Get a 4GB Eye-Fi SD card for $99
(Credit:
Eye-Fi)
Just got some interesting news from the makers of Eye-Fi, the Wi-Fi-enabled SD card that wirelessly beams photos from your camera to your PC (and/or an online service like Facebook or Snapfish): There's a new 4GB Anniversary Edition of the card, and you can get one for just $99. The catch? You'll have to walk into your local Costco.
Yeah, I know, that kinda bites. And $99 is still about $90 more than the price of a regular 4GB SD card. On the other hand, it's $30 less than the Web price ($129.99 at Eye-Fi's online store), and it saves you the hassle of connecting your camera to your PC or pulling out the memory card every time you want to upload photos.
I'm the first one to admit the Eye-Fi's not perfect, but you gotta admit it's cool. Mrs. Cheapskate (who's beautiful but not particularly tech-savvy) absolutely loves it. And at a recent gadget seminar I conducted at a local library, everyone went ape over the Eye-Fi.
Basically, you're paying a premium for convenience, much like you do when you buy a fancy universal remote for your home theater. Is it worth it? You'll have to tell me. At the very least, I'm glad to see they've finally bumped up the storage capacity (2GB just isn't enough in these days of 10-megapixel cameras). Oh, the Anniversary Edition offers "faster memory speeds," too, but the company doesn't provide any specifics on that.
Rick Broida, a technology writer for nearly 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he oversees BNET's Business Hacks. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers. Follow Rick on Twitter at cheapskateblog. 
To use the card, you have to be within the range of a computer. LIke many have said, it's a cool idea, but a little real use.
- by gjl229 November 18, 2008 6:56 AM PST
- The real time is taken by making sure you get the right images into the right folder, then scrubbing that group for the obvious misfires. I'll leave editing, fixing, printing, ect. out of the equation for now.
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(5 Comments)I swear I spend more time getting the photos into the right place and eliminating the really bad stuff than I spend doing anything else. The time spent moving a card from the camera to the reader and back is negligable. I don't see paying $100 for negligable. Perhaps we should substitute "prodigal" for "cheap". But then, if you're a gadget addict ......