High-Priced Storage

Panasonic didn't even have time to gloat about the 8GB SD card it launched this summer when it doubled down capacity on the category. The company is shipping a 16-gig SD memory card in November that costs more than a dozen of its digital cameras selling at Amazon.com.

But it's not digital cameras that are the target device for the $320 memory keeper. The high-cap card is designed to make the most out of Panasonic's HDC-SD5 ($999) high-def camcorder.

The card boasts storage capacity for up to 4 hours of HD video in AVCHD normal mode and roughly 2 hours 40 minutes of 1920 x 1080i HD video in AVCHD fine mode.

Panasonic claims the maximum data transfer speed (20MB/sec) is fast enough for professional and broadcast use. If you're into consecutive shooting with your camera, it's got the buffer memory to cover you for an afternoon's worth of golf swings.

Just how many vacation pics can the jumbo card hold? Even if you shoot in 10-meg resolution (3648x2736), you won't have to do a card dump for 6,160 clicks.

That can hold you for your next five vacations, and then some.

Just don't lose the card.-Rebecca Day

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