Why a Class 10 Memory Card is waste of money . Review
ADVICE 1
Pay more to get more GBs not a higher CLASS
ADVICE 2
Look for a CLASS of Memory card that your electronic device can actually use rather than buying the Highest CLASS
as it will be expensive and will take away more battery life
ADVICE 3
as a General Rule u can use
Class 2-minimum sustainable speed = 2MB/s or 16Mb/s—-for all mobiles and digicams
Class 4-minimum sustainable speed = 4MB/s or 32Mb/s—-for camcorders
class 6-minimum sustainable speed = 6MB/s or 48Mb/s—-for HD camcorders with full HD 1080P video recording
Class 10-minimum sustainable speed = 10MB/s or 80Mb/s—————————————- No device needs Minimum Class 10 speedsas the electronic devices are slower
[b= bit , B= Byte]
get 16GB for 900 rather than 1200 http://www.desidime.com/forums/hot-deals-online...
Price: Rs. 1130 VS Price: Rs. 1490 
The only motive of this review here is to let the DesiDimers be aware of the fact that if you pay extra bucks for Class 10 memory card you WILL NOT gain anything extra from a Class 10 card than a lower priced class 2 , and class 4. I am happy that some people here know this fact.
Common Misconception
Higher class means , High Speed and faster is Better.
NO THAT does not hold true
the logic looks good only till u read it without actual values. AS soon as you put in real values of a camera you will understand the fallacy in the statement of yours. its a normal Misconception among customers to blindly dash for higher class without even knowing the requrements of your electronic device.
ANALOGY 1
If you put Michael Schumacher who drives Formula 1 car at speeds of 350-400 Km/hr in a TATA NANO (max speed 106Km/hr) the Nano will still move at 106 Km/hr and not 400Km/hr
Similarly
If you put CLASS 10 Memory card with minimum write speeds of 80Mb/s in a HD CAMERA or MOBILE (max speed 24Mb/s) the device will still only be able to write at 24Mb/s and not 80Mb/s
ANALOGY 2
*lets understand data transfer rate with number of trucks. [remember : capacity of truck is always known still they can be overloaded more, similarly the minimum speed of card or Class is also given like class 2 = 16Mb/s but they generally write at faster speeds then that 16Mb/s is the lowest sustainable speed]
Suppose you have a factory producing at max 1.5 trucks of material. then 2 trucks (CLASS 2 card) will be enough for you. If you go and get 10 Trucks (CLass10 card) will you gain anything ?
no because the factory can only produce at max 1.5 trucks so the extra money payed for more trucks is a waste.
*
[b= bit , B= Byte]
Ill try to explain furthur.
forget low or high end phones , even if you take a high end camera with HIGH Definition 1080p Video 14Mb/s is the Maximum speed with which the Camera can write on the Memory Card. and the Min writing speed of a class 2 is 16Mb/s and Class 4 is 32Mb/s hence class 4 is more than sufficient for Digicams. Even for HD DSLR this logic holds. Class 6 [48Mb/s] is the max that you should go even for HD camcorders.
the min Write speed of Class 10 is 80Mb/s there is no device in market that can write at such high speeds. so the extra speed that you are paying will remain unused. I have checked many electronic devices and found none of it can write more than 24Mb/s
[b = bit, B = Byte]
I have answered a few Questions by other users below to make readers understand even more.
shalaut550 wrote:
Nice explanations, however, we should keep in mind that the sd cards do not actually run at the published speeds but much lower than that.
Well if you read about the class , you will understand that CLASS 2 means minimum sustainable speed (or the slowest speed) that it will write is 2MB/s or 16Mb/s) normally a Class 2 can write at speeds higher than 2MB/s or (16Mb/s)
shalaut550 wrote:
in case of mobile phones, the increased speeds are also greatly useful at the time of using the backup features when connected through usb to the computer or using the backup features of apps like App2sd etc
Let me tell you again no mobile phone whatever its price or features is, can write at speeds higher than 14Mb/s (which is sufficient for Class 2) . if the phone processor is unable to write at a higher speed then no matter what app u use its speed will be lower than the phone speed . if you disagree point me out with a proof . I will be glad to learn more. (the only advantage of class 10 is u gain few more seconds when u transfer GBs of data to ur PC , do those seconds really worth that much? ) if card is in the electronic device the speed of clas 10 is same as Class2
shalaut550 wrote:
all in all, I would any day go would not mind spending extra Rs 150 to get a class 10 card for use in the high end phones like SG2…it certainly helps in getting extra speeds though it may only be incremental..
