SanDisk Memory Card 2GB review

I have a 10 megapixel digital camera and have it set to take pictures at maximum quality. I take a LOT of pictures, too. In addition, I often shoot video clips with my digital camera, as it does a pretty good job. However, the combination of big picture files plus video clips means that I go through a lot of camera memory. It's not unusual for me to fill up one 1GB chip and pop in another, and a 1GB chip can hold around 265 pictures from my camera. I solved this problem by getting a SanDisk 2GB SD Card for my camera. I paid $20 at a Radio Shack but have since seen it for as little as $17 elsewhere. What it is SD stands for "Secure Digital," and it is probably the most popular format for portable, removable memory chips. Other formats used today include xD, Memory Stick and Compact Flash, but SD seems to be the most popular type. These memory types are not interchangable -- you can only use SD memory if your device has a slot for SD memory. Therefore, you should learn what type of memory your device uses before you go shopping. An SD memory chip is about 1.25 inches long and about 0.9 inches wide. It is wafer thin and has a slide switch on one edge that can be used to prevent writing to the chip. On the back of the SD chip are nine copper contacts. SD chips are available in capacities up to at least 8 GB. I have not seen a 16 GB SD chip but it wouldn't surprise me if one existed. Using it I use the SanDisk 2GB SD Card in my Canon PowerShot G7 camera. The chip fits in a slot under a door on the underside of the camera, and it is easily installed and removed. Once I have pictures on the chip, I pop it out of the camera and slip it into an inexpensive card reader so that I can move the files into my computer. (Card readers are the best way to move pictures into your computer. If you connect a cable to the camera to move the pictures into the computer, get a $12 card reader... it's much more convenient.) SanDisk makes higher quality and faster SD chips than my standard 2GB chip but this one has worked perfectly for me. I've had no problems with it being too slow for my picture taking or for video clips. It might be too slow for an advanced digital SLR camera but it has worked perfectly for me. Summary For less than 20 bucks, the SanDisk 2GB SD Card is a bargain. If you look really hard, you may find it for as low as $15, which is a steal. I can get more than 500 very high resolution photos on this chip and it has not given me any problems in two months of heavy use. It is the perfect memory chip for any point-and-shoot digital camera that uses SD memory. I recommend the SanDisk 2GB SD Card.