Things to consider before buying a memory card

Posted by Felix Okoli on Wednesday August 13, 2014 at 10:56:30:

A Memory card is a very useful accessory for one's mobile phone or other device as it helps to provide the additional needed space that can help the device store more files.

Imagine if you wanted to store a large number of movie clips, pictures or images and you find out that you've exhausted the storage capacity of your phone or device, the next place to store those items would be in an external memory card and this is only possible if your phone comes with an expandable memory card slot. It acts an an extended warehousing space for your electronic gadget.

Mobile phones, digital cameras, tablets, PSPs, Video games and other smaller devices all make use of memory cards and they do come with memory card slots that allow such cards to be slotted in.

There are certain things you'd have to consider before purchasing a memory card and I just want to list some of those things here.

Things to consider

Type
You need to first consider what type of memory card your device can handle. Although memory cards are basically similar, they are actually of different types depending on what type your device is designed to work with. A Memory card can be a MicroSD, Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory stick Micro M2, Memory stick Pro-HG Duo, Memory stick Duo, MiniSD, Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Secure Digital eXtended Capacity or other type of memory card. Just take a look at the specifications of your device or the memory card slot and you might notice the required memory card type that will be suitable for it before purchasing one. Don't go an buy a memory card designed for video games and expect it work for your mobile phone.

Brand
There are different brands of memory cards for the various memory card types we've already listed. A brand is basically a unique name that separates the card from others. It might be the same type of card for e.g. a MicroSD but because its produced by a different manufacture, it would normally bear the name of the manufacturer to make it distinct from others and also to let you know that you are buying. Because memory cards come under different brands, they are also more likely to be of different qualities and market prices and so don' be alarmed that some memory cards can be more costly than others. I've noticed that brands like Sandisk, Kingston, Sony and Lexar are among the best memory card brands in the market because they normally have high quality. They are also mostly produced in countries like the USA and UK. If you care less about brands and just want to save money, you might consider buying a not so popular brand and cheap one. Most of the cheap memory card brands are produced in China.

Class
Memory cards are also designed according to their classes. A class 10 memory card might look a bit similar to a class 2 card but it's not exactly the same. A class 10 card of the same brand could cost more than a class 2 card since they have different memory storage speeds and efficiency. So it could be a high class or low class memory card.

Capacity
This is simply the amount of space that your memory card comes with and indicated the amount of date in bytes in can store. A memory card's capacity can be in thousands of bytes(Megabytes(MB)) or thousands of Megabytes(Gigabytes(GB)) or more. The higher the capacity of the memory card, the more files it can store and the higher its price.

Expandable space
Every device that uses memory cards has a limit to the capacity of the memory card it can work with and this is what we refer to as it's expandable space. Devices with older operating systems tend to work with lower memory card space while newly produced devices nowadays tend to be designed to work with higher capacity memory cards. First get to know the maximum memory capacity your device can work with and then try buying something within its expandable space. Don't buy a 64GB memory card when your device's expandable space is limited to just 16GB.

Price
Since everyone who is out to do a purchase is mostly on a budget, this is also one of the things you have to consider before buying a memory card. Buyers would normally buy a memory card they can afford and this is worth considering since

Usage
How long do you intend using your memory card? How often do you normally use it? Do you really need it? The truth is that not every electronic device user really needs a memory card if he/she is not really looking for space to store files. People who take pictures most of the time or do downloads are more likely to make use of extra memory cards than those who do not. Most phones by default don't come with memory cards since they have their own internal storage space which is just about enough for start-up users. As the device gets constantly used and depending on the user type, it might either need or not need to have a memory card installed. Also, even after the memory card has been purchased, there is also a decision to be made either to use it for the short term or for the long term as well as the conditions of its use. Low tech memory cards are not designed to last for the long term or work under intense weather or usage conditions or an unstable environment. Some memory cards can withstand more shock and heat than others.

Where to buy memory cards for your device
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There are many places to buy memory cards for your device and at good prices too. Just checkout a local electronic store close to you or online shopping websites like Amazon. For mobile phone users, I recommend this 16GB class 4 Memory card from Sandisk