Thursday, December 12, 2013

KOMPUTERBAY 16GB microSD microSDHC Flash Memory Card with N111 USB 2.0 Reader and SD Adapter - Ultra

KOMPUTERBAY 16GB microSD microSDHC Flash Memory Card with N111 USB 2.0 Reader and SD Adapter - Ultra High Speed Class 6The first thing I did was a properties on the card. It formats out to 29.7Gb under FAT32. That's normal. Using ATTO Disk Benchmark it had write transfer rates on average below 6MB/s and read rates on average around 12MB/s. When performing a disk capacity benchmark using H2test on the card, it had a sustained write speed of 5.35MB/s and sustained read speeds of 12.6MB/s. This card performed more on the lines of a class 4 card, not a class 6. It had no errors so it is a genuine 32GB card. I have a SanDisk microSDHC 16Gb, class 2 that has sustained write speeds of over 10MB/s and sustained read speeds over 18MB/s (I know, impressive for a class 2 card. SanDisk is modest when it comes to class speeds.) All in all I would not buy this card again if given the opportunity to do so. I would just settle for a SanDisk 32Gb class 2 microSDHC card as it appears that it will outperform this generic card. If this is the competition that SanDisk has, they need not worry. I have not decided whether I wish to send this card back or not. Video preview included.

I purchased this card in September 2010 and used it for two months in an HTC HD2 Windows Mobile phone. The size upgrade over the stock 16G card that came with the phone was well worth it to me, as I have hundreds of large (300M+) WMA/MP3 audio files and Audible audio books. Overall system performance was (subjectively) equivalent to the stock 16G card, and with twice the space as well.

In December I got a Samsung Focus Windows Phone. I used it for a week to get a feel for how it performs with only built-in storage (8G). I then moved my 32G card from the HD2 into the Focus (after saving my data and formatting the card, of course). Two weeks later I can say that the performance of the Focus is just as good as before. Side-by-side tests with another Focus launching apps and songs show startup times to be nearly identical. If you have a Focus and have been considering getting an internal MicroSDHC card, but have been concerned about compatibility, I can say that in my case it has been flawless.

Buy KOMPUTERBAY 16GB microSD microSDHC Flash Memory Card with N111 USB 2.0 Reader and SD Adapter - Ultra Now

Congratulations Komputerbay for your honesty and integrity!

I admit when I saw their Amazon advertisement for a New 16-Gbyte Class-6 micro-SDHC Memory Card for just $42 including shipping, I was reluctant to believe it. After all, if it really ran a little slower than advertised, who would know?

I would!

As soon as I received it I put it to my tests:

First I tested their advertised capacity (which Windows also reported) to be certain it was a REAL capacity. (It is possible for a seller to `spoof' capacity and trick Windows to report a capacity 4X higher than it really is.)

Result: 16 Gbytes of data files were copied to this micro-sdhc card and verified. Great!

Next, to test their speed claim of "Class 6":

The `Class' speed rating is a WRITE speed rating. (The Read speed is typically even faster.) Class 6 indicates a WRITE speed of at least 6 Mbytes per second. I use the free memory card testing program, "H2TestW" v1.4, freely available over the internet.

Result: For this memory card, H2TestW reported a Write speed of 7.7 Mbytes per second (and a Read speed of 11.2 Mbytes per second). So Komputerbay's claims are true!

What a nice deal!

This order comes with an sdhc adapter (which I used in the tests). It also comes with a micro-sdhc reader, but mine did not work; However its' monetary value is so small I won't give Komputerbay demerits for that. I'm just happy the memory card tests as-advertised.

Side Note (to Amazon): I noticed that one of the ratings attributes is simply "SPEED". This could be unfortunate for Amazon's advertised Class 2 memory cards because someone might rate that poorly just because it is not as fast as Class 6, when in fact the product may perform just as-advertised.

Recommendation: That attribute should be renamed, e.g., "SPEED (as advertised)"

Finally, a tip to buyers: I learned the hard way that it is better to buy micro-sdhc cards rather than standard sdhc especially for an expensive one. I once bought an 8-GB sdhc card and eventually the tiny moveable `write-protect' tab fell out leaving me with an 8-Gig card that can be written to but not ever erased. However, buying instead a micro-sdhc would be safer because there are no moving parts, and so you can use any sdhc adapter (which has a write protect tab). So if an adapter ever goes bad, only it needs to be replaced (for about a buck).

Read Best Reviews of KOMPUTERBAY 16GB microSD microSDHC Flash Memory Card with N111 USB 2.0 Reader and SD Adapter - Ultra Here

Edited Review:

I had originally not seen the speed from this microSD card that I was expecting. The included SD card adapter was completely useless. However, after using another adapter sold with a Transcend Micro class 6 card (which verified with class 6 speeds) I was only getting Class 1 (5&6MB/sec) speeds with a Sandisk and Transcend microSD Class6 cards(both 8GB). I had concluded that the Komputerbay 32GB module was slow.

I'm editing my original review because after I tested a USB connection to my phone (T-Mobile G2) the Komputerbay 32GB Class6 card was performing perfectly. I have moved over several medium sized movies(450MB-1.1GB), each of which was getting more than 6 MB/sec. I've amended my review to reflect the difference for performance in the phone versus using the included adapter or another SD card adapter.

Please keep in mind the Class rating is supposed to be a rating of minimum speeds to be attained with transfers to (and from) the card. The numbers and times you get can be variable depending on what you're transferring and how many files are in your transfer group. Your mileage _will_ vary.

Thank you for reading.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

The memory card registers correctly at 32 GB of space however the maximum transfer rates were around 1.3 MB a second. The included SD card adapter didn't even work and ended up not even being detectable by the OS (Windows 7 and Vista). Once the card was in another adapter the card was detected by the computer, however it was still slow in comparison to my other class 6 cards (5+MB/sec). I'm currently using it in my G2 just for testing, however I would recommend for users who need speed not space to get one of the other 16GB Class 6 cards instead.

A-DATA 16 GB Class 6 microSDHC Flash Memory Card AUSDH16GCL6-RA1

Of course I just tested one of these, but I'm not going to spend any more cash just to test the product.

Great if you need space. Horrible if you need performance.

Want KOMPUTERBAY 16GB microSD microSDHC Flash Memory Card with N111 USB 2.0 Reader and SD Adapter - Ultra Discount?

Just barly got this card. I transfered data using the provide sd card adapter to my computer it averaged 12 MBs per second and from my computer is 7.9 MBs per seconds on average. Using the usb adapter to my computer averaged 10 MBs per second and from my computer is 5.6 MBs per second. The usb adapter has a orange led light and a cap for the adapter. I am using it mainly for my HTC Evo 4G which is formated at FAT32, it's allocation size is 32 kilobytes, and it has 14.9 GB usable for my phone. I transfered data from my phone to my computer and it averaged 3.8 MBs per second and from my PC to my phone is 3 MBs per second on average. I will post any probs if they occur with the card.

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