It has been several days but not a week since iMac 2.8 GHz Quad Core (with 27″ monitor) arrived. Personally, I don’t like Snow Leopard. So, still, I mainly use iMac 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo (with 24″ monitor), which is now two years old.

In the last report, I emphasized that Apple Wireless Keyboard, which comes with the latest line of iMac models, is a horrible piece of junk. But let’s put that disappointment aside for now. Instead, I want to focus on iMac’s SDXC card slot in this report. Before purchasing iMac 2.8 GHz Quad Core, I really look forward to finding out how this card slot works. I use an SDHC memory card through a USB card reader/writer as a scratch disk. And my main question has been the following: Which is better? –

1. Use an SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card through a USB card reader/writer or
2. Use an SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card with the built-in card reader/writer

I can tell you that there will be no straight answer at the end of this report.

Anyway, first, I want to see which data writing process is faster, through a USB reader/writer or with the built-in card slot. So I have a brand-new SDHC memory card from Silicon Power. (See Screenshot 1.) I don’t know if it’s a good brand name. I have never heard of Silicon Power before. The USB memory card that I have is two years old. (See Screenshot 2.) Reading its user’s guide, there doesn’t seem to be any read/write speed limits. In addition, I have a disc image, whose file size is 3.15 GB. (See Screenshot 3.)   Continue reading →