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AUG
10
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Guide to Micro M2 Memory Cards
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| Posted Under Memory Card Guides By Dan at 1:00pm |
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The Micro M2 Memory Card was originally introduced in early 2006, as the result of a joint venture between Sony and SanDisk, as a compact, high capacity, storage solution for portable digital devices, such as digital cameras, MP3 players and mobile phones. The Micro M2 Memory Card measures just 12.5mm x 15.0mm x 1.2mm, roughly ¼ the size of its predecessor, the Memory Stick Pro Duo, and weighs less than 0.5g, making it suitable for the storage needs of the latest, ever smaller, but, nevertheless, ever more functional, mobile phones.
The Micro M2 Memory Card is available, nowadays, in storage capacities between 64MB and 8GB, sufficient for roughly 5,000 high resolution digital photographs, 5 hours of MPEG4 digital video or 2,000 individual music tracks, so, whatever the storage requirements, you no longer need to worry about running out of space. Indeed, the 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions of the Micro M2 Memory Card also include a USB adaptor, allowing you to transfer digital media to, and from, a computer with a minimum of fuss. A Micro M2 Memory Card is therefore ideal for multifunctional mobile phones, such as those from Sony Ericsson, which feature integral digital camera and camcorder functions, an MP3 player and a video player. Mobile phone users may also wish to store documents, email attachments and contacts.
The Micro M2 Memory Card is compatible not only with mobile phones, and other devices, with an M2 slot, but also with Memory Stick Pro Duo compatible devices via an adaptor. The Micro M2 Memory Card also supports 3.3-volt operation, for backwards compatibility with Memory Pro Duo devices, for example, but also the lower voltage, 1.8-volt interface, which is a feature of the latest mobile phones from Sony Ericsson. This means that the Micro M2 Memory Card can be used in a wide range of devices, including the PSP ("Playstation Portable") for example, but, if you are considering a high capacity card, do check that it is actually supported by your chosen device; some mobile phones, for example, may not support memory expansion cards above 2GB.
The Micro M2 Memory Card also features a controlled ejection function, which allows the card to be removed from a digital device safely, and without the risk of losing, or corrupting, data. Data transfer speeds of up to 20MB per second are supported, and the Micro M2 Memory Card is designed to be robust, and durable, working reliably at temperatures as high as 85°C and as low as -25°C. Sony Magicgate encryption technology provides an additional layer of security for your digital photographs, video and music. The Micro M2 Memory Card is typically more expensive, but, on the whole, faster, and more reliable, less susceptible to overheating and errors, for example, than some other types of memory expansion card, and so justifies the extra initial expense.
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AUG
5
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Guide to Compact Flash Memory Cards
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| Posted Under Memory Card Guides By Dan at 9:00pm |
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The Compact Flash, often abbreviated to "CF", memory card format was originally introduced by SanDisk in 1994. It was originally available in two different types, "Type I" and "Type II", both of which measured 43mm x 36mm in surface area, but differed in thickness, 3.3mm and 5.0mm respectively, reflecting the different widths of PC slot available at the time. Type II Compact Flash cards are now largely obsolete. Compact Flash cards contain memory chips and a controller, and were the first type of memory expansion card to effectively become "standard" in the digital camera market, offering storage capacities of between 8MB and 8GB.
Compact Flash cards, as the name suggests, employs non-volatile, "flash" memory, the data contained in the memory remains, even if power is disconnected, until transferred elsewhere, or deleted, by the user, and are therefore suitable for a wide range of digital storage applications, including in digital cameras and camcorders, PDA ("Personal Digital Assistant") devices, MP3 players, etc.
Data transfer speeds to, and from, a memory expansion card, the "write" speed, or the rate at which data can be written to the card, in particular, are of paramount importance to a digital photographer who wants to take multiple photographs in rapid succession. Too slow a write speed may mean that a digital camera is still processing the data from a previous photograph when the photographer himself, or herself, is ready to take the next shot, and the moment may be lost. The fastest Compact Flash cards, however, offer a combined read/write speed of 40MB per second, or 266 times faster than a single speed CD-ROM, and Compact Flash remains a popular for digital compact, and digital SLR ("Single Lens Reflex"), cameras.
In terms of storage capacity, while the sky is not quite the limit, Compact Flash memory cards are typically available in storage capacities between 512MB and 8GB, and 16GB, 32GB, 48GB and even 64GB models are becoming increasingly available. Do bear in mind, however, that these very high capacity Compact Flash cards are not, necessarily, the fastest, and, if you are using a FAT ("File Allocation Table") based device, the host device does need to support the FAT32 file system, for Compact Flash cards of over 2GB storage capacity. As a rule of thumb, you can calculate the total number of digital photographs, for example, that can be stored on a Compact Flash card by calculating the storage space required for a single photograph, and dividing the total storage space available. A typical compact digital camera, with a maximum resolution of 3.3Mp has an effective image size of 3.1Mp, and therefore, allowing for RGB ("Red, Green, Blue") colour components, requires 9.3MB of storage space; a 512MB Compact Flash card could therefore hold 55 such digital photographs, whereas a 16GB card could hold 1,720.
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