Sony - Memory Sticks

Has anybody bought the new Sony Memory Stick Pro yet?

Care to share with the rest on your experience or maybe the views you have on this latest media by Sony?

Quote: Originally posted by Oops Has anybody bought the new Sony Memory Stick Pro yet? Care to share with the rest on your experience or maybe the views you have on this latest media by Sony?

What do you want to know?

I just got a MS PRO 256Mb from Alan Photo last week.

Did a test on my DSC-F717 to find out if the camera is able to support the MS PRO's faster writing time. (If not then the MS PRO is merely a larger MS )

I turned on BURST mode on my F717 and fired it at MAX Resolution, after the 3 shots and when the RED "RECORDING" light came ON on the LCD.

I hit the stop watch and timed the writing time.
When the "RECORDING" word disappears I stopped the stop-watch.

I repeated the test 3 times on both a 128Mb Memory Stick and the 256Mb Memory Stick PRO.

The 128Mb Memory Stick averaged = 10 seconds to save a 3 shot burst

The 256Mb Memory Stick PRO averaged = 6.5 to 7.0 seconds to save a 3shot burst.

Impressive, 30-35% time savings, however I expected it to be better (maybe half the time or more)

Overall for the time savings, I would prefer a 256Mb MS PRO over 2 pieces of 128Mb MS or a 2x128Mb MS select.

If you take single shots, the difference is hardly noticeable, but I guess every little second counts when you are shooting. And for those who love to shoot large TIFF files, the MS Pro will shave seconds off your wait.

My views on this media?
Well, what can I complain, it's the only media the SONY camera can use that's above the 256Mb mark.

It's rated faster than any CF in the market however the price of the 256Mb MS PRO can get you a 512Mb CF!!!

Though I expect the price to go down when Sandisk and Lexar get their's into the Singapore market.
Hopefully by the IT show in June.

The prices of the MS PRO is

256Mb = $240
512Mb = $480
1Gb = $960

That's cheaper than SONY's offical price of:
256Mb = $300
512Mb = $600
1GB = $1200

The MS PRO with MagicGate technologly (that's their copyright protection thingy for their walkmans or MP3 players to support the ATRAC3 format) it cannot be read on current Memory Stick readers unless you use the SONY's one which is damn expensive.

So I have to use my F717 as the reader to transfer the pics to my PC.

But 3rd party makers are coming up with 7-in-1 readers for the new MS PRO.

"DataFab’s USB 2.0 7-in-1 flash card reader/writer can apply to the most popular six media existing in the market now and also support new Memory Stick PRO format in one device"

http://www.datafab.com/Presss_Room/N...tail.asp?ID=39

Hopefully I can get one in the June's IT show.