Used strictly by Olympus and Fujifilm, the xD picture flash memory card for storing "pictures" is manufactured by Toshiba and Samsung and licensed to various brands. Enough said; these cards are more expensive than standard SD memory cards because of economies of scale; SD cards are manufactured in greater volume. I read up on xD and apart from the standard gripes against it -- more expensive, slower read speed, less widespread use -- it does not have any edge over SD memory cards; it certainly does not store pictures any differently.
I am of the opinion that, since this particular memory card is not better, Fujifilm and Olympus are just using market dominance to sell backend products; that's normal, but still vaguely annoying. Olympus makes some claims to superior picture quality but we are not reviewing an Olympus camera here.
Now that I have shown enough disapproval of the xD card technology, let's look at the pros and cons of this particular technology.
I've listed more pros than cons. My recommendation is that if you want something simple, easy to use and relatively "cheap" get a Fujifilm Finepix A500 digital camera.
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
