While Kingston has their Class 2 card for sale, SanDisk has already released to the market their own Class 4 version for this card ( Mobile Ultra ), which is supposed to be twice as fast as the competitor. However, the higher speed comes with a cost – $100, not so cheap.

Whether you’re looking to buy a Class 2 micro-SDHC card or a speedy Class 4 micro-SDHC card, both options are already here for you to decide. I’ve found that for most applications Class 2 is more than enough.

Link to Kingston 16GB microSDHC Class 2 Memory Card in Amazon ($48)

Link to SanDisk 16GB microSDHC Class 4 Memory Card in Amazon ($100)

SDXC is the new SD card standard that will replace SDHC (limited to 32GB). While the new SDXC standard is limited to 2000GB (2 tera bytes), no one said you can’t manufacture a low-capacity SDXC card. So why on earth would we need a 32GB SDXC when there are already 32GB SDHC memory cards on the market?

We don’t need it! But good for Pretec for their breaking news. Currently, this Pretec 32GB SDXC can not be used simply because no device supports this standard. New devices that will support SDXC will also support SDHC, so even in the future there will be no real reason to buy this card, unless of course, it is truly faster than any other SD card in the market, as claimed by Pretec.

The SDXC standard specifies read/write speed upto 50MB per second initially and up to 104MB per second in the future.

Now let’s see who’s going to be the first to announce the real deal – 64GB SDXC. Will it be Toshiba, Panasonic, SanDisk or maybe even Pretec.

A fake image of a SanDisk 32GB microSD card, found on the internet

The second half of 2009 is June. So does this mean we’re going to see this baby on the market in three months from now? Probably not. Expect this 32GB micro-SDHC memory card to be available not before the last quarter of 2009 (September – December).

As for the near future, there’s a big buzz around the new SDXC standard (the one that will replace the limited SDHC standard). These cards will be available in capacities of 64GB and up. If we take into consideration that usually micro-SDHC cards get on the market around the same time SD cards with four times the capacity get on the market, the really big news is, we might see 128GB SDXC (the bigger version) during the beginning of 2010.

On the other hand, SDXC is likely to have difficulties penetrating the market so the whole thing might be delayed for some time. We’ll have to wait and see.

So let’s see what we have today:

SD Card – Secure Digital (Maximum capacity 2GB)

SDHC Card – SD High Capacity (Maximum capacity 32GB)

SDXC Card – SD eXtreme Capacity (Maximum capacity 2000GB).

To be honest,  SDXC stands for SD eXtended capacity, not for eXtreme, but you get the drift.

I don’t know who is responsible for this catastrophe. Now we have to upgrade everything again! It was only two years ago when they forced us to upgrade and now they are going to do it again. That means that all of our devices are going to be obsolete by 2010. That is, if you want a super-high capacity memory card.

As of February 2009, we have 32GB SDHC cards, as well as 16GB microSDHC cards. My guess is that by the end of this year we will see 32GB microSDHC cards. This is the last evolvement of SDHC cards as we know it, or is it…?

Two years ago when the industry moved from SD to SDHC, people still wanted their old devices to get higher capacity cards. The market was flooded with 4GB SD cards. These were not SDHC cards, and while causing compatibility problems, some devices could use them. So the big question is:

Will we see a 64GB SDHC or a 64GB microSDHC card?

-It is not impossible.

These cards will not match the specifications of the SDHC standard. They might cause compatibility issues, but my guess is that some manufacturers did not block this option. They might have even enabled it.

SDXC – The new standard

There is nothing to be excited about the new SDXC standard. Since SDHC is limited to 32GB, it was only a natural evolvement that was required as the next step. It was a stupid move to limit the SDHC specification, but that’s life. Manufacturers want you to upgrade to (buy) new devices, and there’s nothing like a new SDXC standard to help you make the right decision.

The only good news is that SDXC is limited to 2000GB or 2TB. History shows us that manufacturers release new cards to the market every half a year or so. This means we might see 64GB SDXC memory cards in 2009, 128GB SDXC memory cards in the beginning of 2010, 256GB SDXC memory cards by the end of 2010, 512GB SDXC memory cards in the middle of 2011, 1TB SDXC memory cards by 2011 or 2012. The desired 2TB SDXC memory cards will be on the market by the end of the year 2012. Almost four years from now.

