xd cards

I bought this card in conjunction with my Fuji S5000 (which I HIGHLY recommend), and for the three months that I've been using them, they have done absolutely EVERYTHING that I could have wanted. I generally take photos at the 2MP (1600x1200) setting, which gives me reasonable photo size/clarity without taking huge amounts of space--each photo is between 550kb and 650kb, which allows me to take 410 at 2MP. I can get 550 on 1 MP, 325 on 3MP, and 173 on 6MP. On RAW 6MP, I can only get 37 though... this is what makes me consider getting a 512 card, or waiting for the upcoming 1GB card Fuji is developing. I've taken thousands of photos in the few months that I've owned this card, and none have been less than perfect as far as the card's impact on them.

The entire line of xD technology is revolutionary and is REALLY great. It has low battery-drain, it's REAL fast, and it's very versatile. Not to mention small--I'm able to have a rather small camera bag (6"h, 5"w, 3"d) partly because I don't have overly large, bulky cards and cases taking up more space than necessary.

Beyond its obvious application of excellent use in digital photos, I've actually used it like a removable mini-drive, similar to my pen-drive. However, as this card is larger than my 128MB jumpdrive, i was able to bring what i needed even when my jumpdrive was full. this is more useful than imaginable. i'm getting a Fujifilm DPC-UD1 xD USB Drive Reader and a second xD card, either 256 or 512MB to use it just like my jumpdrive. Again, this is EXCELLENT technology, and the BEST OPTION for new digitals.

A couple of days ago I ordered a 256 MB XD card from Amazon.com and Ritz was the seller. I received an e-mail from Ritz stating that my debit card would be charged 88.95. Amazon quoted me a price of 82.00. The difference was $6.95 in shipping. When I got the item the invoice read that I was charged the $6.95 for shipping. I had already had prior contact with Amazon and they stated that I would not be charged for shipping. I called and spoke with "Johnson" about the matter. Johnson could have cared less that I was billed for shipping and was under the pre-tense that there would be no shipping charge. It was tough luck on my part as far as he was concerned. There are many companies that Amazon sponsors that specifically state that they do not offer free shipping, but Ritz does not state this when they are sponsored seller for Amazon, although they do state on their website that "in order for an order to qualify, it must be at least 100.00. After checking my debit card, I find I was not charged for shipping. Because of Johnson's unconcerned attitude regarding my problem, this will be the last item that I purchase from Ritz and I will see to it that I spread the word about what a caring company Ritz is not. It is bad business to burn bridges over $7.00. Amazon promised I would not be charged shipping and I was not. If looking for memory, use one of Amazon's other sponsered companies. They might care more about the cutomer.
Thank you,
Mark Jones

FYI, it takes just over 10 minutes to download 256 MBs worth of pictures. Works just fine.