Simple rule based on existing products: Avoid the most popular name brands. They're overpriced and under-performing. One of the big offenders is Lexar. Vastly overpriced on average and lower than average read/write speeds.

Avoid flashy "High Speed" advertised cards unless you get confirmation first hand or from an independent review. Most do not perfom as advertised.

Check http://www.dpreview.com and look through their forums. They have a very low signal:noise ratio, but a few searches will turn up what you want (check the storage forum specifically).

I'm using a Ridata 512MB card right now. It was available at a great price when I bought it. Much lower than the more popular (advertised) cards. Transcend is also very good in terms of speed/cost. More important than name will always be performance/price. A number of companies produce for OEM, so you may see essentialy he same card under different names.

Bruno