Looks like the 512MB SD card has hit a sweet spot, $99!

iPat · 02-09-04, 05:56 PM

CompUSA is selling a PNY 512 MB SD Card For $99.99, after a $50 instant rebate and a $30 mail-in rebate. There is one downside --
it's only available via in-store pickup.

Here's the URL to pocketnow.com

[url]http://www.pocketnow.com/index.phpa=portal_detail&t=news&id=2109[/url]

sshhaa · 02-09-04, 06:09 PM

I can believe it. There is a Comp USA only 5 miles away from my house.

Sash[DSL] · 02-09-04, 07:06 PM

Are there any compusa's in Canada?

35forest · 02-09-04, 07:43 PM

The only card that I can find on their site is a CF 512mb card. I was in the store today checking out prices and did see this deal there. The above link does not work either.

ctiger · 02-09-04, 08:50 PM

Unfrotunately they have already sold out. so they have taken it off the net.

CT

Temp3542 · 02-09-04, 11:01 PM

I bought the PNY 512 from CompUSA, however when I inserted teh card it only comes up as 488.25.....any suggestions????

pswets · 02-09-04, 11:41 PM

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Temp3542 [/i]
[B]I bought the PNY 512 from CompUSA, however when I inserted teh card it only comes up as 488.25.....any suggestions???? [/B][/QUOTE]
That's about right. All the cards use overhead, and also the adverts list them as. say, 512 x 1000 bytes = 512 Mb, while internally one Mb is 2^10 = 1024 bytes, so an advertised 512 starts out with only 500 Mb usable, not counting file structure, etc. 488 is slightly low, but about right -- maybe another card could use less overhead and squeeze out a few more Mb (but still fewer than 500, I'd say).

Astounded EEG · 02-10-04, 12:10 AM

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by pswets [/i]
[B]That's about right. All the cards use overhead, and also the adverts list them as. say, 512 x 1000 bytes = 512 Mb, while internally one Mb is 2^10 = 1024 bytes, so an advertised 512 starts out with only 500 Mb usable, not counting file structure, etc. 488 is slightly low, but about right -- maybe another card could use less overhead and squeeze out a few more Mb (but still fewer than 500, I'd say). [/B][/QUOTE]

hmm your math is a little fuzzy.

512 * 1000 bytes does not equal "512 Mb." First of all, that's obviously off by at least a factor of 1,000, and second, I think you're confusing acronym formatting...

a lowercase "b" in a memory capacity acronym stands for "bit" as opposed to "byte," which is equal to [b]8[/b] bits. (512M[b]b[/b] only equals 64M[b]B[/b] :sad:.)

(....for the real geek enthusiast, "bit" stands for [b]b[/b]inary dig[b]it[/b] (0's and 1's), and "bytes" are used as the basic unit of memory in computing because they are the minimum amount of memory needed to encode one letter (I think).)

Formatting probably has next to nothing to do with the fact that virtually every piece of memory out there is under-capacity, so to speak. The reason manufacturers gyp people on memory is much better than that: it saves them [b]money[/b].

Here is the technicality that they use: according to manufacturers, "MB" stands for Million Bytes, not MegaBytes. If you check your cards, you will notice that the decimal-format byte count is very very close to the advertised capacity in Millions of Bytes. Once you convert to binary/byte format, however, it drops to the number you see (i.e., 488.25) because, as pswets (sort of) said, a [b]true MB[/b] = 1,024 kilobytes = 1,048,576 bytes.

Thus....
512,000,000 bytes divided by 1,048,576 bytes per MB = 488.28125 MB.

So, you're 0.03MB short of what you're supposed to have.

By the same logic, my SimpleTech 512MB SD actually has 2.96875MB more than it is supposed to. (though I did pay about ten bucks more than you did.)

sorry, no trading. :p

joelw135 · 02-10-04, 07:32 AM

I have the Kingston 512mb and it had something like 488.125 + or - a bit.

snathanb · 02-10-04, 10:13 AM

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Sash[DSL] [/i]
[B]Are there any compusa's in Canada? [/B][/QUOTE]

Seems they would have to change the name... CompCanada?

ramjet696 · 02-10-04, 01:18 PM

Officemax has Lexar 12x 512CF for $99(no rebate required). Then you also get a $20 rebate. So thats $79.00.
It's made in China, Indonesia or USA.
I picked 1 up and it seems to work fine

bruceatk · 02-11-04, 09:32 AM

I actually bought one of these almost two weeks ago for $199.00. I went back there last night (Salem, NH) and got their 14 day price guarantee. They returned my $199.00 and I then re-purchased the one I already had for $129.00 and got the rebate also.

They still had a few left.

Bruce

Diogenes · 02-12-04, 11:30 PM

I went to Kingston.com and ran memory options program for Axim X5. They say 256meg is max for SD, and didn't even offer 512meg for this PPC. This thread suggests otherwise. What limit to PPC usage is there?

sentinel · 02-13-04, 06:10 PM

I got mine today. 2nd to last there...

KostasK · 02-13-04, 07:15 PM

Astounded EEG:

The memory is lost in formatting, and whatever the manufacturers use for making SD cards secure. Memory chips are based on the power of 2 type addressing scheme, and 488.25 MB doesn't fit into that scheme.

The formatting losses are due to the FAT file system, and are similar to the capacity losses you get when you format a hard disk in DOS using fdisk/format.

The variation in card capacities is probably due to the security system size differences between vendors. The flash memory chips in SD cards always go up in a factor of 2 mode (i.e. 32, 64, 128, 256, 512....). You will not see 192 MB memory chips. A 512 MB SD card is always 2 X 256MB memory chips. And the MB for Memory chips is a proper Mega Byte (1,048,576 Bytes), not the hard drive vendors Million Bytes 1,000,000 Bytes).

Your math above is perfect, but it just so happens that the math works out to explain the capacity of Temp 3542s card, and doesn't work for your own card.

Kostas

User Name		Remember Me?
Password

Hot Deals - Use sub-forums to search for bargains and classifieds.