News
Buyer's Guide: The Best Monitors 
Dane-Elec Micro SDHC 4 GB Class 4
More suggestions 
Less suggestions | Caractéristiques | |||
| Capacity | 4 | ||
| Format | Micro SDHC | ||
| Speed | Class 4 | ||
| Guarantee | 5 years | ||
Pierre-Jean Alzieu
Test date: November 17, 2008
Test date: November 17, 2008
On the Nikon D60
As our regular speed tests showed (left), this isn't really a memory card that's suitable for professional-level digital photography.
When we tested a burst of thirty shots on our Nikon D60, it slowed things down after the sixth frame. The overall framerate was just 1.5 fps, half what the D60 can manage with a more powerful memory card.
When we tested a burst of thirty shots on our Nikon D60, it slowed things down after the sixth frame. The overall framerate was just 1.5 fps, half what the D60 can manage with a more powerful memory card.
Dane-Elec has a range of Class 4 Micro SD cards, which means that we should be able to expect minimum write speeds of 4 MB/s.
This card reaches that standard, but doesn't get any faster than that.
As their name suggests, Micro SD cards have a very small form factor and are designed for use in mobile phones, MP3 players and GPS systems, as well as in cameras and PDAs.
Because most digital cameras (and a lot of card readers) aren't compatible with these smaller sizes, Dane-Elec and other manufacturers ship a free adaptor with these cards.
Not Quite The 8 GB Version
As normal, we examined the Dane-Elece Class 4 Micro SD by copying different files on to it and back off it to and from our test PC.
On average, we found it managed 5.4 MB/s for writing, while the larger 8 GB version of the same card is a much speedier 8.7 MB/s.
Compared to the best cards out there, these are fairly mediocre results, and aren't good enough for anything but the most basic of digital cameras.
If you want to shoot high resolution photos, or use burst mode on a digital SLR, this is not the card for you.
When it comes to reading, the card is at 16.4 MB/s, which means it'll take about two minutes to copy everything off the card, which is pretty quick.
Speed Test Results (MB/s)
This profile makes this card suited to a mobile where it can store games, applications and MP3s, or a compact digital camera, as long as you don't mind taking a little while to save your photos.
If you've got a lot of data to move around, chances are you'll be more interested in the 8 GB version, which is not just bigger but quicker too.
Pluses
-
Good read speeds
-
SD adapter supplied
Minuses
-
Too slow at writing for advanced use
This memory card will do for everyday purposes and for moving files around, but don't expect anything outstanding. Plenty of other cards--including plenty from Dane-Elec itself--are faster.
