Product Review of Transcend 4 GB Memory Card and Card Reader

I recently upgraded my digital camera from a Kodak EasyShare to a Panasonic Lumix digital. As I already had an SD memory card for the old Kodak, I simply transferred it into the Panasonic and it worked just fine.

That is, until I tried to take a video clip of my grand-daughter on my garden tractor. The Panasonic stopped the recording, and an arcane error message was projected onto the LCD screen: insufficient transfer rate. The card was a Speedy SD 1 GB memory card. It captured the photos without a problem, but recording video on the camera was impossible.

I researched a camera forum online and saw more than a number of posts referring to memory card problems. It was then that I found a relevant post that mentioned the camera needed an SDHC card, due to the high-definition video recording function. Bingo! Easy enough to solve.

During the wife's weekly pilgrimage to WalMart, I checked out the camera section and bought a 4 GB SDHC memory card. I couldn't wait to get home and try it out.

I replaced the old card with the new one and shot some pictures and then a couple of short video clips to test it out. When I inserted the card into my eMachine's multi-media card reader, my software program kept telling me there was "no disk in the drive". Rats! Now what?

My PC's hardware information sheet told me it was an SD card reader. Ergo, my SDHC card could not be recognized. Back to the Panasonic camera forum I went.

I posted the problem on the forum, and got a few immediate replies. The solution was quite easy and inexpensive: All I needed was an SDHC USB card reader that would plug into my PC SD card reader.

I bought a combination 4GB SDHC card and bonus USB card reader made by Transcend on the Newegg web site. They always have great deals and a lot of helpful product reviews to make an informed decision. I settled on this combo as it had good reviews and the price was only $18.00 with free shipping. And no sales tax!

I placed the order on a Friday and received it on Monday through the snail mail. I took some test pictures and a few video clips on my camera, and then removed and inserted the SDHC card from the camera and inserted it into the small USB card reader. The PC screen jumped to life, telling me it found the pics and videos and was ready to download them. The transfer to my PC was fast, easy and without problems.

So, in summation, if you buy a new digital camera, check your PC or laptop card reader and verify it's capable of reading SDHC cards. If not, you can do what I did for less than $20 and upgrade it with a Transcend combo card/reader kit.