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July 20, 2006 – SanDisk Corp. launched yesterday the SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash product line, tagged "the world’s fastest cards" in SanDisk’s press release.
Available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB iterations, the Extreme IV cards have a minimum write speed of 40MB per second, twice the speed of the previous Extreme III cards, said SanDisk marketing manager Tanya Chuang in the press release.
The cards, with high memory capacity and fast write speed, are geared for medium format and DSLR users shooting in RAW format. "Photographers can quickly transfer gigabytes of images from the card to the computer for greatly increased workflow efficiency, an important consideration when working under deadline pressures," said Chuang.
The SanDisk Extreme IV cards come on the heels of Lexar, who just one day before, released their own 8GB 133x CompactFlash card. Lexar’s 8GB card, however, has a slower write speed of 20MB per second.
Carrying a lifetime warranty, SanDisk promises that the Extreme cards operate under extreme conditions, ranging from a freezing -13 degrees F to sweltering 185 degrees F.
SanDisk will continue to offer the Extreme III and Ultra II products.
The suggested retail price is $159.99 for the 2GB, $319.99 for the 4GB, and $639.99 for the 8GB card. All the cards come with RescuePro recovery software. The separate price for the FireWire Reader is $79.99 and comes with a free 30-day trial of Adobe Photoshop CS2. SanDisk also offers bundle packages for the 2GB card and reader at $239.99 and the 4GB and reader at $399.99.
The memory cards and the FireWire Reader are available now. The SanDisk Extreme USB 2.0 Reader will be available next month.