OCZ Trifecta microSD card draws triple duty

[Nurhisham Hussein]

http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblog...t/~3/105406442/

"The aptly-dubbed Trifecta purportedly functions as any standard SD card should in your camera, PMP, or toilet, but it also acts as a flash card reader or USB thumb drive without any extra fuss"



Never mind the vivid imagery, the Trifecta does accommodate some useful usage scenarios. Take it out and plug it into any USB slot for file transfers, and use it in any microSD or SD slot. With so many different card formats, being able to effectively reduce the need for different card slots and/or readers is very welcome. Now can somebody do this with CF? Please?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblog...t/~3/105406442/

"The aptly-dubbed Trifecta purportedly functions as any standard SD card should in your camera, PMP, or toilet, but it also acts as a flash card reader or USB thumb drive without any extra fuss"



Never mind the vivid imagery, the Trifecta does accommodate some useful usage scenarios. Take it out and plug it into any USB slot for file transfers, and use it in any microSD or SD slot. With so many different card formats, being able to effectively reduce the need for different card slots and/or readers is very welcome. Now can somebody do this with CF? Please?

[ctmagnus]

Now they just need to incorporate the USB thing into a setup like this.

[beq]

Good stuff!

This OCZ Trifecta seems to be the same or similar to the A-DATA microSD Trio which launched Dec 2006.

Basically a microSD card bundled with a multifunction adapter that converts it into an SD card or a USB flash drive (the adapter is what's special, and what I've been wanting). OCZ bundles either a 1GB or a 2GB 66x (9.9MB/sec) microSD card, whereas A-DATA also includes a 512MB version but does not seem to publicize card speed? Strangely I can already find online stores through Google listing the OCZ models which were just announced, but not the A-DATA?

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Then again I also like the the solution ctmagnus refers to -- a microSD card which slips into a miniSD adapter which in turn slips into an SD adapter.

For such a solution I found the ATP SD Trio Professional (PDF) which launched Nov 2006 and bundles the adapters with either a 256MB, 512MB, or 1GB 80x (12MB/sec) microSD card -- a 2GB version was added Feb 2007. They also have a PLUS version of the packages that additionally includes a separate microSD USB key reader (I'd already found them at online stores, except the 2GB). ATP likes to advertise that their System-In-Package flash card manufacturing process makes their cards fully waterproof and extreme temperature resistant. See reviews like this, this, or this...

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I'm torn... The ATP solution would be great if I use miniSD. But I would still need to carry a separate microSD USB key reader (even if it's really small). The OCZ/A-DATA solutions might be the better way if I don't foresee ever needing to interface with miniSD devices? Maybe I can get the ATP microSD card for its speed and toughness, but use it with the OCZ/A-DATA multifunction adapter...

P.S. One of the reviews for the ATP found transfer rate cut in half when stacking the microSD->miniSD->SD adapters, but another review found only a little decrease in transfer rate, strange?

[RogueSpear]

I've been using an OCZ Rally 2GB USB drive for quite a while now and couldn't be happier with it. I've yet to see another USB drive so small that it will fit into the USB port of a Panasonic ToughBook without the use of an extension cable.

It's refreshing to a company coming out with some of the different and unique products that they do.

[beq]

Originally Posted by beq

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Then again I also like the the solution ctmagnus refers to -- a microSD card which slips into a miniSD adapter which in turn slips into an SD adapter.

For such a solution I found the ATP SD Trio Professional (PDF) which launched Nov 2006 and bundles the adapters with either a 256MB, 512MB, or 1GB 80x (12MB/sec) microSD card -- a 2GB version was added Feb 2007. They also have a PLUS version of the packages that additionally includes a separate microSD USB key reader (I'd already found them at online stores, except the 2GB). ATP likes to advertise that their System-In-Package flash card manufacturing process makes their cards fully waterproof and extreme temperature resistant. See reviews like this, this, or this...

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Wanted to note that the ATP solution differs from the type which bundles a miniSD adapter for the microSD card, and a separate fullsize SD adapter for the microSD card -- an example of the latter type is the 1GB Kingston bundle included in PPCT's Low Price Search of the Week. The ATP solution is more novel (and its PLUS version bundles a microSD USB adapter to boot), but then again it might also incur a bigger speed penalty when going through two adapters?

I would love for PPCT to include the 2GB microSD versions of all these solution bundles (the OCZ/A-DATA type, the ATP type, and the Kingston type) in their Low Price Search, as I'd buy some of each. Each product chosen should have a fast-rated microSD card.

I also like card manufacturing processes such as ATP's aforementioned SIP technology, and Kingmax's PIP technology which makes the card extremely rigid and water/heat resistant (I've owned a rigid Kingmax SD card and loved it). Both ATP and Kingmax seem to offer 2GB microSD cards with 12 - 12.5 MB/sec transfer rates?