Best compact flash cards?

[BigToque]

What brand CF cards are the best to get?

Why are some rated for high speeds (Lexar has 12x, 40x and 80x cards).

I'm looking for 512MB or 1GB.

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

I've been using a SanDisk 128MB CF for well over a year now (countless cycles inside my digicam and regular file storage) with no hitches. It comes at a slight premium over other brands though (costed around USD42).

As for the other issue, I have the (wrong?) impression that "high speed" means it can deliver at the throughput of USB2.0 (due to lower latency or somesuch)? My SanDisk CF is not high speed and it seems clear that the transfer rates over USB2.0 are pretty low.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Kingston.

 

[Farm]

It depends on your needs. In some devices, the speed of the card becomes insignificant if the hardware can't support the advantages of the fast cards. I think the Sandisk Ultra II and Extreme are by far the best cards in the 512GB - 1GB range if using in a digital camera or similar device.

You may want to check out:
Compact Flash Performance Database