CF SD storage

daniu · 12-17-07, 08:08 AM

Hi!

I have been looking around a bit on the net and also here but found not really satisfying answers for the following questions:

I am considering to buy new memory for my X51V. I am not sure if I should take CF or SD.

I want fast and energy saving memory. So I would like to have some test of memory cards that say more than: "this card consumes very little energy" - I would like something with values. Which card takes least? (CF and SD, read, write and standby)

And I would like to know which card speed the Axim supports (for both CF and SD). If I check the Sandisk page they recommend the slowest cards for PDAs ... So I wonder if the high speed is supported at all or if I could actually safe the money or get a bigger card. I mean Sandisk Extreme IV or even Ducati is not that expensive any more - so why not? But if the device does not support the speed then why? Just to be faster with the card reader is no point ...

So far I kept the CF replacable to be able to put in some device (Active USB/GSM/GPS or the like) but now I believe it will never happen - so I consider buying CF if the above values are better ...

I think of 4GB (SD or CF) or 8GB (CF) since SDHC is not supported by WM5 on the X51V - right?

Using my PDA for:
-Calendar
-Chinese and English dictionary
-Mail
-bible-Software
Does not sound like I need lots of speed but I hate to wait and compared to a PC even the X51V is not really fast ...

regards
Daniel

daniu · 04-04-08, 07:38 AM

Hi!

I started this thread some time ago. In the meantime I realized that this topic is rather controversial and also quite complicated. As I do not like to give up that easily I am still stuck with it.

When I bought SK Tools I found something funny using the benchmark tool.

The values [kb/s] I get for my memory is:

Main:
write: 525,22
read: 2602,29

transcend 2GB SD-Card (150x)
write: 1298,94
read: 1752,42

Kingston 512MB CF-Card Elite Pro (50x)
write: 1069,98
read: 1666,85

MMC 32MB noname came with my Nokia 6230 that time:
write: 207,41
read: 918,25

I will try to get more values like that. In my opinion a list like that can help to find the best memory. I appreciate the list that exists already but with todays prices I would rather like to know which memory is the fastest than just to know which one works ...

If anybody is willing to help I would appreciate that! (especially I would like to know Transcend SD 4GB, Kingston SD 4/2GB) What else Info might be important? FAT type? (can someone tell me how to easily find out?) Sectors/Clusters? Any easy way to meassure power consumption?

What really astonishes me is that my main memory writes slower than anything else (I think no need to mention the MMC) ... That does not really make sense to me but SK Tools has typical values for that and this value is quite similar - so my device should not be broken ...

regards
Daniel

04-04-08, 08:50 AM

I have an A-Data 150x 4G SD card and it works great. I have no idea of the speeds, nor do I really care, I just put it in and it works for what I need. I play music and watch videos from it with no apparent speed issues. I use it for my GPS maps and IGuidance has no problems with it. I take it out to transfer files and it seems about as speedy as any other card I've used. A few seconds either way doesn't really matter to me.

rlarson_mn · 04-04-08, 09:16 AM

I have a 16gb CF and 16gb SDHC card installed at all times in my X51V. Both of these cards are memory cards not memory hard drives. Transfering data to and from these cards can be done within the X51Vs OS but is slow. I have found this task best performed by connecting my cards to a PS through a USB interface hardware. Accessing my X51Vs memory and either card seems the same no matter how fast of a memory card I use. If memory serves me correctly it has been reported on this site in some thread that the restriction is from the X51Vs hardware not the card or any application being used to this process. I use my CF card to hold movies, and my SDHC card to hold backups, pictures, pdf, excel and word files, PC related trouble shooting files, ebooks, music, bibles and email downloads. My premise is you can never have to much internal or external memory. I have an additional 4gb SD card which holds all of my 'boot loader' ROM flash files for all of the various ROM image upgrades I have gone through (if memory serves me correctly again that would be 8 upgrades).

04-04-08, 09:43 AM

i would suggest the following links for enlightenment

Smartphone & PocketPC Magazine Forum - Optimizing storage card speed

Expert: Werner "Menneisyys" Ruotsalainen - Memory and storage, Relocation from RAM to alternative memory

theres too many points that are made, and simply nothing else left to say so im just linking thease entries.

jd :approve:

daniu · 04-04-08, 11:40 AM

Hi!

Thanks ... was really worth to take the time spent with that issue ... I increased the values of each cluster size, removed the FAT copy (I am backupping all the time anyways ...) and now I do not only get higher values in SK Tools but also get a better felt speed using applications.

I never got why this 2% or what memory lost through slack should be that important ...

