Stopped by an Office Depot and got a Lexar 16G card for $10.99 yesterday. Looks like they have good prices on all sizes:

lexar sd card at Office Depot

I haven't used Lexar cards in my Pentax camera yet, but have one in a video camera that has worked well for a couple years.

[Maksim]

Thanks. Picked up 4 cards to get the free shipping.

[shardulm]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TABU5I

cheaper and FS.with prime.

[Maksim]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TABU5I

cheaper and FS.with prime.

However the ones here at Office Depot are higher data speeds. =)

I did get 2 of each though. =)

[Tom S.]

I'm having mixed emotions about Lexar. Earlier this year, I bought two of their 64GB class 10 "Professional" cards and one of them has stopped working. Computer won't read it, camera won't read it, and neither can format it. I realize everything man made can falter, that's not where my problem lies. It's in their return/warranty service. You must first acquire a RMA. Fair enough. I sent them an email requesting one, along with a copy of the receipt for the two cards. I got a response asking for specific information - all of which was on the receipt I had sent. So I singled out the information as requested and resubmitted. I got a response with the RMA requesting that I send the card in with a copy of the email and the receipt. A little redundant, but OK. What got me a little concerned is the replacement can take up to 3 weeks and may not be the same identical card or may be a refurbished card. None of that makes me real warm and fuzzy, especially the time frame. I'm posting it today, so we'll see how long it takes. BTW: the required paperwork vastly outweighs the card.

[reeftool]

I stopped using Lexar cards years ago. My first SD card was a Lexar. Two came with the package deal I got from Ritz camera when I bought my K10D. It seemed to work OK but I bought some PNY cards at my local warehouse club and they were almost twice as fast. After a short period of time, one the cards began to crack open and come apart. I have never purchased them since. I have also never had another brand card crack open since. I currently have been using SanDisk, mainly because my local BJ's Wholesale club is now selling them. I bought a 2 pack of 16GB Class 10's a couple of weeks ago for under $20.

I'm sure people will chime in that I just had a bad card and it was years ago. Funny thing about bad experiences with a failed product, they tend to stay with you, especially if it is your first time purchase. They may well be making great cards but I continue to avoid them, especially when I have several choices available at very competitive prices.

[wombat2go]

I purchased some of these:
2GB Industrial Grade Secure Digital (SD) Flash Card (p/n TS2GSD80I)
They are relatively expensive, lower capacity and sometimes hard to find for retail purchase.

These ones use the SLC and the levelling processor and are rated for 10 times the erase/write cycles.
"Although MLC beats SLC on density and cost per bit, SLC has the advantage for reliability, performance, power consumption, and operating temperature range. Normally MLC flash is intended for consumer products but SLC should be used for industrial products."
MLC vs. SLC NAND Flash in Embedded Systems

[Maksim]

If you are worried about it, that is why we write to both cards at once. =) Raid backup.

If the hassles... pay with Amex. If they break, just file a claim and get your money back instantly.

[ramseybuckeye]

Last year I bought two Lexar 32GB Professional SDHC UHS-I 600x cards because of a great deal. Using either of them the first one or two images is usually corrupted, all of the other images are ok. I have two cameras and it is the same on both. So after formatting I fire off a couple of throw aways. Anyway, I learned to stick with Sandisk.

[shardulm]

I'm having mixed emotions about Lexar. Earlier this year, I bought two of their 64GB class 10 "Professional" cards and one of them has stopped working. Computer won't read it, camera won't read it, and neither can format it. I realize everything man made can falter, that's not where my problem lies. It's in their return/warranty service. You must first acquire a RMA. Fair enough. I sent them an email requesting one, along with a copy of the receipt for the two cards. I got a response asking for specific information - all of which was on the receipt I had sent. So I singled out the information as requested and resubmitted. I got a response with the RMA requesting that I send the card in with a copy of the email and the receipt. A little redundant, but OK. What got me a little concerned is the replacement can take up to 3 weeks and may not be the same identical card or may be a refurbished card. None of that makes me real warm and fuzzy, especially the time frame. I'm posting it today, so we'll see how long it takes. BTW: the required paperwork vastly outweighs the car

I have the same feeling. I have 2 32GB Lexars and they are a little flaky. I havent lost any files yet and they still read write but wont render some JPEGs all the way in the previews. SOme images show half cut altoigh they aren't damaged. And no it does not happen with all the other cards (I have a dozen other brands).

[csa]

the replacement can take up to 3 weeks and may not be the same identical card or may be a refurbished card.

I would be most unhappy having purchased a new card to be possibly replaced with a "refurbished" card. Nope, not for me!

[Tom S.]

I would be most unhappy having purchased a new card to be possibly replaced with a "refurbished" card. Nope, not for me!

I'm not sure they would even take the time to refurbish these, but who knows? I know there's a lot hoops to jump through for the return (IMHO), and if their quote of a 2 to 3 week turn around becomes fact, I'll scratch them off my list of companies I buy from.

[Maksim]

I'm not sure they would even take the time to refurbish these, but who knows? I know there's a lot hoops to jump through for the return (IMHO), and if their quote of a 2 to 3 week turn around becomes fact, I'll scratch them off my list of companies I buy from.

Why are we even arguing or dealing with returns for a $10 item? Just throw it out.

It is not 1995 or 2000 and we are purchasing a $500 storage solution. =)

Are we saying our time is worth less than $10 an hour to deal with the return/replace process? It is two cups of Starbucks.

Either incur it as an expense, or file an extended warranty claim, and get cash back. With Amex it takes less than 15 mins.

[Tom S.]

Why are we even arguing or dealing with returns for a $10 item? Just throw it out.

It is not 1995 or 2000 and we are purchasing a $500 storage solution. =)

Are we saying our time is worth less than $10 an hour to deal with the return/replace process? It is two cups of Starbucks.

Either incur it as an expense, or file an extended warranty claim, and get cash back. With Amex it takes less than 15 mins.

The card I bought cost me $39, not $10 and is supposed to have a lifetime warranty. Since I bought two of them, that's now $78 if have invested in these "Professional" cards. As for Amex (or any other credit card company) they won't pay for anything if it's still covered by the manufacturer's warranty unless they refuse to fix or replace the item. Plus not all credit card companies offer this service.

When you start living on a fixed income, feel free come back and tell us how you just throw stuff out rather than return it for replacement.

[KC0PET]

OK, well the one bought at Office Depot was missing the lock tab. I fixed it with the scotch tape trick, Office Depot is not handy to return it. I am having "equal opportunity" problems and failures with most brands of SD cards (sandisk, kingston, and lexar just in the last couple months). I am coming to the conclusion to just buy a bunch of cheap cards so I have plenty on hand to overcome the failures. I suppose they are just getting cheaper. I hate this throw away technology.

As far as going to the effort to return or exchange, IMHO at $10 I would only bother with it if it is convenient. The $39 level mentioned I would pursue it. If I could get a good card that I knew was not going to fail and last many years I would probably pay $50 for it. But I can buy at least 10 cheap 8gb cards for that, so that just seems easier to me.