HP's 8GB microSDHC card was one of the better buys at the time of this review, as far as price/performance/capacity is concerned. In my case, it fulfills the task assigned - stores a large number of songs for the SanDisk Sansa Clip+ 2 GB MP3 Player that accepts microSDHC cards. However, its relatively low data transfer speed may NOT make it a good pick if the intended use was in a camera that takes 'rapid fire' shots.
PERFORMANCE
I would like to note that I did not test the card with a camera but its stated 'Class 4' speed class, which is the equivalent of a 26x speed rating should guarantee a MINIMUM of 4MB/s - more than enough when it comes to music playback.
Unlike the 'x' ratings, the speed class ratings are NOT certified by an independent body so, more or less, you will have to decide whether you trust the card's maker - HP is quite a reputable brand and it so happens that I DID test the card myself. I found that I could copy 2 GB worth of songs in about 6-7 minutes. This is about 4-5MB/s for writing on the card for the first time, indicating that the Class 4/26x claim is honest. This is very good performance for a 'class 4' given that the card was inserted into an 'full' SDHC card adapter which, in turn, was inserted into a USB card reader.
Practically, if you are going to use this card in a camera, depending on the quality of the pics you are taking, you may or may not be happy with its performance. At 12 megapixels, a 100% quality JPG would produce a 2-3 MB or loarger file so, without even counting the overhead, your camera will spend about half second, possibly more to write to the card which may or may not be in line with your own expectation. For better performance, look for a higher 'class' number 133x/Class 20, for example, should support 20 MB/s or writing up to 10 12-megapixel JPG photo files per second.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES/CONCERNS
The card comes with a 'full' SDHC adapter. This is very important, especially if you need to interface with a computer. In my case, I am inserting the microSDHC into the included SDHC adapter which, in turn, goes into a USB card reader - I used the one that came with the Transcend 16 GB Class 2 SDHC Flash Memory Card with USB Card Reader TS16GSDHC2-P2.
The card comes formatted as FAT32 and my Windows 7 computer was able to write to it and read from it without difficulty. If, for whatever reason, FAT32 is not what you need, you should be able to format it under Windows/Vista, Mac or Unix/Linux to whatever you may need. The MP3 player was able to read the card as formatted without any issues.
Not ALL cameras support FAT32. Older cameras may only be aware of FAT16 and can't see any card larger that 4GB. If in doubt, check with the manufacturer or maybe read your camera's reviews at Amazon.
Related to the above - anyone who may have a device meant to use SD cards should be aware that SDHC may not work with it so it's better to ask the maker.
While the SDHC interface is provided, I would go for a full-size SDHC card if that's what my gadget accepted. You can use the card with the adapter but why bother. The microSDHC being so small and fragile, why risk losing it or breaking it?
RATING
This is a honestly rated Class 4 card. It works very well for me in my MP3 player but I'd look for a faster card if I needed a card for a camera or a camcorder. Class 4, as I explained, means relatively SLOW so, if blazing-fast write speed is not an issue, this is probably what you need given the price and the maker's reputation - by the way, the card is manufactured in Taiwan.
For what it is, the card deserves 5 stars.Get more detail about
HP 8 GB Class 4 microSDHC Flash Memory Card L1885A-EF.
