Max Mem

silbot22 · 11-30-05, 09:38 AM

Hi, Could anyone please tell me what how & if.

I want to know what is the best size flash card to get, also will a big card with micros drive be slower and would i benifit from one on my X5 400mhz, is it best to have a few (smaller)cards with different things saved on them.
As you can see i am new to this so please be gentle :love:

Thanks

Luda · 11-30-05, 02:30 PM

what are you planning on storing?

silbot22 · 11-30-05, 09:44 PM

as much as possable, to be honest i dont really know yet but dont want to get a car/cars and later find out i should have got a bigger one. I have been looking for a review on the X5 just in case it has a mention on size limits & what works best but unable to find one so far.

axzilla · 12-01-05, 10:43 AM

I got a 4gig cf for my x5 and it works great and is always full with videos and mp3s. I started out with a 256mb card when i first got my ax and quickly realized it was too small for my needs. I then got a 1gig card when they were over $200.00 at the time but I had to have more storage. Well that worked for a while I used the 1gig for movies and the 256mb for mp3s. I found that I still had to do a lot of loading and reloading both cards when I wanted new music or new videos so I broke down and bought the 4gig cf.
I use the 1gig for music and the 4gig for video and the 256mb for whatever will fit on it at the time. Now I dont have to reload as much and I can carry more media with me. With my quality of divx video I can get about 4hrs per gigabyte and for music its about 1 mb per minute to give you a rough idea about how much gets used. My videos I consider high quality for pda screen and my music is usually ripped at 128

aquacooled · 12-01-05, 11:01 AM

well I got a 1 gig SD card.. that was enough for about 20 mins.. then it was filled with anything and everything..

somedude&AdEll · 12-05-05, 05:16 PM

I HAVE two 128mb ones though lol I lived with then for a long time, but I finally broke down and bought a 4gb Seagate Microdrive for 80 bucks from www.compgeeks.com here is something identical but I bought the 4gb from them for 80 dollars.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...0211CF&cat=FLM

Although you must consider the microdrives have actual disks inside them, so they will consume more power they also can break if you drop them.

CF cards are solid state CF Type II or CFII are disks. On the other hand higher capacity solid state cards (CF) are more expensive.

When you get a large card I do not recommend getting a SD card for one, you can loose it, two, CFI's or CFII's are generally faster and is better for video.

So an overview...

CF (CFI)
More expensive
Capacity limits and more expensive at high caps

CFII
Delicate
Cheaper at high capacities
Higher power consumption

SD
Generally Slower
Just as expensive as CFI

Multimedia cards (just don't get them period)

Good lucky, let me know if you have any other questions, Derek

silbot22 · 12-05-05, 08:44 PM

many thanks guy's, very helpful.
just have to sort out what i need & add it to my xmas list

somedude&AdEll · 12-05-05, 09:21 PM

BTW, I wouldn't waist my money on a small one, or two half sized ones, it's just more economical to get one big one. And also forgot to add if you are interested in using wifi or bluetooth you might want to get an SD card instead.

Menneisyys · 12-10-05, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by somedude&AdEll

SD
Generally Slower

....

Multimedia cards (just don't get them period)

These remarks aren't really true, as far as current (even low-end) Pocket PC's and SD/MMC/CF cards are concerned. It was only with very few and old devices (namely, the iPAQ 38xx) that SD/MMC card access speeds were MUCH lower than those of CF cards. Times have been changed in the meantime.

You may also want to read my posts on generic storage-related questions at http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/ind...?blog=3&cat=47

somedude&AdEll · 12-10-05, 12:59 PM

Yes, I know, but I am speaking in terms of the axim X5. I am well aware that the results of this is because of the axim itself.

I mean, just look at the CF 11Mb/s wifi cards they have, you will get 1Mb/s max on them even when they are rated at 11Mb/s because of the axim.

Go ahead try to benchmark two cf and sd cards of the samebrand, cap, and speed, try to benchmark them, I guarantee you that the CF will be higher in throughput in both the reads and the writes. In the axim of course.

alveygj · 12-13-05, 01:13 PM

Quote:

I mean, just look at the CF 11Mb/s wifi cards they have, you will get 1Mb/s max on them even when they are rated at 11Mb/s because of the axim.

So the best transfer I can expect is 1Mb/s? Or is it specific to Wi-Fi cards?

Menneisyys · 12-13-05, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by somedude&AdEll

Yes, I know, but I am speaking in terms of the axim X5. I am well aware that the results of this is because of the axim itself.

I mean, just look at the CF 11Mb/s wifi cards they have, you will get 1Mb/s max on them even when they are rated at 11Mb/s because of the axim.

Go ahead try to benchmark two cf and sd cards of the samebrand, cap, and speed, try to benchmark them, I guarantee you that the CF will be higher in throughput in both the reads and the writes. In the axim of course.

Now I understand what you mean. I referred to the SD/MMC vs CF question in general, not in the X5. The X5 indeed has a slow(er) SD interface. That is, you're right - for an X5, it may be better to get a CF memory card. If you plan to upgrade to a newer device, an SD card may be a viable alternative, though.

12-13-05, 01:28 PM

I have a 1Gig CF and a 512 Meg SD,
the SD stays in the Axim all the time, the CF is in there unless I need Wifi or Bluetooth (I have an X5 400Mhz too).
Everything I need for Wifi and Bluetooth is on the SD card.

I'd say go for the biggest you can afford. I'd stay away from the micro drives, but others here have had good experiences.
Since SD is a little more expensive I went with a 512 Meg SD, and a bigger CF. Everything I need when using Wifi or Bluetooth is on the SD and then some.

somedude&AdEll · 12-13-05, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by Menneisyys

Now I understand what you mean. I referred to the SD/MMC vs CF question in general, not in the X5. The X5 indeed has a slow(er) SD interface. That is, you're right - for an X5, it may be better to get a CF memory card. If you plan to upgrade to a newer device, an SD card may be a viable alternative, though.

I stand corrected, I also noticed this upon my post upon replying to yours.

I find that I cannot play divx video's off of my sd card, I don't know if it is just me or what? anyone else have the problem? (on my axim of course)

Ashton · 12-14-05, 01:18 AM

I have a 64mb and a 4mb CF cards (the latter just holds some Ebooks) and I ahve a 256 and a 512 SD card. (I also ahve a 128mb SD card I use for my digital camera, but it only goes in if I need to edit photos or upload them from a wifi hotspot).

My CF card is taken up almost 24/7 by mu WiFi Card (which, for the record, I have clocked a transfer supposedly at around 7mbps for files on my LAN and 2mbps on internet) so I have to use the SD slot. I have had no problem at all playing video files off my SD card. I can get like 30 min of video for 10mb (WMV or RV/RM)

I have not seen a noticable difference in CF and SD transfer rates, but I also almsot never use my CF card. When I get my adapter working to use my CF slot for HDs, I probably will never use a standard CF card again.

As a side note, the write-protect switch is wonderful on the SD cards when you have hard-to-get files or ones you created yourself and dont want to lose.

As said above, you have to look also at jsut waht you are going to do. IF you're gonna be using your CF slot for devices, then dont bother with a CE card for storage. Keep in mind that a lot of GPS devices also use CF; so if youplan to get and use one of those, it may take up your CF slot.

Hope that helped.