Lexar Media 256 MB Memory Stick (MS256-281) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this 256 MB memory stick because I wanted the flexibility of traveling for more than a few days at a time with my Sony (DSC P-9) camera without bringing along my laptop or any of the cumbersome devices for downloading photos. I figured that where my 128 MB memory stick proved too limited, combining its capacity with this new 256 MB stick would be just what I needed.
In the end, I was only partially right.
I don't have a problem with having to flick a tiny switch to have access to the second memory partition on the stick, and I've long realized that using a Lexar stick didn't present any obvious difficulties or shortcomings compared to the more costly Sony stick the camera maker recommends. But I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that each of the two parts of the 256 MB device held significantly less than the 128 MB stick I used before.
This is something I can't figure out, and I am not the kind of technical whiz who could accurately theorize why this takes place. But the evidence is clear: my 128 MB stick holds around 68 or 70 full resolution photos before filling up and on separate occasions, the 256 MB stick held about 55 or 56 on each side before it topped out. Both are from Lexar, so the problem is not problem stemming from the memory stick maker. And the 128 MB stick is older, so the blame can't be placed on any unannounced technological advances. The only thing I can assume is that the partitioning of the stick or the cataloguing of so much information somehow uses up some of the memory built into the product.
Does that mean this product is a bad investment? Well, I'm not sad that I bought it. It more than doubles the total number of photos I can take without downloading, to around 190 from around 80 (counting the 16 MB stick that came with the camera) for what seems to me to be a reasonable price. But if you are buying this counting on having exactly twice as much space as you'd find on a 128 MB memory stick, I think you'll find this product comes up more than a little bit short.

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