Well if you say that the difference is just 150 or 200 Rs then let me assure you . the extra cost of Class 10 card is much more than rs200. why ? because class 10 cards runs at higher clock speeds than class 2 (or 4) so it willl drain your battery faster than a Class2 or class 4 . in short it means in the long run it would more be a loss than a gain. think about it
shalaut550 wrote:
btw, samsung themselves recommend a sd card with a minimum class 4 for use in high end multimedia phones..
Please note they recommend class 4 and not Class 10 . it does not mean u shud go ahead and Pay more for a class10.
Yes that is exactly what i am trying to say from DAY 1 no one recommends you to shell out more money for a Class 10 when you are more than fine with a class 4
neo479 wrote:
for a lower end phone it might not matter, but if u have a phone with a much better camera that snaps images @ say 8 MPs, those image files would be pretty large in size and saving them takes time. in such cases u definitely need the higher write speeds of these class 10 cards to avoid waiting for ur phone to process the images
No camera/mobile can write at speeds higher than what it is made for writing. No matter how fast memory card you put inside it . it will still write at slow speed . so a CLASS 10 speed is a waste. as it will write only as fast as a CLass2 (or Class4)
The wait that you see while processing is because of your slow PROCESSOR not because the memory card is not fast enough.
neo479 wrote:
A deal for Class 10 card isnt for every1 but it definitely is for all those who need a class 10 card cos this is the lowest price
this is wrong , no one needs a CLASS10 card simply because no such device exists. Please Let me know if there exists ANY electronic device that needs minimum CLASS 10 speeds ? i know that there is none.
LETS not be emotional . Lets BE LOGICAL when we give a reasoning and follow the Knowledge rather than going by our instincts.
THE REAL FACT (quoted)
For Electronic devices like standard definition camcorders, an SD/SDHC card with a Class 2 speed is all you would need. It’s fast enough to handle the highest quality standard definition video you can record. For high definition camcorders, you’re safest going with a Class 6 card. While you may be tempted to spring for a Class 10 card, you’ll be paying for performance you don’t need in a digital camcorder
quoted FROM ( to learn more u can see these articles. )
http://camcorders.about.com/od/accessories/a/gu...
and
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10246593-...ml
(I will keep updating this thread to include more information )
hope buyers are aware of this before they buy.
by the way if even then you wanna take a class 10 as its only 300-400 rs more, then you are welcome to go ahead and take it and
loose ur extra Bucks, Loose extra GigaBytes of memory (that u cud have bought with that money) and loose ur battery life,
after all its your money and you are the best person to decide
- Sort By
@kage Bro you misquoted me , i have never said there is no device that ‘supports’ CLASS 10. the fact is most device that support Class4 SDHC may support class 10 SDHC also. the fact that a Class 10 Card is in the market does not mean u must buy Class10 . The real question to be asked is Should we buy class 10 over Class 4 ?? does the extra price of Class 10 have any usefullness . the answer is NO.
i said that There is no Electronic device that needs or has a “minimum requirement” of CLASS10. i am yet to find out an Electronic device that says CLASS 10 as its minimum requirement needed.
kage01 wrote:
If there are no devices available in the market to support higher class memory cards, then why are manufactures making cards like this one? /
No i am yet to see see such device. we should ask the manufacturers about this 
one probable answer to it is the Companies are trying to reap the ignorance of customers on the meaning of CLASS and sell them expensive cards though they seldom need it. it is a similar kind of TACTIC like the “MEGA PIXEL MYTH” started by the digital Camera companies .
also i suggest you to read this short article http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10246593-...ml for more information
danofindia157 – Excellent views on cards and their speed. Couldn’t agree with you more.
To answer kage01, I would say that any company needs to be innovative and get new products in the market for shareholders, itself, etc. etc. That is irrespective of whether the new addition is adding value to the existing profile is completely overlooked nowadays.
The race to obtain the highest megapixel camera and highest class cards is because of blind pursuit of profitability and insane maximization when it is not even needed.
Optimization is the key which is sadly overlooked in many electronic utilities nowadays. Such mails are good awareness creators and thanks for this. Appreciate it. Cheers
@danofindia157, I am sorry if I misquoted you. I have now started to understand your argument that “Is higher speed class useful for most of the electronics devices floating in the market?”
Like you said, the benefit of higher speed class memory cards is limited to a handful of devices which we guys don’t even use. So I support your argument now
Also your point that higher speed class will cause more battery drain makes sense to me.