Still wondering which SD-Card would be fastest for the Dell Axim. I am just not satisfied with: yeah - it works and I cannot complain. I am about to buy a new card and I do not just want one that works cause ... loading my chinese dictionary or biblereader takes time and I would rather spend this time learning chinese or studying the bible ...

I know that many people say that the Axim and not the cards are the bottle neck but honestly ... I doubt that!

regards
Daniel

jadesse · 04-04-08, 09:08 PM

I would buy the biggest CF card that you can afford but stay away from the micro-drive type such as the Seagate. The SD cards beyond 4G are pricey.

I would be too concerned about the speed of the card. You will not see any benefit of the ultra fast cards with Axim.

johnm356 · 04-05-08, 09:11 AM

A word about commercial SD & CF cards.
Always check the format, better yet always format your own cards even when new.

About a year ago, I bought a new SanDisk 1Gb SD card and a SanDisk 2Gb Ultra II CF card, which are -supposed- to have 10Mb/sec read/write speeds - at least according to the claims on the package, and several benchmark sites.

Plugged in the CF and ouch.... it dragged my X51v down to a crawl.

Running benchmark tests using Pocket Mechanic, Spb Benchmark, and even SiSoft Sandra on the desktop all yield similar results - the Ultra II is only getting speeds in the 1.5-2Mb/sec range..... all tests were run on clean cards and on a variety of hardware - my internal card reader on the PC, and external SanDisk ImageMate 12-in-1 USB reader, and in the X51v itself.

I returned the card to Circuit City and exchanged for another - guess what.... same results.

Then I came across a great app. CNetX Flash Format. [ Flash Format ] - no I don't work for them.

It -properly- diagnosed & formatted my storage cards, based on size and application (ie, camera, PDA, MP3 player, etc.), and yes, it does matter what you're going to use it for... The vendors have no idea what you plan on doing with it. so they give all their cards a generic or "lowest common demoninator" format.

In my case, it recommended:
SanDisk 1Gb SD card - should be FAT16, 16Kb cluster size
SanDisk 2Gb Ultra II CF Card - should be FAT 16, 32Kb cluster size

Apparently both cards when new, already came formatted as FAT16, but with cluster sizes twice as large as what FF recommended:
- the 1Gb SD was FAT16 / 32K
- the 2Gb CF was FAT16 / 64K

I let FF do it's thing and performance on BOTH cards improved dramatically, and by that I mean by at least a 300% increase in R/W speeds... according to Pocket Mechanic's benchmarks

rlarson_mn · 04-05-08, 09:28 AM

I format all of my cards with an external USB memory 6-1 card holder. Its very fast and in addition the transferring large files to the card (movies, pds, etc.) is more efficient at least IMHO.

Tyhee · 04-18-08, 03:12 PM

Hi, I am new to this, so be easy on the replies.
I bought a Patriot 4GB Class6 SDHC card for my Dell axim51v and nothing works. I can't use it in my Casio Exilim 7.2Mp dig camera nor can my USB SD card reader read it. I have read in this forum that rlarson mn is using a 16gb SDHC card in his Axim51v; so what am I doing wrong?? Or is it the card?

KimChee · 04-18-08, 03:26 PM

Your devices might be not be sdhc compliant..sdhc will work on your x51v as long as you're using wm 6.0 as your OS, but Im 85% sure the casio exilim 7.2 was able to use sdhc also...seems definately possible it is the card...

Tyhee · 04-18-08, 04:43 PM

I'm using Windows Mobile 5.0, do I need to upgrade to 6.0 and what is the best way (cheapest) to do this?? Or is there a fix to use SDHC cards on WM 5.0?

lrodrig3 · 04-19-08, 12:50 AM

Sorry, but there isn't a Windows Mobile 6.0 upgrade available for X51V and no way to use the SDHC cards either. You'll need a regular SD card -- max 4GB for the X51V.

rlarson_mn · 04-19-08, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by Tyhee

Hi, I am new to this, so be easy on the replies.
I bought a Patriot 4GB Class6 SDHC card for my Dell axim51v and nothing works. I can't use it in my Casio Exilim 7.2Mp dig camera nor can my USB SD card reader read it. I have read in this forum that rlarson mn is using a 16gb SDHC card in his Axim51v; so what am I doing wrong?? Or is it the card?

I believe the WM5 A17 ROM upgrade posted on this site somethere makes the X51V able to use the SDHC card. For sure any of the WM6 or WM6.1 ROMs make the unit work with SDHC cards.

KimChee · 04-19-08, 10:15 AM

I know I have an x50v but I am running an 8 gig sdhc card just fine on wm 6, do a search for wm 6 and 6.1 roms they are FREE, I was pretty sure there was a wm 5 rom that ran sdhc cards but wasnt sure of the version..