Best 1gb card?

[SharenKB]

Anyone care to weigh in on the subject of Microdrives?
I just bought a 1D and need to get a couple of cards. How does the IBM Microdrive stack up to the SanDisk or Lexar? THANKS!

[1oneshot]

The microdrive is a mechanical device and could be damaged if roughly handled.
The faster cards might be a better value, due to the wonderful speed of your 1D, and I have seen some cards advertised at 24X. The costs I have seen tend to be: USD about 150 for 256MB / >310 for 512MB with the 1GB over 650) without a speed multiplier. I understand, but do not know, that the microdrives in 1GB range are near $800.

HTH

[Morden]

Huh?

Excuse my state of shock, 1oneshot, but 800 US dollars for a 1GB Microdrive!?? Am I missing something? I am in the UK, but I strongly believe that it is possible to purchase a 1GB Microdrive in the States for around 300 USD (or even less). Apologies if I have misunderstood.

By the way, sharenkb, although the speed of Microdrives may often be laughed at, in truth they aren't too bad. DP Review were rather impresssed by the 1GB MD....

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/page2.asp

They actually tried it on the 1D. I'm using my 2 units on my D60 and G2, and I have to date had no problems with speed, and absolutely ZERO problems with reliability, and I am a very clumsy person (somewhat disabled).

Just look at DP Reviews test results and make up your own mind. Personally, I think that Microdrives are an excellent solution.

I hope that this helps.

Neil D.

[gmitchel]

An IBM 1GB mirodrive sells for $300 or less these days. CompUSA sells them for $350, but you can buy them from other vendors for somewhere around $285.

I used 340 MB IBM microdrives with my D30. Two of them. I have never lost a byte. I swap them each time I take pictures off the camera.

I've been deciding between the microdrives and the solid state CF cards myself for new memory. I'm about to buy a 1GB microdrive.

When you buy your first microdrive, buy one with a travel kit. It will give you PCMCIA adapter and a hard vault to carry the adapter and 3 microdrives (the third will have to be slipped inside the adapter).

Cheers,

Mitch

[kd6lor]

Before I bought any microdrive, I would double consider a ridata CF card. Two 512MB cards will cost about the same as 1 gigabyte microdrive.

Go to eBay and search "compact flash ridata" and see what pops up. Many of the cards are new from dealers, and not second hand product.

I am using a Ridata 512 along with older smaller cards and am very happy. When the 1 Gig solid state cards are inexpensive that will be my next purchase. Until then I have a 512, 256, 128, and the Canon 32 that came with my G2.

When I shoot alot of images, I use the above cards in that order and only once or twice have I gotten into the 128M card. I shoot a D-60 in RAW format and even though the files are large, that is a lot of pictures.

Paul

[Phil Hall]

I have been using a 1 gig microdrive for over a year. I have dropped it several times but it still keeps chugging along. I also have 128 256 and 512 flash cards of different makes but I use them mainly in my Nikon Coolpix. You should be able to buy a 1 gig HD for less than $300.

Phil Hall
Santa Ynez, CA

[gmitchel]

I bought a 1 gig IBM microdrive today for $285. It's a travel kit from Microtech with the IBM microdrive, metal carrying case, and PCMCIA adapter.

Mitch

[1oneshot]

Boy, am I embarrased.

Just imagine what I might have thought a 1D is worth!
Hope the others helped you make a good decision.