September 25, 2008

We're seeing an increase in speeds of not only flash media cards in general, but higher capacities. The days of SSD (Solid State Drives) becoming more viable for the consumer market, are approaching. Lexar's announcement of their 233x speed over their prevous 133x speed, is a nice improvement. This translates to a 75% speed increase.

What's also nice about Lexar's new 233x line of memory cards, is they now come with the full version of Lexar Image Rescue 3 ($34 MSRP). This is a very convenient tool for recovering images on your memory cards (not just Lexar cards) and with version 3, is able to recover audio and video files. Now, since we have a burst of new cameras supporting HD video mode, this added feature of video retrieval from Lexar Image Rescue 3, will certainly be a value.

- DigitalDingus

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, announced today that it has enhanced the performance of its Professional line of CompactFlash (CF) memory cards to 233x, a significant speed advancement over the line’s previous speed-rating of 133x. The Lexar Professional 233x CF memory cards are now UDMA (Ultra Direct Memory Access) enabled and capable of minimum-sustained read and write speeds of 35MB per second – a considerable improvement over the previous read and write speeds of 20MB per second.

These exceptionally fast cards are available in three popular capacities, including 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB, and deliver professional-level performance for a wider range of digital SLR users, including professionals and photo enthusiasts seeking high-capacity and high-speed performance. Lexar Professional 233x CF cards also greatly improve digital imaging workflow and convenience by reducing the time needed to transfer images from the card to the host computer. The new cards are also complemented by the line of Lexar Professional UDMA-compatible high-speed card readers. For more information about Lexar Professional 233x CF cards, please visit www.lexar.com.

“With the recent surge in popularity of digital SLR cameras, professional photographers and photo enthusiasts require flash memory cards that not only safely store all of their images, but also are fast enough to keep pace with rapid shooting,” said Greg Agustin, senior product marketing manager, Lexar. “The new Lexar Professional 233x CF cards provide the reliability, speed, and capacity photographers require to shoot continuously and confidently, while improving post-production workflow capabilities.”

The Professional 233x CF line enhances the performance of the broad Lexar Professional line, which includes Lexar Professional 300x CF products ranging from 2GB to 16GB in capacity, and Lexar Professional Secure Digital 133x products ranging from 2GB to 8GB. With this enhancement to the line, Lexar provides improved performance and choice of capacity throughout its Professional memory card offering.

The new Lexar Professional 233x CF cards include a limited lifetime warranty, free dedicated technical support, and the full version of Lexar Image Rescue 3, Lexar’s award-winning image recovery software. Lexar Professional 233x CF memory cards will be available in October.

Lexar will be displaying the Professional 233x CF cards at Photokina 2008 at stand F022 E023 in hall 04.1.

About Lexar Media

Lexar Media is a leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of NAND flash and DRAM memory products under the Lexar and Crucial brand names. Lexar offers products in all major flash and DRAM memory categories, including consumer and enterprise-level USB flash drives, industry-leading memory cards for photography, and all popular form factors of memory cards for mobile devices. For computers, Lexar also offers a full range of DRAM computer memory upgrades for PCs and Mac systems, and solid state drives (SSD). An industry leader in innovative, patented flash memory technology, Lexar is vertically integrated with Micron Technology, one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers worldwide.

For more information about Lexar, visit www.lexar.com.

For more information about Crucial products, visit www.crucial.com, www.crucial.com/uk or www.crucial.com/eu.

Lexar Media, Inc. is a subsidiary of Micron Technology, Inc.. Lexar Media is a division of Micron Europe Limited, a division of Micron Semiconductor Asia Pte. Ltd., and a division of Micron Japan, Ltd.

About Micron Technology, Inc.

Micron Technology, Inc., is one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Through its worldwide operations, Micron manufactures and markets DRAM, NAND flash memory, CMOS image sensors, other semiconductor components, and memory modules for use in leading-edge computing, consumer, networking, and mobile products. Micron's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the MU symbol. To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc., visit www.micron.com.

©2008. Lexar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Information is subject to change without notice. Lexar, the Lexar logo, and Image Rescue are trademarks of Lexar Media, Inc. Lexar Media, Inc. is an authorized licensee of the CompactFlash trademark. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Lexar Media, Inc. is a subsidiary of Micron Technology, Inc.