a better SD memory card

Paul’s note: Known on the international poker circuit as “the Dapper Californian,” Warren is a man of many nicknames: Brillo, the King, … He is also a frequent traveler, a mountaineer, the proud father of two wonderful little boys and, today, a guest contributor to (at least) one cool thing. Warren writes:

SD (Secure Digital) cards have become the de facto memory storage format for digital cameras. They come in a few different formats and a variety of memory capacities (up to 2 GB these days) to satisfy any photographer from amateur to professional. In my opinion, the biggest drawback of these cards has been the inconvenience of transferring the digital photographs from the camera to the computer. Typically, one needs to use an SD card reader, which is a separate peripheral device, in order to affect this transfer operation. While this may not be inconvenient if you're sitting at your computer at home, what do you do if you're traveling and want to send some of your photos to others or edit your photos mid-trip? A number of companies sell mobile SD card readers, but that doesn't eliminate the need for the peripheral device, it simply shrinks the device.

Fortunately, SanDisk recently came out with a novel SD card that eliminates the need for the reader entirely: the SanDisk Ultra II Plus. This creative SD card contains a USB connector built right into the form factor of the memory card. When you're ready to transfer your photos into your computer, you simply remove the SD card from your camera, bend it in half along the hinge line, and insert the revealed USB connector into your computer. Your computer immediately recognizes the SD card as a USB memory device and prompts you to select whether you'd like to view the images or transfer the images on to your computer's hard drive. In fact, the Ultra II Plus even incorporates a small, blue LED that tells you that the USB connection to your computer has been made.

With the SanDisk Ultra II Plus, transferring and viewing my photos is a snap, and, even more importantly, I'll never have to use (or lose) an SD card reader again!