SD or CF?

[Stephen Beesley]

Just recently I got my hands on a 2.2gb Microdrive (it came as part of a package I bought on ebay). I really love the technology involved - the idea of a tiny spinning disk just amazes me. However, there is no doubt that it is no where near as fast as solid state memory. One of the things I liked about the thought of so much storage space was being able to store lots of videos, but the microdrive seems just too slow to run them (in TCMP) properly.

So, I am thinking of offloading the Micro-drive on ebay and picking up a 1gb SD or CF card to replace it with.

Any opinions out there about which is best. SD seems more "future proof" in that I may not always have the CF option in my device of choice, but what about speed issues etc - is one likely to be faster than the other and, if so, is this to an extent that you would actually notice?

[Patrick Y.]

SD card is the future of course! It won't be long until Samsung release the monster 32GB card.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

...but the microdrive seems just too slow to run them (in TCMP) properly.



Have you tried TCPMP's microdrive mode? You could also try uping the cache, which pretty much amounts to the same thing. This would also help reduce the power drain.

To keep on topic: SD definitely, not only more devices seem to support it, but its generally faster as well ( at least for recent machines) :)

[Menneisyys]

Any opinions out there about which is best. SD seems more "future proof" in that I may not always have the CF option in my device of choice, but what about speed issues etc - is one likely to be faster than the other and, if so, is this to an extent that you would actually notice?

SD's are no longer slower than CF cards in recent devices. That is, I'd go for the SD too.

[hiatus]

on the slot on the Dell X50v, the SD card is faster than the CF card

and sounds like you have a microster 2.2GB microdrive? they were good price, my fd got one brand new for like 60 bucks but he is selling it now, he told me for some reason the microdrive drain his battery even though the drive is not spinning....

[Stephen Beesley]

on the slot on the Dell X50v, the SD card is faster than the CF card

and sounds like you have a microster 2.2GB microdrive? they were good price, my fd got one brand new for like 60 bucks but he is selling it now, he told me for some reason the microdrive drain his battery even though the drive is not spinning....

Yep it is the 2.2 GB Magicstor microdrive. I got it along with a Toshiba e750 that I bought on ebay a week or so ago - so the price was definately right!

The speed issues I reported in my original post seem to have been addressed by reformating the drive and using the Microdive mode in TCMP as suggested above.

Really like having all that storage space, but I do worry about the drive being less hardy than solid state memory - I tend to take my PPC with me pretty much everywhere.

Haven't really decided if I will sell it yet, but I am guessing that I might get enough for it to buy a 1gb SD card. Just not sure if I that will be enough for me now - I have already gotten used to having 2gb to play with!

So far power has not seemed to be an issue - although I do tend to charge at every opportunity - even when using wifi etc. Does not seem to be using too much power when not actually accessing stuff of it however.

[neuromajor]

Newbie here :)
Got me a x50v, and I'm tring to decide what card to get. Power is important since I want to maximize my battery. Speed seems secondary for me. Right now, it seems that CF is cheaper than SD. How do you find out which card takes less power?--since most stores don't seem to tell you.

[hiatus]

I used to have a 1GB CF and a 1GB SD
i can't tell any power drain by them during everyday uses
so I think they are very close and you shouldn't worry about it, you don't want a microdrive though.

[Menneisyys]

How do you find out which card takes less power?--since most stores don't seem to tell you.

If you don't have a hacked desktop SD/CF reader (an Amperage meter, serially connected to the power lead), then, the method I've used here (http://winmobiletech.com/CARDS/) is prolly the best.

But, if I were you, I wouldn't bother running hours-long tests: flash-based memory cards consume very little power, especially if you don't write anything to them.

[Frosty Vibe]

I agree, I'd say SD will outlast CF... but the MD will probably stick around for a while yet for digital photography.

As for power consumption, I don't believe it that much different between CF and SD, at least not on my iPAQ 2210