ATP SD Trio
2GB Flash memory/storage
Requires: Win 2000/ME/XP/98, Mac 8.6, 9, X, Linux
Through Borge's Imaging
RRP: $73.00


The ATP SD Trio is a neat enough little device, mainly because it offers a lot of flexibility for the home user. The adapter sleeves allow you to nest the 2GB card inside a different format (microSD, miniDS and SD are supported), so you can easily and effectively switch the portable memory from one device to another. And that's the beauty of the thing: if you own two digital cameras, but they use different formats for their memory cards, you can easily switch from one to the other. A handy hint is that these babies are small, really small, and therefore easily lost. Store them somewhere safe.

Small? They're really small; the chip itself is smaller than the average fingernail and that makes it an amazing little tool. Flash memory has come a really long way in a short space of time, and not just in terms of size... I tested the 2GB card for a month or so, and there's also a 4GB card been released to consumers. That's a lot of storage space for flash memory, especially when you consider the initial models were 256MB, then 512MB and 1GB models.

Here's the best bit about the SD Trio: the chip can also be inserted - or docked - into a clear plastic USB port, effectively making it a USB key, and in this role it's just another way of carrying your information around. Granted, it's a little more expensive than buying a standard USB key, but this thing has way more flexibility - that's a great strength. When I checked out it's transfer speeds and write times I couldn't tell much difference from a standard USB key either, which surprised me a little. I was copying a folder full of files (some around 15MB and others larger) and the difference in write times was minimal. For USB that's not saying very much, but I guess a Firewire version of this baby, were it a possibility, would really fly.

For those who are used to plugging USB devices into their keyboards there's a minor issue: the ATP Trio requires a source of phantom power so it won't work there, it needs a dedicated USB slot on your box.

And that's about it, really. I don't know how stable and secure it is over the long term, but I had no issues with a month's usage, and it seems like a remarkably simple, and therefore good, idea.

Alex Wheaton