium? I purchased the 256 MB card and it worked just a few weeks before it began to malfunction. When it was inserted into the Alladin kiosks, now at many stores, it had to be reinserted again and again. Then when the pics are printed they are too dark. Apparently one of the metalic contacts has become damaged. Upon close examination it appears far to easy for this to happen. Given the many removals and insertions that may be required using the xD card it seems less well constructed than rival cards. Sadly, this also impacts the usability of the camera. When I contact Fuji, I find a knee-deep phone menu with plenty of deadends, and the customary "due to unusual call volume ...." message. I've received no response to the email or voicemail messages I've left. I'd be less likely to buy a FujiFilm digital product after this experience.

Rating:
Summary: Fast performance
Review: The xd picture card is a "new" type of flash memory. It's actually been around for a couple years in Japan, but only recently introduced on this side of the pacific. They are faster than other types of flash cards (CF, SD, etc.) and are also more power efficient. But I'm not sure if the real-world performance difference is really that different.