Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card with Card Reader TS16GSDHC6-S5W
by TRANSCEND
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List Price: Our Price: $55.96 You Save: $6.03 (10%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card with Card Reader TS16GSDHC6-S5W
Customer Review: Excellent Value - but be careful where you order it from...
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this package (Transcend 16GB SDHC CARD with Compact Card Reader) from Amazon.com about two months ago. The SD card was meant to be used in my Canon S5 camera. But I soon discovered that it works extremely well with the included card reader as an USB flash drive - much larger and faster than my SanDisk 4GB Cruzer Micro. So I ended up using it mainly for data backup and transfer between my laptop and desktop computers.
So far, the card has proven to be fast and reliable. As first I was skeptical about Transcend's speed rating of 'class 6', which means minimum 6MB/S when writing. But my own benchmark results (see Customer Images) showed that this card is capable of writing typical photo files at 10.5MB/S - nearly twice its specified minimum data transfer rate. Just for reference, the Sandisk 8GB EXTREME III claims a faster speed of 20MB/S, but it costs about twice as much per GB.
Based on my favorable experience, I recently ordered the same package from TheMemStore. To my surprise, this time I received only the SD card and no card reader (check my Customer Image to see the two different packages). Another difference I noticed is that the first package from Amazon was made in Taiwan, whereas the second one from TheMemStore was made in China. Perhaps this explains why several reviewers have reported poor reliability with this card?
Considering its low cost and respectable speed, this Transcend card is an excellent buy. But please, make sure that you order it from a reputable vendor only.
[update on June 8, 2009]
I have purchased a total of three Transcend SDHC cards (two 16GB + one 8GB) in the past 10 months. They all worked perfectly so far. The second 16GB card is for use in my new Canon T1i/500D. I have heard that some other brands of 'class-6' cards cannot keep up with the camera in video mode, and will cause buffer overflow within a few minutes. But the Transcend card has no problems at all. I'm going to purchase my 3rd 16GB card next.
[Update on Sep 14, 2009]
I have highly recommended Transcend SDHC cards in the past, becuase they were much cheaper than Sandisk Extreme III (class-6) cards, and worked just fine in my applications. But in light of many complaints about Transcend card failures, and my recent finding that SanDisk Ultra II (class-2/4) cards are just as fast as Transcend 'class-6' cards, I must now recommend Sandisk Ultra II as a better and safer choice.
Customer Review: Finally!!! Affordable Capacity!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Transcend 16GB SecureDigital SDHC Class 6 Card with Bonus SD Card Reader
Best thing about vacations is that they give you the perfect reason to go out and buy new toys!!! I'm heading to Costa Rica for 8 days of adventure and after looking fondly at my Canon SD850IS, the first thing I thought was, "I'm going to need more space". The one mistake I made when I purchased my 2GB SD card was underestimating how much video I'd take with this little camera (which this camera is surprisingly good at).
With the activities we have planned for CR, I needed to be certain that I'd have enough memory to capture all those crazy adventures (Volcano hikes, zip lines, canopy tours, white water rafting, scuba diving etc...)
* So how much does it store?
At max resolution here are the capacities:
Pictures: 8MP at Superfine resolution: 4,496 pictures
Video: 640x480, 30FPS, 127 minutes and 38 seconds!!!
30 seconds of continuous shooting with no flash at max res: 34 pictures (Canon claims 1.4 shots per second). Please note, I got identical results with the my Sandisk Extreme III 2GB SDHC
* Transfer Performance
Test Bed: 340MB Video File, USB hub, on my desktop (AMD X2)...Each test was repeated 5 times and the average taken (what can I say, I'm OCD :D)
Using the supplied SD card reader: 17 seconds (20 mb/sec)
Connecting directly to the camera: 50 seconds (6.8 mb/sec - i.e. in line with the Class 6 rating)
Using the SD card reader and going through my laptop (IBM T41P): 29 seconds (11.7 mb/sec)
In other words, depending on your hardware it meets and/or exceeds the speed rating.
I also own a Sandisk Extreme III 2GB SDHC card, which boasts a faster transfer rate. The only test above that it performed better in were transfers to my laptop (22 seconds vs 29). It would appear based on the transfer rates that the camera was the limiting factor, but with the supplied SD card reader, that limitation is a non issue.
I'm lucky - I found this card on a lark, and the day after I bought it, the price rose $30. Considering this product was announced Nov '07 and just released, not to mention the competitor's are priced about $50-$100 more, the price I paid for it was just too good to pass up.
So with all that said:
Pros:
- Price (~150mb/$)
- Performance is in line (and meets or exceeds) with its class rating
- 2 HOURS of VIDEO WOOO!!!!
Cons:
- It's new and unproven. The only question that remains is whether or not it will hold up over time...if anything changes in the next month...I'll let you know :)
Enjoy!!!