Well, get ready to upgrade your cameras, PDAs and other cool gadgets in 1 year from now, and in 4 to 5 years from now. Needless to say, this is only a  rough estimation of what is going to happen.

So to sum it up, I’m hoping to see some 64GB non-standard-SDHC memory cards before we’re forced to upgrade everything again. If we see them, it will be by the beginning of 2010. Don’t get your hopes too high though. The new SDXC standard will swallow them all if you like it or not.

I have recently come back from a tour around China. Looking for a high capacity memory card was one of the most exhausting tasks that I had (excluding the task of communicating in Chinese, of course). I’ve been in several big cities around the country. Among them are Beijing, X’ian, Chengdu, Kunming and others. As I’ve heard (but did not check for myself), it is worse around Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen which are, by rumors, the main source for fake merchendise in China.

The price for a fake 8GB microSDHC SanDisk memory card was 200 RMB as of September-November 2008. These are not real SanDisk cards, but 4GB microSDHC cards loaded with a virus. The same goes for fake Kingston 8GB microSDHC memory cards.

When you plug these cards into your computer, there are two options: Either your anti-virus will detect the hidden autorun.inf file or not. In case of detection, the file will be erased by the anti-virus, but will re-create itself during the next insertion. It cannot be deleted since the manufacturer messed with the memory card’s controller. The main purpose of this virus is to conceal the true capacity of the card.

Avoid purchasing high capacity memory cards in China

There are a few thumb rules before buying a memory card from China:

1. As of November 2008, there were almost NO genuine microSDHC 8GB memory cards. Even if you did get a memory card with real capacity, it is most likely a fake one. Still, it might work. Avoid, by any means, buying the top-of-the-line memory card from local stores in China.

2. Most high-capacity memory cards sold in electronic malls are in open packages. In case the packaging is not securely sealed, the card is 99% fake or with a virus.

There are two techniques to conceal fake memory cards: The common technique is using a cheap fake SanDisk packaging. It looks smaller and different than a genuine one. You can actually open the packaging to get out the card because it is not sealed. If it looks suspicious, don’t buy it.

The second technique is to use a genuine SanDisk or Kingston packaging, replacing the original memory card with a fake one loaded with a virus. You will see a small cut made with a knife in the plastic. This is less common. I’ve been requested to pay more money for these kinds of cards (approx. 240-300RMB). As a thumb rule, if the packaging is open, don’t buy.

How to detect a fake capacity memory card

The best way to check for a false capacity memory card is the slowest way: Take a bunch of big files (e.g video files). Copy 8GB of files into the card. Next, copy them back into your hard-drive and check their integrity (see if they still work). To make this test more objective, copy the files back into a different computer to make sure they are not copied from a cache somewhere on your hard drive.

The virus can usually be detected by an updated anti-virus, but in China, many computers are already infected so it is difficult to see these files. The two files on the memory card are hidden. I could usually see them using an external file manager such as Total Commander.

autorun.inf (hidden Auto-Run file. Executes whenever the a card reader is inserted into a USB port)

filename.vbs (this filename has various names. This is a VB script)

Both files are in the root folder.

In order to see these files you need to set the computer so it will show hidden files, or as mentioned before, use an external file manager application that can do that.

Detecting a false capacity memory cards

It is not easy to know whether the 8GB microSDHC card that you just bought is actually a 4GB microSDHC card. Checking in DOS mode or in the Properties of the drive in Windows will show you a 8GB capacity card.

I have followed these steps to detect false capacity memory cards.

1. Format the memory card.

2. Disconnect the USB card reader.

3. Insert the card reader

4. Check for hidden autorun.inf

In case there still is a hidden autorun.inf after formatting, the card has most likely false capacity.

Take into account that it is possible the computer you are using is already infected. In case the computer is infected, it might infect the memory card, making you think it is the fault of the card. As mentioned before, the best way is to copy files into the card to verify its capacity.

