My cousin recently got a digital camera and needed a memory card. He did not need anything super fast since he usually takes a small number of pictures at a time and not always at the highest camera resolution. I have had a good experience with the
Kingston 512 SD Card (sd/512), which was a good choice at the time for a 2-megapixel camera. So I got him a 1 GB version: the Kingston 1 GB Secure Digital card for around $20, shipping and tax included.
Pricing
I got this 1 GB SD card online for $20 (shipping and tax included). I consider this price excellent. I had to pay $27 and wait for a $15 rebate when I got my 512 MB card earlier. And a higher-speed card (e.g. Kingston Elite Pro) will cost you more.
Construction
The card seems to be well-built, but, as with any electronic device, I would not recommend to put it in extreme weather conditions or apply strong bending forces to it.
The card came with a semi-transparent case made of plastic - a useful item for storage.
Speed
The card provides an average transfer rate of 2 MB/s, which warrants its 13x speed rating. Faster SD cards (8-10 MB/s read, 3-5 MB/s write) are available if you need the extra speed, but they cost more. For my cousin, the speed is not an issue since he uses a camera that outputs files of no more than 2.5 MB and pauses for up to 10 seconds to recharge its flash.
Write Protection
The card has a mechanical switch that provider write protection. I never used it on any SD camera I have owned.
Warranty
The card came with lifetime warranty. Although it is good to have this kind of warranty, I am sure than you will be able to buy 8 Gb card for peanuts in a couple of years from now. And the warranty will not help you if your valuable photos are lost. So backup to DVD (or better, CD for better longevity) often, no matter what card you use.
Durability
Since the card has no moving parts, I expect high reliability and durability, especially taking into account the fact that most people do not remove the card from the camera often. My cousin does not have another card and does not own a memory card reader, so the card will stay in his camera permanently.
Uses
The card can be used in devises that accept Secure Digital cards (e.g. digital still cameras, Panasonic e-wear cameras, MP3 players, PDAs, etc.)
Alternatives
For about $5-7 more you can get
Kinsgton 1GB Elite Pro card that is much faster. I estimate that the read speed was about 4.5 MB/s and write speed was about 3 MB/s using my memory card reader (you may be able to get faster results still).
Bottom Line
The Kingston 1 Mb SD Card is a good product and a good value, unless you need a faster SD card. Most people don't. But it you so, check out the Kinsgton 1GB Elite Pro card for only $5-7 more.
