Need Advice for spec'ing new Axim

[kt3m]

I am going to get an Amix - converting from Palm.

Need suggestions of the specs.... the type of Ram / Rom , etc.

Please share your ideas .

thanks

[spursdude]

Do you wanna know the specifications of the Axim? If so, you can check it out at this site (http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/products/series_pda_snp.htm).

A little more specificity can help us help you... just let us know.

[kt3m]

will get Axim 400mhz

need advice on what is nice or necessary as far as 64 mb ram or upgrade to 512

What at CF or SD - which is needed as far as expansion

I fly alot and want to be able to download music etc to lisit to and eventually use GPS with Pocket Map

suggestions appreciated

[MPSmith]

Here's some suggestions...

If you are going to have a lot of MP3's, then use one memory slot for MP3's only. Then use the other slot for accessories. Try to figure out what accessories you might want, wi-fi, bluetooth, etc. and leave that slot open. Typically that would be your CF card slot, so you would use the SD for MP3's.

What I'm saying is try to decide in advance what you will use your Ax for an adjust your memory usage accordingly. Will you need the use of certain programs while you have the Bluetooth CF card inserted? If so, put that program on SD, main memory, or built-in memory (ROM).

Don't be afraid to put some programs in RAM, just leave enough spare that performance isn't affected. There's no exact science to it, but maybe leave 20MB free or so (just a SWAG).

Just some random thoughts....

[etalianstallion]

I assume that you will get a CF GPS unit, which means that you're stuck with using the SD slot for memory. SD is about 2X the price/MB compared to CF cards.

There may be GPS devices which can be used with the Axim via a serial cable, but I'm not sure if that is currently available--I'm sure this will be available sometime soon.

Also, you can't really upgrade the RAM on the Axim. All you can get is additional memory cards (CF or SD). Maybe I didn't understand you correctly.

My suggestion: get a large CF card since it is cheaper. Use that for your music/movies/general storage. Get a SD card (128 or 256) to use in conjunction with a CF GPS unit. Probably not likely that you listen to music while the GPS is in use.

[Pony99CA]

My suggestion: get a large CF card since it is cheaper. Use that for your music/movies/general storage. Get a SD card (128 or 256) to use in conjunction with a CF GPS unit. Probably not likely that you listen to music while the GPS is in use.
When I use my GPS in the car, I often hook my iPAQ into my stereo with a cassette adapter and play MP3s. That way I get the driving directions over the stereo instead of the iPAQ's speaker and can still have music.

Steve

[PetiteFlower]

SD is about 2X the price/MB compared to CF cards.

Where did you get that idea? SD is a little more expensive but not THAT much. I got my 256mb Sandisk SD card at Circuit City for $99, they have a 256 Sandisk CF card listed at $89. It wasn't enough of a difference to make me want to go with CF for memory over SD, I'd still rather have the CF slot free for accessories.

[erussell]

I use 256MB SD and keep the CF slot open for GPS, 56K modem, and WiFi card. buy.com is selling the Sandisk 256MB SD card for $65.

[PetiteFlower]

Yes but buy.com sucks and will never get my money. Have you read their feedback?

[erussell]

I've been buying from buy.com for about three years now and never had any problems. I use there VISA through Fisrt USA and get credits on purchases. There shipping is very fast. I've even received items in one day. They might not carry every item as other sites, but they seems to have some of the lowest prices and free shipping on most items.

What happened when you bought from them?

[MPSmith]

SD is about 2X the price/MB compared to CF cards.

Not to pile on, but here's an ad for a 256MB SD for $63 shipped!!!

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10335081

[erussell]

as to my previous reply - I should use spellcheck

[PetiteFlower]

I've never bought from them and never will, because I looked at their reviews on Pricegrabber and saw that they had 50% negative feedback!!!!!

Not to mention that I would not want to be slapped with a 15% restocking fee if I have to return something as defective(they charge you the fee no matter why you return it, all the retailers on pricegrabber have the same policy, that's why I went to Circuit City).

[etalianstallion]

Okay, maybe I'm not doing my math right about the pricing for SD vs CF, but here's how I came to my conclusion (and please jump in and correct me if I am wrong). So it's really between 1.5X and 2X. These prices do take rebates into consideration, so maybe that is where the difference lies, but I assume the lowest price includes the rebate.

$63 is pretty darn low for a 256MB SD card--I may just have to get one for myself. I'm hestitant to get anything at this point since I've seen the prices of both CF and SD drop tremendously within the last 2-3 months. Let's hope that it goes even lower.