On the bright side, in all of the stores where I bought false-capacity memory cards, the sellers looked surprised. Most of them do not realize they hold fake merchandise. I received a cash refund every time that happened. It is a huge waste of time, though.

It might come as a surprise to you, but memory cards are not cheap in most parts of China. Be careful and avoid unless it is absolutely necessary.

Lately, prices of the 16GB SDHC cards have been dropping as well. Clearly, this is a result of these newly released 32GB SDHC cards.

Link to the PNY 32GB SDHC card in Amazon ($110)

Model: PNY OPTIMA 32GB SDHC CLASS 4 PNY P-SDHC32G4-FS

The Panasonic 32GB SDHC card is already sold for a little less than the announced price, directly from Japan, as it seems. The SanDisk 32GB SDHC is being auctioned by an unknown eBay seller located in the US with no history whatsoever, which means it might be some sort of a scam. Let’s hope not.

This is going to directly effect the prices of those 16GB SDHC cards. Any time soon they are going to drop even more.

This adapter will convert your micro-SD or micro-SDHC cards to a SD card so you can use in your camera. It will also convert it to a tiny USB drive so you can connect it directly to your computer using a USB port.

So you got yourself a nice micro 4GB card for your cellphone but you want to use it for your camera as well? The obvious option is to use that cool adapter which comes with most of the microSD cards. But why settle with that when you can make your tiny microSD card into a USB drive?

Insert your card into the slot at the back and you’re good to go. It will work with 4GB micro-SDHC as a SD card and as a USB drive. I didn’t test for higher capacities.

Please note: Micro SD Trio 3-in-1 Adapter means – microSD card + microSD to SD Adapater + USB drive. It actually functions as two devices in one.

Get it here: These cheap adapters are being sold here for $3 USD (incl. shipping)

1. A new 32GB SDHC in the market means that 16GB, 8GB and 4GB SDHC cards will drop prices to make room for their new friend.

2. This means 64GB SDHC is the next step. We might already see them in the market by the end of 2008 or the first quarter of 2009. Who knows.

The interesting part is that although those tiny micro SDHC cards are one quarter of a full-size SDHC card, they are already available for sale in the form of 8GB micro SDHC, by Sandisk as well. It is probable that we are going to see by the end of 2008 16GB micro SDHC.

Since the new SDHC cards are evolving so fast, pretty soon someone will have to answer the question regarding the limitation of FAT32. I’m not sure if it really is a problem, but the maximum limitation of FAT32 when formatting a partition with Microsoft Windows is 32GB. You actually can format a FAT32 to a size bigger than 32GB using an external application, such as Partition Magic, but the big question is – will those SDHC compatible devices have problems reading those partitions? Will manufacturers force us yet again to dump our old devices from last year and buy new ones, only to use those 64GB or 128GB SDHC cards? I really hope not, but only time will tell.

Devices that have no support for SDHC can take SD cards upto 2GB. Some of them can take 4GB SD cards. Those 4GB SD cards are not SDHC, and since the SD standard doesn’t allow the file system to be over 2GB, they use some kind of a hack for this. It’s not acceptable for all devices so you’re taking a risk by buying a 4GB SD card.

As I was saying, the rumors came from well-known forums. They refer to the official US Canon website which added this specification only recently.

I’m still skeptic about it and wouldn’t believe until I am able to take a 16GB SDHC card, put it in my camera, shoot 16GB of pictures, and finally copy them all to a PC to verify the data.

Recently 8GB SDHC cards have become very cheap, as well as 16GB SDHC. As for myself, I wouldn’t be happy with SD cards until they will be available in 64GB or 128GB SDHC. This will probably happen by the end of 2009.

I’m trying to get my hands on one of these SDHC cards to test my camera so I’ll update soon. Read the full article to see updates.

1st Update: Supports Sandisk 4GB micro SDHC using an adapter. This is a class 2 card. I had no problem shooting photographs and video clips using the Canon S3 IS camera.

2nd Update: Supports Sandisk 8GB micro SDHC using an adapter. This is a class 4 card. I had no problem shooting photographs with this card as well.