It’s like increasing engine capacity which burns more fuel but cannot reach high speed because the gear box does not support it.
@venky, thanks for answering my question I now understand better why companies overlook practicality to outdo competition
@kage
@danofindia157
class 2 will do for mobile phones. its will be slower than class 4 for copying music to ur mobile phone, but would be sufficient to playback music and record video… which is all we need
but if u get a class 10 card by paying 300 extra, this is the difference
copying 1gb of data to ur card would take 512 secs (1024MB/2MBps) = 8.5 mins for class 2
and class 10 can do it 5 times faster at in 1.7 mins
now imagine having using a class 2 card to copy 4gb of music tracks to ur mobile 
https://www.sdcard.org/consumer...q/
quote from above page
“Class 2 : H.264 video recording, MPEG-4, MPEG-2 video recording
Class 4: MEPG-2 (HDTV) video recording, digital still camera (DSC) consecutive photo shooting
Class 6: Mega-pixel DSC consecutive photo shooting, professional video camera
Class 10: Full HD video recording, HD still picture consecutive shooting”
if u have a DSLR of 8MP, then a single raw uncompressed file would be 8MB in size
thats where u esentially require a higher class card
and if u have a device with HD video recording, go for at least class 6
@neo479, I agree to the USB mode copying thing.
The jist of this whole argument is that we should put only the necessary speed class memory in a camera/mobile etc to benefit from the read/write speed of the device. Rest is waste of money and energy
@ kage
agree with u
read speeds make no difference, but write speeds are a different story altogether!!
This thread is misleading as far as i am concerned and i request the person who posted this thread to research his facts better than actually posting loads of crap on this forum. 
1st of all camcorder write speed to the memory card is based on the processor speed and architecture which enables the camera or corder to convert the recorded / captured image to capture and write it to the card hence the thumb rule is faster the better here.
By saying that there is a 20 Mbps recording rate the actual capture rate may be 5 – 15 times higher than this and hence converted to 20 Mbps and then written in to the card. Including audio and all this may even go upto 25Mbps which still translates to a measly 3. MBPS.
There is no bottle neckin in the transfer mechanism since sata cables themselves can support 3 GB/s hence u can say atleast 500MBps is easily achievable in internal transfer through cables(which is from processor to memory card). I cannot comment on how fast are camcorder processors since its not my field of interest hence some1 else is welcome to research and post about it.
Just by sayin trucks and shumacher u are misleadin us infact that higher the speed the memory card has higher the rate at which we can transfer it to the Hard disk.
All of u avid photographers know the faster u can transfer it to the comp the happier u are. Infact most harddisk support read speeds of above
30MBPS… so tell me is a class 10 utter waste?
And SSD can support from 200MBPS and easily beyond that.
When u click a photograph it usually ends up to be 5 MB? for raw images wat is the size 36MB?
Do u want to w8 indefinitely till it records in ur memory card or do u think the faster the better?
Do the math please and as far as ii is concerned obviously the faster the better and dont say class 2 is more than enough ever..HD camcorders usually lagg unless they get a class 6 atleast.. i bet there will be some SLR geeks here… Kindly shed some light in this thread..
Again do not mislead dimers buddy..
whoops quite nice and very detailed info.
TFS
@desisteel come on. I am not misleading any one i have presented facts (technical for people like you) and analogies for non technical people to understand well.
also please note that Cameras have internal memory also (primary memory ) which is used by camera processor for all kinds of processing until it is finally written to the Memory card (Secondary memory).
the max data transfer rate of devices are also mentioned in the Manual. so your card needs to support more than that. example Nikon S8100 records 1080p HD at 14Mb/s so Class 4 is safely enough for it. [S8100 comes with a class 4 card]
about the ‘transfering data from card to PC’ u can gain speed more yes . but how many times do you do that ? and still if you disagree then i have said about it in the last para of the review.
Also note that i am nat talking on baseless facts/proofs. you can follow these articles which also provide sources.
Guide to SD/SDHC Camcorder Memory Cards [ http://camcorders.about.com/od/accessories/a/gu… ]
Panasonic SD cards hit Class 10. Should you care?[ http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10246593-…ml ]
[ http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-sdhc-car…tm ]
the whole point as KAGE also said is.
“*If you have a mobile or Digicam and you are looking to buy a memory card. dont be in a misunderstanding that shelling out more money for CLASS 10 will make your mobile/Digicam faster*. "
@neo bro i have included your lines in my post for awareness. hope you got the answers to your questions too.