Anyway, here's my funny math.

SD card: $63 to $99 for 256MB
price per meg: $0.24 to $0.38

CF card: $67 to $120 for 512MB
price per meg: $0.13 to $0.23

CF card: $140 to $199 for 1GB
price per meg: $0.14 to $0.20

[PetiteFlower]

You can't compare price per meg in different size cards, that's not an equal comparison. You can only compare a 256 sd card to a 256 cf card or a 512 sd card to a 512 cf card.

[erussell]

I perfer the SD over the CF. I have two 256MB SD cards. One for PocketMap Navigator maps (used with a Holux GPS CF) and one for regular storage (games, dictionary, Audible books, etc). I love my toys.

[etalianstallion]

Okay, so here's the comparison:

SD 512 MB, price w/o rebate: $284 (Lexar from buy.com)
CF 512 MB, price w/o rebate: $100 (Sandisk from Dell)

I would say that's closer to 3X than 2X, right?

Of course, you then have to take the brand into comparison since they have different write/read speeds, etc, etc.

For the 256MB, you are right, prices are almost even now.

Maybe I'm slightly biased since my Axim is the only device that uses SD (currently, never say never). I'd like to see the price drop with the 512MB to a reasonable price before I make the jump. But for now, CF will do for me since I don't have any CF devices...can't quite afford/justify the CF GPS yet. I've heard that a SD GPS device is coming soon but unfortunately the Dell is not SDIO. :(

[erussell]

I just checked Pricegrabber. buy.com has a 3.75/5.00 rating (4 out of 5 stars). Not to bad. I never go by Pricegrabber anyway. The lowest price merchants are usually run by Times Square type merchants (for those who are familair with NYC) that never seems to have the item in stock or the merchants charge high shipping/handling fees.

[etalianstallion]

I have had pretty good experiences with buy.com in the past. However, now that they have this stupid handling fee, I will not shop with them anymore.

Free shipping used to mean free shipping and handling, but now it is really only free shipping.

Will stick to Amazon.com. Great customer service IMHO. Good prices too.

[PetiteFlower]

*sigh* You can't compare different brands and different sites, either, jeez!

The only valid comparison is the one that I posted--same size card, same brand, same store, only difference being the format. Of COURSE Lexar is going to be more expensive then Sandisk. I already posted the valid 256m comparison; but it appears that no valid comparison exists for the 512 size. The closest I could find was Simpletech but that would be comparing the SD card with a type 1 CF card instead of the usual type 2.

At any rate, right now the 512 size SD cards are very expensive, more then twice as much as a 256 SD card, but I expect that to change within a few months. The 256 is at a stable price point right now so it's a better comparison anyway; the 512 size is a lot closer to bleeding edge then the same size CF card.

And since when is price the only reason to chose one memory format over another?

[MPSmith]

PetiteFlower, you nailed it right on the head! Great Post!

[etalianstallion]

*sigh* You can't compare different brands and different sites, either, jeez!


Exactly why I wrote the following below in my previous post.


Of course, you then have to take the brand into comparison since they have different write/read speeds, etc, etc.

For the 256MB, you are right, prices are almost even now.


Regarding:


And since when is price the only reason to chose one memory format over another?


When all I care about is mass storage. I could care less what the read/write rates are on a PPC since it will never exceed the rate of the memory cards. Maybe I should have put this disclaimer in my post since it is really only my opinion, and, well, this is a forum, correct?

Honestly, I don't agree with the same store reasoning for pricing. Why would I compare prices at a similar store when I know I can get it cheaper elsewhere?

Like I said, this is my personal take on the subject. You don't have to agree with me--that's not my purpose here.

[rein]

Wow, I bet you guys have really helped the original poster. :roll:

[PetiteFlower]

Would help if the original poster had posted a question that any of us could understand.

And besides that I bet if he browsed through the threads here, all his questions would be answered...

[spursdude]

SD is about 2X the price/MB compared to CF cards.

Where did you get that idea? SD is a little more expensive but not THAT much. I got my 256mb Sandisk SD card at Circuit City for $99, they have a 256 Sandisk CF card listed at $89. It wasn't enough of a difference to make me want to go with CF for memory over SD, I'd still rather have the CF slot free for accessories.

256MB CF cards at $50 at amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005AC8J/ref=pd_sbs_e_1/002-2009217-3817606?v=glance&s=electronics). And the 512MB card is $100... so it is about doubled....

Hopefully SD prices will come down soon.