REVIEW: SanDisk SD Plus Flash Card

Ever get tired of finding that memory carder or even the USB cable to transfer the files form your camera to the computer? Well this product will likely change your life; stick around because I am going to review one of my favorite gadgets of all time.

SanDisk has come up with a product that is simply genius and more people should be aware of it - the SD plus flash card. The picture shows two versions of this card, the original on the right and the ducati version in sporty Italian red on the left. The earlier version of the card was released before the SDHC technology was standard - so it was back when a 2GB SD was fairly large and moderately priced. I opted to spend a little more at the time for this one because I was interested in this cool feature of USB and the idea of a faster SD card. At first I thought it was just a neat gimmick but i soon realized this was actually a very practical and versitle product that i have used more often than any other flash drive. It's much smaller than a conventional USB drive and functions almost the same. Also the retail version of the SD plus card comes with a bonus key chain accessory that allows you to sleekly store the SD card when you're not using it (almost like a USB drive).

Because this is also an SD card, it can go directly into whichever device that supports SD such as music players, digital cameras, and digital picture frames just to name a few. Having the USB and SD interface in one card does not sound as cool as it actually is - this combination is actually very strong together and has really affected the way i think about future SD card investments. I don't ever have to use a card reader anymore and also won't need to carry the card reader or USB cable while i travel with my point and shoot camera. I could put it into my pocket with the supplied key chain accessory like i would with any USB drive, but now i have a spare SD card at all times in case i ever need to replace an SD card from any device. There are probably many more ways to show how this card excels past your normal USB or SD flash, but let's focus back to the review.

The older version is labeled an Ultra II and is spec'd to perform fast at the time - when tested it got about 9MB / sec. read speeds. One thing i noticed about the older version of the drive is that it will heat up a bit when plugged into a USB port - although i never had the drive fail on me for years now, it still is something i worry about. There are several versions of this drive: 512MB, 1GB, 2GB (shown), 4GB SDHC, and the rare 8GB SDHC version. The SDHC versions are rated as Class 4 - i have not tested these newer SDHC versions but i'm sure they will be similar, performance-wise, as the one i have with me today. For most people the 9MB/s speed should be plenty and would satisfy most point and shoot cameras. But if you were more professional or shoot in RAW you might need faster speeds to save time between transferring files and also saving photos in burst mode.


For those who are in the need for more speed, there is the special Ducati edition of the SD plus and it is as fast as it sounds. The card was created in cooperation with the Ducati motorsports branding to show their dedication to speed and performance. This card is rated as a Class 6 SDHC card and rated to read/write up to 20MB/s. But all SDHC cards are not created equal and there has been some Class 10 SDHCs that got out performed by slower Class cards such as this one. I've looked online and found a website that had a database of the Read/write speeds of almost all current flash cards on different cameras / card readers and found that the fastest speed obtainable from the Ducati SD plus was around 20MB /sec. with their best card reader. I decided to run my own test and was surprised at the results I got from using the built in USB, 24MB/sec. as shown from the photo.

The price of the ducati version, when it first released, retail was $129 - something very extravagant and never made it on my shopping list. But with SDHC phasing out and card capacities rising - there has been an overstock of these cards and stores are liquidating them at prices similar to regular SD Plus prices. I was able to purchase a pair from overstock.com for under $50 in bulk OEM packaging. I have been a huge fan and decided to just buy it knowing i could of gotten two 16GB SDHC cards for roughly the same price.

This product is really something you just need to experience first hand just to see how awesome it really is. To those who are debating if it is worth the sacrifice in storage, it might not be worth replacing your main card - just keep this one on your key chain in case you need it. I would recommend buying one just because it doubles as a USB drive so it's something that can see daily use vs. something just sitting inside your camera. One thing that i like about it is that it's RED!