card transfer rates

s2kdarren · 10-21-07, 10:16 PM

I have an axim x51v I tried a search with not much luck,m but I have a 2gb sandisk sd card and notice the transfer rate is very slow takes hours and hours to transfer a movie from my computer onto it... is this normal? is cf cards faster?

thanks in advance, sorry if this has been discussed before

Menneisyys · 10-22-07, 04:13 AM

Originally Posted by s2kdarren

I have an axim x51v I tried a search with not much luck,m but I have a 2gb sandisk sd card and notice the transfer rate is very slow takes hours and hours to transfer a movie from my computer onto it... is this normal? is cf cards faster?

thanks in advance, sorry if this has been discussed before

1. try optimizing it; see Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine Forum - Optimizing storage card speed

2. use a desktop card reader, do NOT use AS to transfer big files

privard · 10-22-07, 07:59 AM

Maybe you've just got a slow card. The regular Sandisk cards aren't that fast--and that's if you've got a real one (there are a lot of counterfeits). What speed does your card claim to be? I replaced a regular Sandisk card with a (nominal) 150X card and it is noticeably faster in my Axim. I saw somewhere on these forums that fastest an Axim can access a card equates to about 45X, but especially the cheap and offbrand cards may be much slower than their stated speed, and the stated speed usually refers only to read speed, not write speed. Thus, despite the 45X Axim speed limit, getting a much faster cheapo card or a name brand card over 60X may actually help.

cchiang12 · 10-22-07, 09:21 AM

try reformat it 1st.

the speed of card is very dependent on the manufacture...

privard · 04-14-08, 10:49 AM

I second cchiang12's idea--a lot of SD cards seem to be misformatted slightly. You copy a folder full of data to the card via a card reader, and when you look a that folder on your windows machine all the files are there, but when you put the card in your PDA the folder shows up but it's empty. Put the card back in the reader attached to your computer and it shows the files are there. It's like it's formatted well enough to work on the computer but not in the PDA (I've found the same thing with Palms and Axims). Formatting the card in a digital camera or, better, in the Axim with good formatting software (Resco Explorer or Flash Format) and the problem is solved. Do NOT format SD cards with your Windows computer.

bigbop · 04-16-08, 10:13 AM

Save yourself the headache of using activesync to transfer data to your Axim.
I purchased a $5 USB 2.0 SD/SDHC card reader and pop my card into it to transfer all data back and forth - you need to remember that the Axim is a USB 1.1 device (slow).
You wouldn't believe how fast this cheap little bugger can transfer data back and forth.

rlarson_mn · 04-17-08, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by bigbop

Save yourself the headache of using activesync to transfer data to your Axim.
I purchased a $5 USB 2.0 SD/SDHC card reader and pop my card into it to transfer all data back and forth - you need to remember that the Axim is a USB 1.1 device (slow).
You wouldn't believe how fast this cheap little bugger can transfer data back and forth.

I agree with that. I have a 6-1 card reader and always use it for transferring files from one card to the other or from my pc to either card.

DJUnreal · 04-17-08, 10:51 AM

I have a 49-gazillion-and-1 in one card reader. Lightning quick. I'm also getting a 'free' usb SDHC card reader thrown in with my 16Gb card when it arrives this week.

Will let you know - it's a card from ebay uk branded by 'topram'... If it's no good I'll be sending it back for a refund of course :)

rlarson_mn · 04-17-08, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by DJUnreal

I have a 49-gazillion-and-1 in one card reader. Lightning quick. I'm also getting a 'free' usb SDHC card reader thrown in with my 16Gb card when it arrives this week.

Will let you know - it's a card from ebay uk branded by 'topram'... If it's no good I'll be sending it back for a refund of course :)

I have a 16gb SDHC and a 16gb CF memory cards both from AData. Both work great with WM6 or WM6.1 with full access to all of their memory. :approve:

johnm356 · 04-19-08, 02:57 PM

Card FORMATS mean everything - and usually they're formatted incorrectly when you buy them...

Last year for my Axim X51v, I bought a new SanDisk 2Gb Ultra II CF card, which is -supposed- to have 10Mb/sec read/write speeds - at least according to the claims on the package, and several benchmark sites.

Plug it in, and ouch.... it drags the X51v to a snail's pace.

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's 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 MAKES A DIFFERENCE!).
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 was FAT16 / 32K
- the 2Gb 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