I have already said about the ‘transfering data from card to PC u can gain more speed’ yes . but how many times do you that ? and still if are in favour of Class10 , then i have said about it in the last para of the review.
“example Nikon S8100 records 1080p HD at 14Mb/s so Class 4 is safely enough for it.”
This is wat u just told me and listen to wat i am saying 1st
DOES IT SAY THAT THIS IS THE MAX WRITE SPEED?
It merely mentions the bitrate at which the video will be recorded. Come on + read the articles u have read before again and
use more critical reading than steamrollin through it.
I agree that u are not misleading any1 which clearly points out that u dont know anythin abt these said called topic and are merely commentin
based on the 14Mbps Video bitrate in ur manual.
As is said again RESEARCH UR TOPIC WELL BEFORE POSTING.
Classes do make a diffrence but the graph evens near the top thats all.
desisteel wrote:
I agree that u are not misleading any1 which clearly points out that u dont know anythin abt these said called topic and are merely commenting
eh ?? what kind of logic is that ??
desisteel wrote:
I cannot comment on how fast are camcorder processors since its not my field of interest hence some1 else is welcome to research and post about it.
then i guess you should keep Quiet. Well if you dont have sufficient knowledge about a crucial topic in the discussion, like you have said then it does not mean you will go about lambasting others and tell them that they are Ignorants with no technical knowledge in the field like you and blah blah blah. Moreover if you think that you are the only smartass, why dont you explain the facts by replying in a healthy discussion and coming to a logical conclusion ? Unless you just wanna show that you are the only smartass here , and others are dumb
now i request you to calm down and reply logically if you disagree with the facts i gave . go and read more about the stuff that you dont know and educate yourself rather and do your own research then calling others for helping you out.
(in capitals for you ) DID I SAY MAX SPEED ?? ??desisteel wrote:
“example Nikon S8100 records 1080p HD at 14Mb/s so Class 4 is safely enough for it.” This is wat u just told me and listen to wat i am saying 1st. DOES IT SAY THAT THIS IS THE MAX WRITE SPEED? It merely mentions the bitrate at which the video will be recorded. .
Let me teach you something FIRST. it is not written merely in the specifications , The values serve as bench marks thats why they are included in the Manuals .
When i say the bitrate is 14Mb/s and then still I go on to say that Class4 [32Mb/s] is safely enough does that mean anything to you ?does it ring any Rusted bell in the cells of your Smartass brain ??
Stop giving sermons and point to facts again. i suggest you read more google about BITRATE http://camcorders.about.com/od/camcorders101/a/…
desisteel wrote:
Come on + read the articles u have read before again and
use more critical reading than steamrollin through it.I agree that u are not misleading any1 which clearly points out that u dont know anythin abt these said called topic and are merely commentin
based on the 14Mbps Video bitrate in ur manual.As is said again RESEARCH UR TOPIC WELL BEFORE POSTING.
Stop giving sermons Do you think that you are the only one who READs and does TECHNICAL RESEARCH ?
Though you may be a smartass but To me it seems that you are the one who needs to read more about the current topic.
Trust me , i know a lot about these because of my technical background . and due to my knowledge i am able to express the facts to others . I have already given many references , you can also google until you are satisfied.
desisteel wrote:
Classes do make a diffrence but the graph evens near the top thats all.
STOP TALKING IN THIN AIR
Well this shows you know a lot about the graphs . why dont you help the DD community by telling the relevent critical points for your graphs ? when exactly do they make difference and when exactly do they even .
try to do people a good if you can, if you disagree give facts [links] and dont just go about calling others fools.
Why arent any other dimers commentin about this….Cmon guys ppl who read this feel free to post ur thoughts..
the speed 14Mb/s are taken just as an example figure i have never said in my review that i am talking about S8100.
later in the comment section i have given and example of nikon S8100 that also happens to have the same speed.
what i am trying to say is that the Bitrate mentioned in the Manuals are not just any random values , these values are to be taken into consideration for making various estimate about video quality etc. so a Bit rate of 12Mb/s video is better than 6 Mb/s bitrate video. Now i will also ask you not to get inside the symantics of benchmarks.
desisteel wrote:
Honestly dnt u think 10MBPS>4MBPS>2MBPS.. and the avg. sustainable speed is 20 MBPS for a regular class 10 memory card.
