Jason Dunn
10-29-2002, 12:00 PM
It’s a mobile computing fact: no matter how much storage space you have on your Pocket PC, you’ll eventually use it up. More is always better when it comes to memory, and the 512 meg eFilm card from Delkin delivers in a big way. I don’t leave home without this card...when I use a Pocket PC that has a CF slot that is. :wink: <!><br /><br /><b><span>You really can take it with you</span></b><br /><span>Un-published PocketPC.com article originally written May 2nd, 2002.</span><br /><br /><i>The spacious 512 megabyte eFilm CompactFlash card has room to spare for audio, video, and more.</i><br /><br /><b><span>Device Requirements</span></b><br />The card is a CompactFlash Type 1, so it will work in any Pocket PC that can accept CompactFlash cards, including the HP Jornada 56x series, the Casio E-200, the Toshiba Genio, and other devices.<br /><br /><b><span>What’s Hot</span></b><br />If you want to balance massive storage requirements with excellent battery life, the eFilm 512 meg card is a superb choice.<br /><br /><b><span>Languages Supported</span></b><br />Not applicable (every Pocket PC will have built-in drivers).<br /><br /><b><span>Where to Buy</span></b><br />The 512 meg card can be purchased from the <a href="http://store.yahoo.com/delkin/ddcffls2-512.html">Delkin online store</a> for US $599.99.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/articles/773-JD-fig1.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 1: The Delkin eFilm 512 meg CompactFlash card</i><br /><br /><b><span>Small on the outside, big on the inside</span></b><br />Physically, CompactFlash cards are quite small – they’re often used in other devices like MP3 players and digital cameras. That’s perhaps one of the best things about CompactFlash cards – they can be used in more than one device. I’ll often snap some photos with my Canon S110 digital camera, then pop the memory card into my Pocket PC to look at the images on the larger screen. Whether I was using it in my HP Jornada 565, my iPAQ 3870, or my Canon S110, the card performed perfectly. I didn’t have a single read/write error – CompactFlash technology is stable and reliable.<br /><br /><b><span>Strong Performance</span></b><br />The eFilm card performed quickly in every task I threw at it. Making a copy of a 5.55 meg video file took 14 seconds, while copying the same file to RAM took 16 seconds. Copying the video file from RAM to the card took 17 seconds. Moving data to and from the card using a USB 1.0 card reader on the desktop was even faster – that 5.5 meg video file was copied from the card to the desktop in 5 seconds flat, while moving from the desktop to the card took 8 seconds. Speed is critical with a product like this, because if you’re loading the card up with a few hundred music files, you don’t want to be waiting forever for it to complete.<br /><br />Playing back audio and video files off the card on the Pocket PC worked flawlessly – I didn’t notice any skips or stuttering in playback with the video file at 225 kbps. I should note that there are some companies, like Lexar, selling “high performance” cards with numerical values like “16X”. The difference in speed these cards make is highly debatable – in a high-end digital camera, the cards may very well perform better, but in a Pocket PC, the difference will be negligible.<br /><br /><b><span>Easy on Battery Life</span></b><br />This can’t be stressed enough: CompactFlash cards are very battery-friendly. They have no moving parts, so the power required to read and write to them is very low. Last year I performed an audio playback battery test between a CompactFlash card and an IBM Microdrive. In an iPAQ 3650, with the screen off the music played off the Microdrive for 3 hours. The CompactFlash card provided 6 hours of playback under the same conditions – quite a difference! CompactFlash cards are more expensive per-megabyte than an IBM Microdrive, but the difference in power consumption is startling. Something to keep in mind when you’re shopping!<br /><br /><b><span>Gotchas</span></b><br />The only thing not to like about this card is the price – at US $599, it’s as expensive as some Pocket PCs! While I’ve found the performance of the eFilm to be flawless, there are less expensive alternatives that should give similar results. You can search the Web for better deals – I found this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005MIS8/qid=1035856013/jasondunn-20">512 meg Kingston card</a> (affiliate link) for less than one-third of the cost of the eFilm. That’s a big price difference! Even if the performance isn’t quite as fast, it’s hard to justify a discrepancy that extreme.<br /><br /><b><span>Conclusion</span></b><br />While there are other, bigger CompactFlash cards emerging on the market (a 1 gigabyte cards are now shipping), they are prohibitively expensive and some are Type II and not compatible in Pocket PCs like the HP Jornada 565. The eFilm represents a solid mix of performance and functionality – you can’t go wrong with this card.