4GB Transcend SD card, and X51v

[virkelie]

I just received a 4GB Transcend SD card (150x), for my new Dell Axim X51v handheld.

It is a regular SD card, not SDHC.

When I put the card into the Axim, only 981mb are recognized; NOT 4GB.

As far a I understand, the card is supposed to be compatible with the Dell Axim X51v - posters on this forum have confirmed this.

I also tried the card in the internal card reader of my computer - again only 981 mb is seen.
Same is true for the SD slot on my Canon printer.

I even downloaded (from the Transcend website) and tried the "Transcend Fix-Capacity Tool" - but when I tried to change the total space from 981mb to 4 GB (by clicking "FIX"), I get the following error:
"The selected capacity is error! Please check the selection is correct or the card reader is supported the capacity".

I tried this FIX-CAPACITY TOOL with the card in my computer SD card reader, and in my printer SD card reader - same error message.

The FIX CAPACITY TOOL does not see the DELL AXIM SD card slot (connected to my computer via USB) - so I can't try it with the card in the Dell Axim.

Is my Transcend 4GB SD card defective?
Why only 981 mb?
I expected the card would work out of the box im my Axim - as it does for other people.
Anyone know if this could be fixed? or do I need a new card?

Thanks.

[mkss55442]

Any chance bought the card on eBay? If so it is most likely a mis-labeled card, a common problem on eBay. If you bought it from a reputable company, your best bet is to get a replacement.

[jimmyjazz]

I bought a 2gb SanDisk card a while back and it only showed up as 981mb or something like that. I tried formatting it in Windows, and it didn't work. Then I found the trick. You have to quick format it! Then it showed up as the full value. Try this and let me know if it works...

[virkelie]

I tried the quick format - didn't work. But thanks for the suggestion.

A friend came over with his new Pentax Optio W20 camera - and re-formatted the card in the camera.

Re-inserted the card in the X51v - 3918 mb now shows.

Much better than 981 mb - but still not the full 4000 mb (or 4GB).

Maybe this is normal? Are you supposed to see the full 4GB in the Axim X51v?

[Box]

3918 is about normal, no card or hard drive for that matter is ever totally available (as far as I know). Some space is always used by the card itself.

[zhaoyun]

Had the same problem previously too and reformatted using sktools and it worked.

[Lodai]

Just as an fyi.... quite a few older CF/SD card readers will NOT read anything over 1 Gig. We have about 10 various old ones at work (Lacie, Sandisk, no-name..etc) that cannot read anything over 1 Gig. Luckily the newer readers can.

[littlerabbit]

Just FYI. When I'm doing some research on these storage cards recently,
I came across an article (I think on SanDisk website?). Essentially, for the
flash card industry, their measurement of a Mbyte is 1000kbytes, while
normally an OS will count it as 1024kbytes. So if you do the division here,
the answer comes out about right.

[vilasman]

I just google searched the 4G Transcend SD card.... target is saying they will have it in 2-4 weeks for $53

I think i will be getting one...

My SD card slot will be maxed out, but I am only using about 800mb of my 2G now.

[Jogga]

Originally Posted by vilasman

I just google searched the 4G Transcend SD card.... target is saying they will have it in 2-4 weeks for $53

I think i will be getting one...

My SD card slot will be maxed out, but I am only using about 800mb of my 2G now.

That seems a little expensive for a standard SD: I've just bought a Transcend 4GB standard for £11.46 +pp. Admittedly, this is with a huge discount, but the deals are out there if you search hard enough.

Fortunately, the card works seemlessly with the iPAQ

[mingkee]

newegg has it for lower price
too bad Patriot Extreme 4GB 133x is discontinued, I highly recommend this one
fast and reliable

[spunker88]

Originally Posted by vilasman

I just google searched the 4G Transcend SD card.... target is saying they will have it in 2-4 weeks for $53

I think i will be getting one...

My SD card slot will be maxed out, but I am only using about 800mb of my 2G now.

$53! Newegg has this 4gb sd card for around $25 and i think it was the same one in this thread, the not sdhc ones.

[osp]

I have purchased both an Transcend x150 and x133 each in 4GB, both with ECC (Error Cyclic Correction) for my Axim X30 high (624MHz). While both worked for a while I eventually had to do a FAT32 format. That seems to solve all the problems - prior to the ECC and super speed chips I had major crashes pushing around map and chess databases exceeding 200 MB. Now a bit slow on the first startup, but no problem. Oh, I paid US$ 37 for the x150 and $17 for the x133, both have gone up at Newegg since my purchases - but wow, what a deal!

[m.baurmann]

In a perfect world, a 4G card would show 4096 G. Binary notation: 1K = 1024 bytes, and so on!

I too, amd disappointed that the full amount of memory isn't available.

[riaxim]

Originally Posted by Jogga

That seems a little expensive for a standard SD: I've just bought a Transcend 4GB standard for £11.46 +pp. Admittedly, this is with a huge discount, but the deals are out there if you search hard enough.

Fortunately, the card works seemlessly with the iPAQ

Thanks I just ordered one yesterday. I'd given up finding a 4GB regular SD card until I saw this thread. There's still some left I paid £6.47 + £4.89 shipping, a total of £11.36.