X-bit labs

1GB Compact Flash Media Review

Category: Storage

by Andrey Kuznetcov

[ 07/31/2003 | 01:15 AM ]

High-capacity flash cards become more demanded as there appear more devices working with these media. We test 4 CompactFlash cards with 1GB storage capacity from Transcend, Verbatim and PQI and compare them with an alternative IBM/Hitachi Microdrive solution. Get the best for your money with the help of our article!

Table of contents:

• Transcend CompactFlash 1GB
  
• Verbatim CompactFlash 1GB
  
• IBM/Hitachi Microdrive
  
• Testbed and Methods
  
• Performance
  
• FC-Test
  
• Pictures Saving on a Digital Cam
  
• SiSoft Sandra Professional
  
• Conclusion
  

Little by little the top storage capacity of such miniature storage media as CompactFlash cards is growing up. I came across some product announcements on the web, which report the launch of new models featuring 3, 4 or even 5GB storage capacity. However, the developers claim that these solutions will start selling a bit later.

In fact 1GB storage space of a CompactFlash card is more than enough for many tasks. Especially in their major application field, namely in digital photography. Using these high-capacity flash media in digital cameras allows storing a lot of pictures in the maximum resolution and saving them in high-quality formats, such as RAW and TIF. Thanks to this opportunity the photographer can go on a trip far away from any civilization and not care at all about moving the pictures from the camera to a notebook or any other device on a daily basis.

The high-capacity flash cards become more and more demanded as there appear more digital cameras with larger light-sensitive matrices. Besides that, you can always use 1GB CompactFlash media in digital audio-players, notebooks and pocket PCs.

Until recently, there were not too many people who could afford to buy CompactFlash cards of large storage capacity, because they cost almost insane money. Even toady we wouldn’t call their price reasonable, however, it still has dropped down quite tangibly lately and you can now buy this device for less than $200.

The table below will show you how much you actually pay per megabyte when buying different CompactFlash cards:

In order to understand how much the user will have to pay for each MB of storage space on the flash-cards of various total storage capacities, we made up a small table having filled it in with the products from Transcend. As you can notice, the most expensive solution per MB is the one with the smallest total storage capacity. Then the price per MB starts dropping and gets a little bit higher as we come to 1GB CompactFlash card. This situation is probably connected with the fact that each mode feature a set sum they need for production expenses (package, mounting, etc.) which is then added to the production cost of the memory itself. In case of a gigabyte card we probably have not very mass production volumes, which results into higher production costs.

Besides CompactFlash cards the users can also get 1GB of storage space on IBM Microdrive (which is now produced by Hitachi Company), which supports the same interface as CompactFlash. Like the CompactFlash cards, IBM Microdrive can also be used in digital cameras, notebooks and other digital devices.

Now let’s take a closer look at a few storage media we have just mentioned and find out which one would be the best choice today. I would like to introduce to you four CompactFlash card models and IBM Microdrive.