Need Advice on SD Card for use with iGuidance

[Numskull]

All,
Getting ready for my cross-country trip with my x51v/iGuidance/BT-338.

I want to buy a 4GB SD card to put the entire country on it, just in case I decide to go another route.

I see the pricing for the A-Data and Transcend at zipzoomfly and newegg. I also read forums talking about how volatile they are. I am in no mood to have the SD card go TU on me during my trip.

Should I play it safe and buy a better brand name? If so, what do you recommend?

Also, someone please explain to me the difference between 150x and 60x cards, as it pertains to using it in the Ax with iGuidance.

Thanks in advance.

[0gopogo]

The card speed you experience in the Axe is not determined by the speed rating of the card alone. Do not expect a 150x card to perform better than a 60x. Do not expect the opposite. It depends on the specific card. The 50x 2GB A-Data card which newegg.com currently sell for $42 appears to offer best speed and capacity for the dollar. It is a known good performer also in terms of reliablity. Just search this board. Unfortunately they don't make it in 4GB. Perhaps you could load the west on one and the east on another; or something like that.

As for iGuidance, I found it so dreadfully slow (yes, I do use the VGA version) that I doubt card speed will make a difference. I should say that others such as Jake R. of the GPS board do not share my experience re. iGuidance slowness. Perhaps I am just spoiled by the sheer speed of a Garmin iQue 3600 with a 200MHz CPU, Palm OS, and Garmin Que software in ROM...

[yume]

I'm using the A-Data 4GB from zimzoomfly. I'm storing all my iGuidance maps and even the program itself on the card. I got it for 119 a month ago, but I think it is around 90 dollars now. It works great. (even though it might not be compatible with all card readers).

I'm not sure why iGuidance seems to be dreadfully slow for you, 0gopogo. At least in my case (x51v, iGuidance 2.1.3, BT-339), it is suprisingly fast. It usually calculates the route in less than a second - way faster than my brain can. :P

[LDJOHN55]

I know you said that you were looking for an SD card, but I just wanted to share with you that I have iGuidance with the entire USA (minus Hawaii, Alaska, Minnesota, and North Dakota) on a 2.2GB CF (Microdrive). I don't figure I'll be going that far north any time soon, and if I do, I'll reconfigure the map data.

So, my point is that you can have a great amount of the USA on one 2GB card instead of just using one card for east & one for west. I formerly used Pharos Ostia navigations s/w and it was very slow and cumbersome to use. I think that iGuidance is a great piece of s/w for the bucks.
ldjohn55

Have a great trip. Let me know how well the Axim worked on a cross-country trip.

[Numskull]

I have iGuidance with the entire USA (minus Hawaii, Alaska, Minnesota, and North Dakota) on a 2.2GB CF (Microdrive).

I've thought about it, but I'm a little leery about the whole "moving parts" thing, especially since I'll be using it in a moving vehicle subject to road bumps.

I'm not too concerned with the power drain, since I'd have it plugged into the car anyway. But for day to day use, I would be concerned about the drain.

[PaulSM]

All,
Getting ready for my cross-country trip with my x51v/iGuidance/BT-338.

I want to buy a 4GB SD card to put the entire country on it, just in case I decide to go another route.

I see the pricing for the A-Data and Transcend at zipzoomfly and newegg. I also read forums talking about how volatile they are. I am in no mood to have the SD card go TU on me during my trip.

Should I play it safe and buy a better brand name? If so, what do you recommend?

Also, someone please explain to me the difference between 150x and 60x cards, as it pertains to using it in the Ax with iGuidance.

Thanks in advance.

You should not load iG onto a Transcend 150x 4GB SD (maybe all 4GB SD?). BTW, I just got back from AZ. Here's why:
- It's slow and crashed after 20 minutes or so with all US states, soft reset required.
- With only three states (CA NV AZ), an error popped up after an hour or so, restart iG required. The same map worked fine on a 256MB SD.

