SanDisk joins the SDHC club

With Toshiba and Panasonic having already unveiled their respective 4GB SDHC cards, you didn't really think that industry powerhouse SanDisk would be too far behind, did you? For the uninitiated, SDHC (or SD 2.0, as it's also known) is a new FAT32-compliant format designed for capacities up to 32GB, with cards that look exactly like regular SD models, but that won't work in any but the newest of digital devices. SanDisk's offering -- available sometime before the end of the month -- is rated as a Class 2 card, meaning that it guarantees a minimum transfer rate of 2MB per second. The $200 pricetag also gets you a "free" MicroMate card reader, which is not only handy but vital to making the most out of your new card, as the SD readers you currently own won't have any idea what to do with this thing.

[Q @ Jul 17th 2006 7:26PM]

Really, I thought SD card readers that use FAT32 were forwards compatible with SDHC. It's going to take a long time before device manufacturers transition their SD, MiniSD, and MicroSD compatible products to SDHC, MiniSDHC, and MicroSDHC. This is getting as bad as Sony's slew of Memory Stick formats.

[sc00tert00ter @ Jul 17th 2006 8:11PM]

i heard (probly from this site) that sony will start to sell movies for the psp on memory cards! i think that is a great idea. i would save a lot of space physically and im sure it would cut down on battery usage ;)

[Michael @ Jul 17th 2006 8:14PM]

I hope they made the capacity limit a lot higher than they did with SD. Being stuck at 2 gigs is pretty stupid.

[max @ Jul 17th 2006 8:19PM]

From Michael:

"I hope they made the capacity limit a lot higher than they did with SD. Being stuck at 2 gigs is pretty stupid."

From the post:

"unveiled their respective 4GB SDHC cards"

"FAT32-compliant format designed for capacities up to 32GB"


........didn't it take longer to post than to read the article???

[sc00tert00ter @ Jul 17th 2006 8:29PM]

WHAT THE HELL!?!?!? the add on engadget "made in eureka" dont just leave your pet... FREEZE IT please dont tell me thats real!

[Chris @ Jul 17th 2006 8:31PM]

Why?! Why introduce a whole new format and limit it to 32GB? That won't last long.

[JWRIGHT @ Jul 17th 2006 8:43PM]

Its not such a good idea that the cards are physically identical to the normal SD ones. Think of all the non-technical people out there who will be confused. They will think they are getting the latest and greatest SD card for their camera only to get home to find out it won't work. They should have changed/added something small (like not having the upper-right corner of the card cut off) so that it is physically distinguishable from a regular SD card. This way, an SDHC card reader will still be able to accept the older SD cards, but people will not be (as) confused. Also, the SDHC cards would not physically fit into SD-only devices, so people won't think their cameras are broken.

[bluetrane @ Jul 17th 2006 8:43PM]

same shape new format. less money for me

[Hamson @ Jul 17th 2006 9:50PM]

Dude... sc00tert00ter... you're right. I've never noticed that before. I hope to god that that cyro kennel isn't real. WTF indeed.

[Spyvie @ Jul 17th 2006 9:59PM]

Wahaddya mean is the Eureka Cryo Kennel for real… I’ve had my Fluffy in cryogenic suspention for a couple of weeks now. Saves me big bucks on dog food, and no more messes on the carpet when I’m gone for a couple of days.

I haven’t tried to thaw her out yet but what could possibly go wrong?

[n00bmaster @ Jul 17th 2006 10:07PM]

lol, they filmed eureaka at my school.

[andrew @ Jul 17th 2006 10:08PM]

@ Hamson,sc00tert00ter
of course its not real, did you even click the link??, Mr. T pitys the foo???

[pbg @ Jul 18th 2006 12:02AM]

sad day when people get scorched by tv show ads

on topic, cant wait to describe to another customer at the store (ritz camera subsidiary) why their card wont work in our kiosk

[Van Wyk @ Jul 18th 2006 5:21AM]

Spyvie - you're going straight to hell..... see you there ;)

[sam @ Jul 18th 2006 7:48AM]

So does this work with Treo700P?? and 650?

[Dave @ Jul 18th 2006 8:23AM]

How long before they max out this format. 2 years. The one thing SD had going for it was mass compatibility and cheapness. Now it has joined the memory stick and xd card ranks.

When will companies be forward thinking.

As long as everyone has to change their readers why not jump to ntfs and have limits up to 1 tb or more.

And come on people read the whole article or click on a link before posting. I thought engadget readers were better than this.

[quahogian @ Jul 18th 2006 7:58PM]

Now WTF would be a reason for me to get this SDHC crap instead of already available sub $80 4GB SD cards? Idiots...at least up the god damn capacity then release it. And what about that "it guarantees a minimum transfer rate of 2MB per second."??????????

A-DATA Turbo 4GB Secure Digital (SD) Flash Media Model Turbo SD 150X 4G - 150X (22.5MB/sec read, 15MB/sec write) - $78

Am I freakin blind and missing something, can somebody explain me what is going on?

[tekdroid @ Aug 23rd 2006 2:25PM]

Why?! Why introduce a whole new format and limit it to 32GB? That won't last long.
----
By the time 32GB in the SD form-factor becomes reality, let alone cheap and/or popular, there will be a million other alternatives with radically different technology. If anything, I see a total replacement well before they reach 12GB.

[Godfail @ Oct 24th 2007 8:30AM]

Remind me to never ask you for investment advice...

[connmannic @ Dec 20th 2007 11:34AM]

HAHA, my thought exactly.