Review: World’s First 16GB microSDHC Card from SanDisk

SanDisk released the world’s first 16GB microSDHC card and I think they’re a great accessory for notebooks and mobile phones. Like all microSDHC cards, this thing is tiny and can fit on a dime.

I like having ready access to my files no matter where I am and while I don’t have a phone with a microSDHC slot I found two ways to use this product. Sure, there are various sync services, but then I have to manage them on each of the computers I’m using. I’m currently using and reviewing 18 notebooks and I don’t want to hassle with securely deleting my personal data off of the notebooks I send back.

I installed the 16GB microSD card in my Compass 579 3G wireless modem, which has a microSD card slot. I use the Compass 597 whenever I’m on the go and the 16GB capacity of this card means I can store a TON of data on it that I may need to set up a new computer. I’ve copied install images of Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop Elements, FireFox, Adobe Premiere Elements and a spreadsheet of my contacts on it. This small arsenal of apps mean I can take pretty much any notebook out of a box and have all the applications I need to do my work pretty quickly.

SanDisk makes a microSDHC/USB adapter that can clip onto your keychain. I have a 4GB microSD card that I’m using with this adapter and loaded it up with my favorite photos. I also crammed some family videos onto it so I can load them onto my relatives computers rather than burning DVDs for them and then having to answer their questions about how to rip the movies back onto their computers. I plan on upgrading this 4GB microSD card to a 16GB card soon.

Transfering files over feels relatively snappy. A 329MB AVI movie took 35 seconds to transfer from my notebook’s 5400RPM hard drive onto the 16GB microSD card. Small files, including individual songs transferred virtually instantly. Copying images from DVDs takes a lot longer, but this is because it takes longer to read files from optical drives than from hard drives.

The SanDisck microSDHC card is now available for $99 exclusively at Best Buy through the end of the year. After that you should be able to get them just about anywhere.