 "SanDisk Mobile Ultra 8GB MicroSD Card")
Expandable memory is very important, even if mobile phone handsets and media today players come with 16 GB or more of internal memory. The question is – why not more? Plenty of companies including big names like SanDisk have a reply to that! With 32GB memory cards becoming a reality, storage space has gotten a boost. Here’s our take on SanDisk’s new Mobile Ultra 8GB MicroSD Card.
Package
What we’re particularity tickled with is the fact that SanDisk has graciously included a small USB card reader with the Mobile Ultra 8GB MicroSD Card. This makes it very convenient for users to remove and transfer data quickly. The card reader is small and lightweight, so it does have the potential to get misplaced easily. A small strap is included, but it’s too small to be effective.
Nevertheless SanDisk has bundled many accessories for the card, and that does make it a worthwhile option.
Performance
When it comes to flash memory, there are no hard and fast rules as to performance. Often, cards boasting very high read/write speeds are able to offer only good read speeds, and flop on their write tests. Other cards are able to achieve more equitable results and hence offer better VFM. To eliminate flawed results, we divided our test section into synthetic and real-life tests.
__PAGEBREAK__
For the synthetic tests, we used two popular software (Hdtach and Hdtune). Both are capable of testing burst speeds, CPU usage, random access time, and average read speeds of the card. As you can see from the results below, the card was pretty fast, reaching an average of 13.9 Mbps under Hdtune and an average of 15.2 Mbps in Hdtach. These are pretty healthy figures, as comparative cards in this section are a good deal slower, averaging barely 7-10 Mbps.
Now, while the read speeds of the card are pretty impressive, the write capabilities proved stellar. We tested the write speeds with two folders of 4GB each. The first folder had large-sized video files of 700 MB, while the second folder had random JPGs, txt files and smaller files of all sizes. Each folder was copied to the memory card and then back to our test-bed under Windows Vista. Based on the time taken, we arrived at the card’s actual performance.
In our first test, the card was able to achieve a write speed of roughly 9 Mbps. In the second test, where the files were more numerous, it maintained an even speed of 8.8 Mbps. These performance figures are very good and show the sterling caliber of the card and its capabilities as a performer.
We also had the opportunity to test the 8GB card with the Nokia 6210 Navigator handset, and the results were quite good. Since it’s specifically designed for mobile phones, users of mobile handsets designed to support higher memory cards will not be dissapointed.
 "Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty")
 "Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched")
 "Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?")
 "Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House")
 "Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty")
 "Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched")
 "Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?")
 "Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House")
