RiDATA Lightning Series 16GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model CFR16G-233X-LIG2

Pros: Works, performance is consistent with price.

Cons: None so far

Overall Review: I've tried this and two other 16Gb CF cards that share in common a price+shipping total cost of $69 to $75. I've put Windows XP and Gentoo linux on each single card and tested with both "feel" tests and timed benchmarks. The RiDATA card does UDMA4. My other $75 card only did MDMA2 and took some tweaking to get best performance. The manufacturer's comments about actual speed seem about right. Of the 3 cards I've tried, the RiDATA has the fastest write times. Average read times for long running copies from CF to /dev/null were about the same for all three cards. The two OS installs had the same applications - Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice - installed. Linux was all around faster, in part no doubt because it was easier to control writing to the CF card. All in all I am so far satisfied with the RiDATA given the value/price ratio. Now I'll see how long it lasts ;-)

Pros: Card is almost 3x faster than the iPod mini original microdrive. Battery life has improved as well. HD Speed benchmarked 17MB/s read after iPod installation. Great for Portable Apps. 14.89GB after formatting.

Cons: Non so far. Seems to be a little slow (still faster than stock) copying files in iTunes but I haven't benchmarked it.

Overall Review: Great card for the iPod mini, runs Portable Apps faster than ever. Firefox boots in about 3-5 seconds!

Pros: It is priced well, and I have used other RiDATA cards that worked very well!

Cons: If you check RiDATA's website, you will learn that this card is NOT compatible with many digital SLR cameras (such as Nikon and Cannon). They state in a consumer notice, "For Digital SLR camera users (such as Nikon, Canon SLR DSCs etc.) we recommend using the Ridata Single Layer cell (SLC) based CF cards for these high performance cameras. We suggest using the Ridata 150x or 266x CF SLC cards for maximum performance. It has come to our attention that while using the “continuous shot” mode and Multi Layer Cell (MLC) cards such as the Ridata 233X CF Card, problems may occur due to the slower data writing limitations of the Multi Layer Cell (MLC) specifications and users may experience an image corrupt problem."

Overall Review: You need to purchase the single layer cell cards that are formated for 150X or 266X. This card is no good when used in the continuous shooting mode on a digital SLR. FINAL THOUGHT: I have contacted Ridata about an exchange but have yet to receive an answer. I think that Newegg should go to bat for it's customers who have purchased this card & work out an exchange program with the manufacturer.

Pros: 15.1 GB of memory. It did work in my UMPC as a hard drive

Cons: I am very sure RiDATA are saying the truth when they say 233X but that doesn't Guarantee 35MB/s that will depend on the control and the bandwidth the card can provide most likely UP to 35 Mb/s which for it to happen it has to be under certain conditions, otherwise very slow it feels like it hang as if it is waiting for something or very very slow transfer.

Pros: none

Cons: bad quality control--see below quote from RiData's website (FAQ) section.

Overall Review: Question: "I have bought a RITEK CF Card and tested its compatibility, however it seems much slower than another card I bought later." Answer: "Controller, circuit design and flash memory will affect a CF card's speed. We have assured that all cards are compatible with the standard of the spec of the CFA, but we cannot assure that all have the same speed."

Pros: Fast UDMA, Ample Storage, Decent Price

Cons: None thus far!

Overall Review: I purchased this card for extra storage space on a Fujitsu P1620 w/ SSD. I am using a Delking Cardbus32 PCMCIA adapter that is capable of UDMA 4. I was going to go w/ the Transcend 32Gb 133X card, but decided on this one instead since the price @ the time was less than half that of the Transcend. I have never owned any Ritek/Ridata flash before and was somewhat nervous, but now am VERY HAPPY with my decision. Using HD Tach to measure performance, the card tops off at sustained read speeds of 30MB/s with burst speeds up to about 32MB/s. This equates to slightly less than the 233X rating (~200X and 215X respectively) but is much higher than I would expect from any 133X card. I also have a 16GB SD card in the P1620's internal reader, but due to the hardware I can't get above ~3MB/s, so although it can quite keep up with the 50+ MB/s from the SSD, this is a really nice change of pace for storage use. I will definitely purchase from Ridata again assuming that the card continues to work

Pros: None

Cons: I now have my 3rd card from my returns. Corrupts about 2%-5% of the photos. Better than the original 30%, but sheesh. These things don't deserve to be on the market.

Overall Review: After getting my second return, I took around 300 shots on the card. This one is better than the previous cards with only a 2-5% corruption rate, but if I can't trust the card, I can't use it. Not sure what to do anymore but get my money back. All the other cards I had on the shoot were fine. This one is the only failure, as was the case with the with the previous Ridata cards. I saw the statement below from the company, but this isn't a situation where one falls through the cracks in Quality Control. Three cards, all defective, is just unacceptable on any level. Maybe Ridata needs to make another statement about how they plan to address Quality Control if they hope people will purchase these cards.

Pros: None

Cons: this product is not 233x speed as advertised--it is obvious. Because of this I do not trust this card. A waist of money.