During my trip: X51v + iG + Transcend 150x 4GB SD + Holux GPSlim236 + Akron DM320
Present: X51v + iG + Corsair 60x 256MB SD (freebie) + Holux GPSlim236 + Akron DM320
Future: X51v + TomTom v6? + 8GB CF (if error free) + Holux GPSlim236 + i.Trek cradle

[MichaelWilliams]

I have good experiences with A-Data.
Have some 4GB SD cards as well as some 4GB MMC - all working perfectly.
BTW A-Data are making 4GB SD cards - they just don't show it on their homepage
I bought mine on eBay for about $50 a piece.

I can very well follow your thoughts about microdrives and car rides.

Just a thought - I've seen some portable battery driven harddisks with SD/MMC slots lately. They are for the photo people so they can empty their SD/MMC cards. Some of these can actually also copy stuff from the harddrive to the card. This way having a backup of all the data - just in case.

On such a journey I always bring the essential programs with me on a spare card (some old 128MB) in form of CAB files. This way I can still get up running again after a hard reset. Just remember to bring the RegKey as well

[0gopogo]

I'm using the A-Data 4GB from zimzoomfly. I'm storing all my iGuidance maps and even the program itself on the card. I got it for 119 a month ago, but I think it is around 90 dollars now. It works great. (even though it might not be compatible with all card readers).

I'm not sure why iGuidance seems to be dreadfully slow for you, 0gopogo. At least in my case (x51v, iGuidance 2.1.3, BT-339), it is suprisingly fast. It usually calculates the route in less than a second - way faster than my brain can. :P

Yes, routing and re-roouting is really fast, but I was refering to the redraw speed during panning and zooming and also the extremely slow address/intersection/etc. search.

[Numskull]

Allright, I think I've made up my mind on what to buy.

I believe I'm going to go with the Seagate 8gb MD and the Corsair 2gb SD.

Rationale: I can put the entire North American iGuidance maps on the MD for backup and all the states for my route on the SD. That way I have both a backup and the option to visit another state should I choose.

I'm choosing the Seagate for the massive storage amount for movies, music, etc and the Corsair because it's the cheapest I could find (zipzoomfly).

Can anyone give me a reason I shouldn't go with this setup?

Thanks.

[0gopogo]

You could save a couple of bucks and be as happy (or perhaps happier) with an A-Data 2GB 50x SD card instead of the Corsair. This card is quite good for GPS use plus newegg sell it for under $40 this weekend - an outstanding value.

MicroDrives are nice if you want the most capacity for your money, and do not change the drive's content often. But I do update the content of my cards open, and therefore had to abandon MDs because they are slow to write to in a card reader. It takes ages to transfer a useful amount of audio or video from a PC to the MD. This may not be a problem for you at all. I found the MD's speed in the Axe OK.

There actually is a reputable brand 8GB CF card for under $200: the 80x RiData, currently out of stock, but sold for $197 at newegg.

Choosing between a 10GB Seagate MD and Corsair 2GB combo for around $210, and a 10GB RiData CF and 50x A-Data combo for around $240, I'd take the latter for sure.

[Numskull]

Ogopogo,
Thanks for the ideas, I'll look at the RiData.

Problem is, I live in Hawaii, and newegg charges more to send here. Going through ZZF with the Corsair was the cheapest option.

[0gopogo]

Oh, OK, I see. Shipping costs can make a big diff indeed. Houston spoiled me since around here we get a lot of free or reduced cost shipping offers.

[Numskull]

Oh, OK, I see. Shipping costs can make a big diff indeed. Houston spoiled me since around here we get a lot of free or reduced cost shipping offers.

It sure did. I paid over $32 to ship 2 cards from 2 retailers (to HI).

I went with the A-Data 2GB card from Newegg and the 8GB Seagate MD from Outpost.

I went with the A-Data for 3 reasons: on sale for $39, it was well-recommended, and zipzoomfly was going to add $10 for a HI service fee for the corsair 2GB . I paid $4 dollars more for the A-Data after shipping, but it was the principal behind it...imagine charging AK/HI $10 for a "service fee".

Hear that vendors? People don't like you doing that to them. Just say you'll charge more for shipping and be honest about it.