So it is not just 10MBPS they r gettin.
but that does not lead to a conclusion that Class10>Class6>Class4>class2 the actual merit lies in your Electronic device and mobile /camera etc and its ability to fully use the memory card speeds.
for example for a mobile with <14Mb/s class 2 = class 4 = Class 6 = class 10 well actually ( class 2 = class 4 = Class 6 > class 10 ) as class10 has its overheads.
avg. sustainable speed is not a STD BENCHMARK. but MINIMUM SUSTAINABLE SPEED is . so lets not talk about it.
why dont you understand that i am trying to tell people who own Mobiles and digicams (and dont use more than 20Mb/s speed ) that for them CLASS10 will not be any more useful than a class 4.
thats all
Also to summarise I WILL quote KAGE
kage01 wrote:
@danofindia157I have now started to understand your argument that “Is higher speed class useful for most of the electronics devices floating in the market?”
Like you said, the benefit of higher speed class memory cards is limited to a handful of devices which we guys don’t even use. So I support your argument now
Also your point that higher speed class will cause more battery drain makes sense to me.
It’s like increasing engine capacity which burns more fuel but cannot reach high speed because the gear box does not support it.
so when you go to buy a card you should worry about what your device can effectively use and not worry about what is the Fastest card that is available in the market.
Look for a CLASS of Memory card that your electronic device can actually use rather than buying the Highest CLASS
U dont believe 10MBPS>4MBPS>2MBPS u dont even have the basic sense to post such a thread..
I am now achievin my target and it seems apparently u are tracin back on ur initial stand are coz now u are pointin at moblies and low end cameras.
U shud understand the other purpose of memory cards is that u use them to transfer them to ur other physical drives hence faster the better..
Ur thread itself is tat memory card of class 10 is a waste.
DID u check the link i gave u??
Plz dont drag other dimes thru the comments they made since it was based only on ur initial post..
Let them express themselves now ..
“bq. so when you go to buy a card you should worry about what your device can effectively use and not worry about what is the Fastest card that is available in the market.
Look for a CLASS of Memory card that your electronic device can actually use rather than buying the Highest CLASS”
This is how u shud hav started the thread but u are postin it after i pointed out the flaw.
So hence only 1 word for this thread
“FAIL”
To all readers – I dont have much time to post threads n blog so hence apologize for the grammar mistakes.. sry
desisteel wrote:
U dont believe 10MBPS>4MBPS>2MBPS u dont even have the basic sense to post such a thread..
I am now achievin my target and it seems apparently u are tracin back on ur initial stand are coz now u are pointin at moblies and low end cameras.
U shud understand the other purpose of memory cards is that u use them to transfer them to ur other physical drives hence faster the better..
Ur thread itself is tat memory card of class 10 is a waste.
DID u check the link i gave u??
Plz dont drag other dimes thru the comments they made since it was based only on ur initial post..
Let them express themselves now ..
“bq. so when you go to buy a card you should worry about what your device can effectively use and not worry about what is the Fastest card that is available in the market.
Look for a CLASS of Memory card that your electronic device can actually use rather than buying the Highest CLASS”
This is how u shud hav started the thread but u are postin it after i pointed out the flaw.
So hence only 1 word for this thread
“FAIL”
most aptly said
“Look for a CLASS of Memory card that your electronic device can actually use rather than buying the Highest CLASS”
infact get the best that ur device can utilize
class 2 for upto 4gb is fine
but beyond that… think twice bcos the speed difference can outweigh ur savings
desisteel wrote:
This is how u shud hav started the thread but u are postin it after i pointed out the flaw.
It seems that you had FAILED to notice the ADVICE 2 right on the Top of this review. and it was there right from DAY 1 , not as you say. i had repeated those facts again in my comments to your replies.
desisteel wrote:
U shud understand the other purpose of memory cards is that u use them to transfer them to ur other physical drives hence faster the better..
remember : People buy memory card to use it inside a Camera or Mobile (that is the Primary use) . there are External Harddrives for use with PCs.
Because of the presence of faster cards in market customers get a misconception that a faster card will improve the performance of their electronic device as it will be able to write faster. so i have tried to clear this misconception. that is the BASIC thing that any reader must be able to understand after reading my review, that just having a CLASS 10 instead of class4 in your device will not make it fast. your card should be in accordance with the device speed.
i still stand with the title and every line of my review.and yes let the others decide .
If there are no devices available in the market to support higher class memory cards, then why are manufactures making cards like this one?
http://www.photographyblog.com/news/kingston_sd...