Sandisk 1gb vs Transend 1gb CF Card

[aussie_nx70v]

Hello all,

Im in the market to purchase a 1gb card for my NX which has the cf driver.

In Australia these types of cards (1gb) are very expensive with prices in the $700-$800 being very common.

However, im the bargain hunter type and i have come across two cards which i beleive to be value for money. Both cards are claimed to be 'high speed' and only vary in price by about $60.00.

Transend 1gb $480.00 AUD (approx).
Sandisk 1gb $540.00 AUD (approx).

My question is:

Which one is the 'better' one out of the two? Is there anything i need to know when purchasing either one of these cards for use in my NX?

Oh, i forgot. For those of you who are going to tell me how prices are cheaper overseas, please dont. Im located in Australia and customs is a very big issue here. Anyway by the time i get it here (if it clears through customs) it would probably be the same price.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[RipDogger]

I like my Sandisk 1 gb CF card.

It has the same bugs with movies that the other cards seem to have, but plays audio well and is a good storage port for my ebooks/ pictures.

Wow! the prices you quote are steep! Now thats taxation!

[frasej]

I don't have any experience with the Transcend, but I really like my 1GB Sandisk CF.

[Quetsch]

I own a Transcend 1GB 30x Card and it hasn't made any problems yet. No Slow Mount needed. Works fine for storing MP3s and videos.

[bigONE]

I recommend you get the Transcend 1GB CompactFlash as it is much faster than the 1GB SanDisk CompactFash. Most of the benchmarks I have seen shown that the Transcend 30x is about 2-5 times faster than the Sandisk. I recently purchased a 1GB Sandisk CompactFlash card and am very disappointed in the speed of it compared to my 128MB generic compactflash :(

[BalBurgh]

OK, please feel free to correct me on this, as what I'm going to say is second hand and a year or more old. My understanding is that the SanDisk devices do load cycling while most other brands do not. That is to say, the SanDisk devices cycle the memory cells used for write operations so the different memory cells don't wear out (reading a cell doesn't affect it, but writing supposedly causes minute damage each time to the point where after some number of cycles, in the many thousands or more, the cell fails). Since most folks are only using CF cards for archival storage (i.e. putting something on it then retrieving it later, or using it only to view on a permanent or semi-permanent basis) they are unlikely to encounter problems with cycling any given memory locations (presumably the lowest ones) too many times, but one never knows.

Assuming this is correct, the extra processing overhead to accomplish load cycling accounts for the SanDisk device being slower, but with the benefit that the card should last longer.

This turns out to be a big deal when trying to use such devices in embedded control apps but not so much in this type of use.

[frasej]

My Sandisk CF was excruciatingly slow until I re-formatted it. Now it's very fast, at least the writes are significantly faster.

[Godzilla63]

I've got the transcend 1 GB and so far none of the speed issues others have complained about in previous threads.

I purchased it for around A$360 in HK, so A$480 doesn't sound toooo bad. :p

If you can wait a bit the rising AUD might eventually mean lower prices in Aus too ........ eventually!

[aussie_nx70v]

thats a good point you have made godzilla

i was thinking that just this afternoon. however, im not too thrilled about an item costing that much going through customs.

somehow knowing my luck im gonna get caught

[Godzilla63]

I'm not sure you'll have a problem. When I lived in Sydney, about a year ago, I ordered books from Amazon and never had any difficulties with local customs.
From the look of some of the prices being quoted on this site it would seem worthwhile to order from the web - the dollar savings are large enough to take the risk.
Plus....
I think the worst that can happen is the customs department will send you an invoice for outstanding duty.... my experience with the books is they simply can't be bothered.
For once the public servant mentality is working in your favour
:D

[aussie_nx70v]

books, toys, clothes etc...arent a problem...

however, when you talk about electronics and electronic related equipment its a completely different ball game

[Godzilla63]

Are you sure? That would mean they would have to handle all the mail - sounds like a lot of work?
What is the duty anyway? If you can get a 1GB for USD170 off amazon and add a generous USD20 for shipping that's still only AUD288. If duty is 50% (which you could check) then that's still only AUD430 .... less than the 480-540 you're quoting......