Radically Less Expensive p2 Cards Announced

David Saraceno

David Saraceno

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Here's the link to the blog that Barry is doing live from the Panasonic Press conference at NAB2009:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=168707

"Major P2 announcement...

Advancements in solid-state memory are allowing them to increase capacity and speed while lowering costs.

A NEW TYPE OF P2 CARD: the P2 "E" Series. It's "blazing fast", thanks to a newly developed design, it's 1.2 gigabits per second! And they're cheaper: "dramatically lower prices". The new 64GB card has an MSRP of under $1,000 (the existing A series card is $2650!) The 32GB card is $625, and the 16GB is $420.

They have a shorter lifetime than the existing A series, about 5 years of daily use. 16 and 32 are available in May, the new 64 is available in August."
 
though, it seems the cheaper cards appear to have a shorter lifespan... for me. i'll stay with what i trust.

BTW, its DUEL, DUEL, DUEL, DUEL - NOT DUAL!
 
Major national tv stations in Germany who have not jumped on the P2 workflow are the majority and have gone the Son¥ route or remained with them. I wish this wouldnt be the case...
Still: the price drop is not steep enough. ZDF is the only German broadcaster who jumped on the pana bandwagon and the P2 price was one of the reasons, the others went XDCAM.
 
I notice the new "E" series P2 cards are expected to offer five years of service as stated by Panasonic. Do they have a self destruct trigger built into them? What is the difference between the traditional P2 cards and the new "E" series?

Barry, you gotta have some insight from your Panny friends. What say you my friend?
 
Speaking of P2 cards...

Speaking of P2 cards...

What's this about the new E-Series P2 cards?

They're deliciously low-cost?

They're coming next month?

Spec-comm is taking preorders?

Oh, yes. We're taking preorders.

16GB E-Series P2 Card

32GB E-Series P2 Card

Right now there isn't a specific shipping date, so we don't know if it will be 'early May' or 'late May', please assume they'll be released later (until further notice).

According to the dealer information, the 62GB cards will be available in August. We'll be taking preorders on them as well, just be aware that they won't be shipping soon.

64GB E-Series P2 Card

Edit:

ShootDC said:
Of course I was joking. I am just trying to find out why they might expire after five years. Since Panasonic makes a point of stating that in their literature.

Just wondering if an insider like Barry might be able to offer some insight.

Cheers
Click to expand...

It has to do with the type of flash memory used. The new cards use cells that hold more memory so are less expensive to manufacture. However, they can't be rewritten as much, which is why they die after so much use. Still, it's a lot of use for a P2 cards. Few people will be using their P2 cards every single day, and in five years it's very likely you'll have replaced that card two or three times already.

Best,

Jasmine Moore
Administrative Assistant
Specialized Communications Corp.
20940 Twin Springs Dr.
Smithsburg, MD 21783-1510 USA
800-359-1858 (US)
301-790-0103
Fax: 301-790-0173
jasminem@spec-comm.com
www.spec-comm.com
 
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Now ain't that music to your years, those prices are awesome for what you get, I mean, if they're talking 5 years of daily use, your gonna make your money back a gazzilion times over using them over 5 years. that's almost 2000 rewrites (and I'm sure panasonic is being modest in their 5 year claim), it ends up being about $0.33 a day (or per use, and remember that is 100% use), can't complain about that!!!

Thanks Panasonic, it's really appreciated!

- Derrick
 
I don't like this idea. I'd rather pay full price for reliability. What if I use it 4 times in 5 years. Does it still blow up. This seems like a bad idea. I can't wait for 5 years to pass and all the people who are shouting "HURRAY" will be bitching that they have to replace all their P2 cards.
I will stick with the other "E" series...expensive.
 
If you only use your card 4 times in five years they still gonna work, because Panny has said tehy'll last 5 years of daily use.

And if you really only use it four times in five years, you're wasting money buying what you van rent.
 
Jan from Panasonic answered this on another thread. There is no time limit on the card. It has a "use" limit. I think she said the magic number is 1825 which is once a day for five years. The card will begin to warn you at some point before it shuts down that you are approaching the use cap on the card.

All that aside, will P2 still even be a favored format in five years? I think the five year limit is a total non issue for 99% of people who will actually be using them.
 
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