Customer Review: Get This One with the Card Reader
Summary: 5 Stars
How can anything so tiny contain 16GB worth of data? It does. I have a Garmin Nuvi 780 GPS, and I wanted to download my music collection in MP3's so I can listen to music, pumped out of the Garmin, and into my car stereo's aux input. (That way I can have the stereo turned up, and not miss an instruction. When it all comes through the Garmin, the music plays, and then gets interrupted to speak the directions, and then it goes back to where it left off with the music.) So I started copying them, all 8 Gigs worth, and it was slowly copying them over, with an estimated 5 hour copying time. I was concerned about overworking the electronics in the Garmin, so I stopped the process, and took this 16 GB SDHC card out, and put it into the included USB reader, and started the procedure again. This time it estimated only 17 minutes to copy 8 GB's. I took a shower, came out, and it was done. With the included USB card reader you have another advantage; if I want to go over to a friend's house, and brings some videos or swap files, I now have a universal, plug into any PC device. So for the small additional amount of money, roughly 5 dollars get this one with the included card reader.
What else can I say? Anything the size of a postage stamp that can contain 16Gb or even 32Gb worth of data for such a little bit of money, it's time to get one. This is the future of computing. What we have been using will be considered dinosaurs in the not too distant future. Huge spinning discs for hard drives, go scoop up some data, move it into ram, to be used, and then burnt back on the drive. Huge power supplies to drive all of these huge discs. Once you go to all ram, all of the programs and the operating system, and storage will all be on an electronical chip. So access is instant; no more scoop and poop. :-) Actually it is already here. Soon it will be even cheaper than the usual PC, and with increasing the capacities, the days of old monster PC's will be over. Transferring data between objects will be little infrared readers, or even USB devices such as this one. No need to copy 750 Megs of data on a large CD anymore. Terabytes worth of data on a little wafer? That seems impossible, but not too long ago thinking 16Gbs would never fit on something this small seemed impossible too. Get in on the new journey. So far I have to say, Transcend makes nice stuff. If I have any problems in the future, I will have to come back and edit this review.
Customer Review: Smart Move, Smart Data Storage.
Summary: 5 Stars
When I initially bought one of the newer generation of SDHC camcorder, I was looking into the available medias with enough storage capacities to film a couple of high resolution hours. This Transcend 16 GB Class 6 came up while searching for compatibility.
The Good:
1. For the price vs. size of the media, one cannot go wrong. With 16GB worth of storage, it can easily hold at least 2 solid hours of HD quality 1920x1280 footage for the newer generation of HD camcorders.(one would only need to worry about the life of the batteries.)
2. The quality and built of the card itself is reliably excellent as I've taken it in and out of my camcorders, insert it into the Compact Card Reader many, many times. And with some newer video formats such as AVCHD, I've had the option to plug it directly into my Playstation 3 to view the videos which I've captured. It made it a breeze! without the needs to fumble thru all my camcorder cables.
3. What I find superior to others were the included Compact Card Reader as it is compatible with my lower capacity SD cards as well. This is a definate plus since now I can carry the card reader around and transfer any types of media onto my computer whether I'm home or away. This made the grade of 5 stars just because. Now, I find myself carrying the Card Reader daily even for businesses. I am considering of buying more to hand out to my work staff.
The Bad:
1. So far, I haven't found any yet except for the slight hick up during my initial order. The first card I got was unreadable. But that problem was solve easily if you bought from Amazon. Amazon has one of the best product/customer support catered to today's online marketplace! they shipped another one out right away and included a prepaid return label. Within a few business days, I've got a new one on my doorstep. This alone made the most important buyer's choice when shopping for products online. No more of the so-called minimum wage wannabe sales/tech rep from retail stores telling you "it was your fault".
Do buy this product if you're looking for some cost-effective SD media with convienence. Also, stick with Amazon for toublefree support.
Customer Review: It was good while it lasted ...
Summary: 2 Stars
In the beginning, I was very excited about this card. The price was very reasonable, and it performed fast and good - for about 6 weeks. Then I noticed that the first pictures suddenly had completely disappeared. Next thing I noticed was that another picture was scrambled on the card, when I inserted it in my computer, but the picture could still be seen normal on my camera. Then, more and more strangely named files (no extension, just one character) showed up in the first picture folder of the card, and I could neither rename, nor delete or even open them.
I checked the card for viruses and malware, but it was found to be free of anything. I continued to use it, but it was not possible to format the card. After 3 months of normal use, and about 3 quarters full, the card completely died. I got error messages in my cameras, and in neither one of my computers the card was recognized anymore.
Since the card has a "lifetime warranty", I contacted Transcend customer service. They were very responsive and polite, and provided me with a link to their website, where I could fill out a claim to have the card repaired. I had to send the card in (on my expense), and 2 weeks later I received a brand new card in the mail.
Needless to say that all my data is gone - fortunately I had almost everything backed up prior to the card dying. However, I would not recommend this product. After many years of extensive digital photography, this was my very first malfunctioning card. The only reason I give it 2 stars instead of one is the card reader, which seems to work fine, and the company's reliable customer service.