Would you buy a new top-of-the-line, 60-inch flat screen TV and pair it with a cheap DVD player? How about spending money on an expensive MP3 player and buying some earbuds from the candy section next to the cash register? It just doesn’t make sense. If you’re going to go big – go BIG. Do it right.

So why would someone purchase an expensive, high-quality device and not consider the type of SD card used to store their media? The basic, cheapest SD cards either don’t have much room for storage or don’t have the capabilities to store high-quality content. But it seems that when you purchase a new device, you’re so worried about making sure the device itself is up to par, you don’t put much thought into the storage options.

Fortunately, some companies are revamping SD and microSD cards to give consumers a better quality option. The cheap cards will always be out there, and let’s face it – they’ll always be popular because of their price, but they really don’t have much to offer besides basic limited storage. This may be all that the basic or novice user needs, but for someone who is serious about storage and protecting their media, it may be worth investigating some new options.

Tech companies Samsung, Monster and SanDisk have recently created SD and microSD memory cards that are built tough and meant to do some serious storing. They boast some great specs offering memory between 2 GB and 32 GB with the options of HD, Full HD and Full SDHC. The read and write speeds are also impressive, offering a read speed up to 24 MB/s. Sounds pretty good, but what makes these new cards really stand out?

Well, have you ever dropped your SD card in a puddle? How about running over your card with your vehicle? Well, maybe you haven’t necessarily done those things, but for anyone that worries about doing those things – worry no more! These cards aren’t just fast, but they are durable!

Reportedly, Samsung’s new SD and microSD cards can be fully submerged in water for 24 hours, be smashed under 1.6 pounds and withstand some serious magnetic power without being damaged.

Still want to buy a cheap card? Actually, the price isn’t so bad either. A 2 GB card starts at about $10. But that doesn’t mean you should throw it to the bottom of the pool or throw it under your car tire. Although, you could…