SanDisk's new Memory Stick PRO is the perfect solution for anyone who needs to capture and play back DVD-quality video in real time, or store CD-quality music, high-resolution digital images, and any other application that requires high performance, fast data transfer, large capacities and advanced security.
Advanced Features:
- High-speed data transfer rate of 15Mbps for DVD-quality video in real time
- The fast transfer rates help prevent data loss when power is suddenly cut-off or if the media is removed accidentally
- Advanced security with Access Control Function and MagicGate™ technology
Note: Memory Stick PRO is only compatible to Memory Stick PRO enabled devices.
1 Explanation of PRO and MagiGate!!!
I have been reading the reviews and am surprised at the misinformed statements contained. First off, Memorystick Pro is a newer format that regular memorystick which has differences in access times and overall capacity. Regular memorysticks are limited to 128 MB and are slower than the Pro variety which goes to 2GB. The Memorystick Select is 2 128 MB memorysticks combined into one and divided by a switch. The reason it exists was to raise the limit on memorysticks but it has the drawback that you have to take the memorystick out and move the switch to access the other half of the memory on the card. Newer Clies and cameras accept the Pro Memorystick but earlier units can not use them. The way to know is on the unit itself. Both my camera and my Clie accept the Pro variety.
Now onto MagiGate, it is a security format needed for storing Music in ATRAC format. This proprietary format is according to some sources the format music on MiniDiscs is. Now for a camera, MagiGate does not make a difference but on a Clie for Music MagiGate is probably better so you can take advantage of this format without sacrificing the ability to save files in MP3 format.
Now onto the size and price considerations. At the moment the difference in price from 128 MB to 256 MB is less than between a 256 and a 512. By this I mean 2 times the price of 128 is significantly more than the price for 1 256 while the price of 2 256 is a lot closer the the price of 512. For me this means the most adecuately priced is the 256 MB.
2 Decently Priced and No Switching Nonsense
Yes, a little on the expensive side, but compared to Sony and Lexar, it's still cheaper.
I almost bought a regular memory stick, which would've required me to flip a small switch once I used up 128 mb (my parents have old folks' vision, and the switching would've driven them nuts). This Memory Stick Pro does not require any switching nonsense, making it very convenient to use.
I haven't had any problems with my purchase. It is also compatible with Sony LCD TVs that contain a port for Memory Sticks.
3 Great low cost solution
This memory card is reliable and it's a perfect fit for my Sony 5.1 Megapixel Cybershot DSC-P93A.
On my camera, you can store the following number of images: 5MP = 98, 3MP = 158, 1MP = 380, VGA = 1520. This is significantly more than you can get on the card that comes with the camera (32MB).
The prices vary wildly for this item. Not knowing any better, the week that I bought my camer, I purchased three of these cards for; $57, $47 and $37 respectively. Be sure to price shop before you buy.
4 Reliable and cheap
This Sandisk 256MB Memory Stick flash memory card is reliable and it's a perfect fit for the latest Sony digital cameras and Clie handhelds. Sandisk designs their own memory controller circuits and they are good at making the Memory Stick compatible with all new Sony products. As long as you don't drop this or soak it in water (why would you do that?), you should expect many years of solid service out of this.
BTW, you shouldn't be paying more than $40 for this, and as of today (1/3/05) Amazon has the best price. Shop around if Amazon price goes above $40 (before rebate).
The Sandisk 512MB Memory Stick Pro flash card is also good, although some Sony products may not be able to use all 512MB. Check your Sony manual before you buy. Good thing Amazon does offer a 30-day money back guarantee.
5 Great, but very expensive product
I had recieved for the holidays a Sony Cybershot Digital Camera (DSC-P73), which did come with a 16MB memory stick. The 16MB memory stick would be nice for low reslution pics and vids, but I personality enjoy full screen, and the 16MB is clearly not enough. So, I also recieved this as a gift. I'm glad I didn't get anything smaller, because there wouldn't be enough to hold enough. If I got something bigger, it would be much to expensive, and I would be wasting money for a bunch of space I didn't use and never would use. With this, it gives a good amount of pics capacity and you can film about 11 minutes on the 640 standard version. Though, this is not a very big memory stick such as the 512MB, it does cost a lot of $$. Also, Sony and Sandisk try to push you into buying it because of some Magicgate thing. Magicgate is not a befenit or a letdown, it's just a camera supporter. Also, the memory stick is NOT PRO. All memory stick are the same and the only difference between any of them would be the size capacity. So, go ahead and buy this memory stick, considering you will probably need it on the long run if you are into high resolution, but remember that Magicgate and Memory Stick Pro are things to convince you to buy it and really have no difference whatsoever.
6 This Works Well With No Problems!
This gives me right around 100 pictures when used with my Sony DSC-F717 digital camera. I have heard of some people having difficuties using this "blue" SanDisk Memory Stick Pro with certain memory card readers but I do not know exactly how extensive a problem it is. I have always used mine with a SanDisk 8-in-1 usb 2.0 Hi-speed Reader and have never had a problem with it.
7 JUST ENOUGH
Clear and well defined photos about 100 pictures in 5 MP mode
clears/formats very well (some others we have tried leave a residual partial frame barely noticable but after 20-30 formats you lose 1-2 frames). In video this is the ONLY brand that has ZERO dragging of images/blurring (try with the original Sony and ScanDisk of a car moving or a baseball game you can see the difference in the edges). Basically, after 2 years with our Sony
we only use this stick ( we have 4) and have had GREAT results. A family day out using the 256mb for pictures and video it's just enough without worring about having another stick.
