After seven long years, Olympus and Fujifilm have decided to begin phasing out their xD flash memory cards, perhaps in response to a mountain of customer complaints and competitor SD cards’ lower prices and higher quality. To give an idea of how far this has gone, xD card readers are now sold with SD adapters, which is the closest thing to defeat the manufacturers will likely ever admit.

Irritated customers all over the country will say this has been a long time coming. The xD memory cards have caused a lot of people a lot of grief. Let’s take a look at some of the most reported issues that consumers have had with their xD memory cards.

Files Corrupted, Data Lost

The most horrendous of the problems with xD memory cards is that of data corruption. For digital cameras, this means permanent loss of irreplaceable memories. Nearly anything can cause data loss, from pressing extra buttons and turning off the power during the processing stages to using low batteries. Data can sometimes be recovered with software, but it’s no guarantee and it can be difficult.

Brief Lifespan Hurts Reliability

These days, memory cards are built featuring a special technology known as “wear leveling.” This technology tracks the usage of the memory on a card by number of blocks, which helps to increase the lifespan of a memory card. This feature only becomes more important as memory cards shrink in physical size.

Olympus and Fujifilm haven’t incorporated this issue into their xD memory cards. This causes the xD memory cards to wear out long before an average SD card would, forcing customers to purchase yet another poorly performing card.

Low Memory And A Crawling Speed

When the xD memory card was released back in 2002, its 512 MB of storage space was reasonable. In today’s world, however, the manufacturers have upped the storage space to 2 GB. This is unquestionably better than 512 MB, but it isn’t much when compared to 32 GB on certain SD cards. Most MP3 players these days have more than 2 GB of space, for crying out loud. The xD memory cards also transfer data at a much lower rate than the competition.

Bad Quality, But High Prices

The most surprising of the differences between the xD and the SD is the price. Considering the trouble that comes with the xD, and its lack of power, you’d think it would be the less expensive choice. Reality is quite different: a 2 GB xD card retails for almost $20, while a comparable SD card is half that price, and several larger cards are still cheaper than the xD’s hefty price.

Last Thoughts: xD Memory Cards Cost Too Much For Too Little

The economy that we live in these days makes consumers side with whatever takes the least amount of green out of their wallets. By this litmus test, it’s no shocker that xD is failing and the SD is taking its place. If Fujifilm and Olympus are not about to improve their product and take steps to improve their cards for widespread camera use, then what other choice do consumers have?

Smart media cards or an Olympus xD memory card will give you the space you need to enjoy the electronic gadgets of your choosing. Why not pick one up today? Only purchase memory cards from trusted online vendors for the most up-to-date products.