Thinkpads Forum

Right now either the 1 GB Turbo Mem or the fast 2GB SD cards can be had for about the same money.
At Amazon:
Turbo Memory (1 GB): $28.99
SanDisk Extreme® III (2 GB): $30.95

I know the jury is out for whether these things make any significant difference either way, but if one were to go with either/or, which is preferable?

IMHO, there are pros and cons for each.
1GB vs 2GB
a faster more reliable connection vs USB (??)
free card reader vs. card reader eliminated

First, you should max out your primary system RAM. Hands down, this will give you the biggest performance bang-for-the buck.

After that, I'd go for the SD card or USB memory to use as ReadyBoost. If it doesn't work out, then at least you have something that you can use in your camera or elsewhere.

I tested a 512MB fast USB stick under Vista64 ReadyBoost (3GB RAM). There may have been a slight speed boost, I'm not sure. I have a 4GB stick on order right now to see if that makes any difference.

As for TurboMemory (this is very different than ReadyBoost memory), All of the reviews I've read about TurboMemory are that is slows down Vista. I would avoid it for now. Vista SP1 may make is worthwhile. If so, then you can always add it to the Thinkpad's internal TurboMemory slot.

Well there is not enough info to give a good answer. Do you have a T61? If you have a T60 I believe the Intel Turbo memory card may not be an option. (Chances are the Bios will reject it.)

SD cards are generally not fast enough to support readyboost, even SD cards that claim to be fast. IMHO an SD card is not worth it with a SATA drive. Using 2 GB of memory would give the best performance I believe

SD cards are nore than fast enough to handle ReadyBoast, There are some 266x ones out there that's uber fast, like 40MB/s read speeds.