8 Not too shabby
I bought this for my Sony Cybershot DSCP73, it can hold about 150 pictures at 4 megapixels. Also, I like the fact that it's all stored on one side, it's not one of those 128MB + 128MB that you have to flip.
9 Not for F707
I couldn't find anywhere that it wouldn't work for a Sony F707 camera. it doesn't! I hope this helps someone not make a mistake of trying it.
10 Imation FlashGO! 2.0 will not recognize this card
After reading the reviews I decided to get the SanDisk 256 MB Memory Stick PRO for my Sony DSC-F717, for which it works great. Unfortunately my imation FlashGO! 2.0 USB card reader will not recognize it, so I have to connect the camera directly to my PC for downloading pictures. Probably would not have bought the card had I known this in advance.
11 Inexpensive but slow.
OK I have a Sony DSC-F717 and have 2 memory stick pros with the same 256mb. One is Sandisk and the other is Lexar. One way to tell the speed is during the format of these memory sticks. When I format the Sandisk, it takes about 4 seconds while the Lexar takes under 2 seconds to format. I haven't checked the latest prices for Lexar, but it probably cost a little more then the Sandisk. When taking actual pictures, the main difference is when you review pictures you just took a shot of...the Lexar will display them faster then the Sandisk which in turn will display faster then a normal memory stick. If you have the patience to wait a second or two more, then the sandisk is a great alternative due to its price. But it kind of annoys me that Sandisk generally has lower performance on its memory, even though their packaging says contrary...but on the other hand, it is inexpensive and to my experience, just as reliable as the faster memory.
12 Not compatible to origianl Memory Stick products !!!
I bought one, plug it in my SONY DSC-P9 digital camera, and very sadly found that they are not compatible.
My SONY DSC-P9 said it is a wrong memory stick.
I will have to refund it.
Not good.
13 Excellent product that is still too expensive
I bought the 256 memory stick with my new Sony DSCP100. "Memory Stick" memory is more expensive than other types of IC memory because Sony always develops its own formats to force on the world. I almost purchased the Nikon camera for this reason.
This memory was the least expensive of the PRO type and that was the sole reason behind my purchase decision. My camera requires "Pro" media if you want to shoot video in the "fine" mode otherwise standard Memory Stick media would work just fine. In comparing it to the Memory Stick that came with the camera the SanDisk version seems physically more durable than the Sony. Don't think this will be an issue but it was reassuring to have something that felt so solid after dropping this kind of $$.
This memory works as advertised and has functioned without any problems. IC memory is VERY durable and in most cases shouldnt experience any problems to begin with.
Sony and SanDisk push "Magic Gate" as some sort of user benefit. "Magic Gate" has absolutly no benefit to consumers. So don't base any purchase decisions on Magic Gate compatibility.
Overall a great value. Can't go wrong here.
14 great stick
this is a great memory card for sony products...aside from the price compared to secure digital and compact flash, this stick holds its own...although this is cheaper than the sony brand the memory stick PRO in general is still priced too high and thus prevents me from giving it 5 stars...
to those who say its not compatible w/ their sony stuff and blame sony for not warning them, those people should read their products more carefully before blaming sony...even when you buy the memory stick PRO, the package says it may not be compatible w/ some sony products...sony did the right thing by making a faster memory stick and if its anyone's fault it is all those techno newbies' fault out there who don't know what they're buying in the first place. basically, any sony product made since 2003 supports the PRO format
15 Great Device *** NOT COMPATIBLE WITH SOME SONY DEVICES ***
I purchased this device as a gift for a Sony DSC-s85 not knowing that Sony had designed their memory stick poorly ( http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-977004.html ). Though the DSC-S85 claims to support all levels of memory stick it does not support anything over 128MB. I guess the designers/testers at Sony never even thought that consumers will be purchasing anything greater than 128MB.
Before purchasing check your manual, then check for complaints on the web.
16 This is THE stick to buy
I have several different types of memory sticks. I even have two pro sticks (this one and Sony's). For the money this truly is the best deal. I have the Sony 256 Pro stick and other than the fact that it costs more I notice no other differences.
Pro:
* No a-b switch like some other 256 sticks
* Cost is comparable to other 256 sticks
* Writes faster
Cons:
* For me I have not found one yet. However it is a good idea to make sure your device works with the pro technology.
Until they come out with something better (or the 512 pro sticks drop dramatically in price) this will be the type of memory stick I buy.
17 SanDisk = Best deal
I was little worried SanDisk won't be compatible with my Sony DSC F717 digital camera, and decided to risk it and buy another 256MB card. And it works. Now I recommend it to everyone because it's 20% cheaper then Sony and it's compatible with my camera. [...]
18 Excellent !!!
I've recently moved to an 8 MB camera, which means that I use up memory even faster than before. The Memory Stick Pro is advertised to have faster write speeds and my stopwatch agrees. This might not seem like much of an issue, but as the media capacity raises, you can sit there quite a while waiting to offload images. The Stick I bought is 256 MB and I plan to pick up a 512 MB or 1 GB when their prices drop. It's hard to get too much capacity.
I haven't piddled with it yet, but the MS Pro has security and copyright protection capabilities. The thing you have to be careful of is that older MS cameras are not all compatible with the MS Pro.
19 Great alternative to Sony brand
I purchased this stick for my DSC-F717, which eats memory stick space.
I get 98 pictures at the highest 2560 resolution, at over 2 MB per picture. Of course at the lower settings, I can take an entire vacation worth of pictures without having to empty or replace the card.
This is superior to the cheaper 256 MB solutions, as you don't have to remove the card and flip a switch to access half of it. The memory is all contiguous.
