Just got my iPAQ 3950...

[StPatrick]

...and need some advices, since I'm very very not familar with these devices. Got it working, upgraded to 1.11, installed some games.. Well, looks kinda cool :)
Now I'm thinking to move towards and get some accessories. First of all of cause - memory. I see there are 2 options - SD and CF cards. While SD card I can buy and use right away, for CF cards I need to get an expansion pack first. So the first question - what the difference between them? I mean like downsides, which is better (if it may be compared). More I read , more I think to go for CF cards, since after adding an Expansion pack I can use other devices too, cameras (like CamCF (http://www.lifeview.com.tw/eng/pro_ia_cam_cf.html)) and I guess many more.
So can someone point me good and bad about SD and CF cards? As well as manufactures (I saw that SanDisk doesn't have a good reputation)?

Thanx in advance :)

[Reinaldo]

:idea: I like to do this combo: CF cards for accesories, while SD cards for storage. It really works nicely, with a glitch here and there. As for the SanDisk not being reliable, I have an SanDisk SD card and it works nicely.

The bad about SD is not a lot of accesories, but they are small. And they are quick on the 3975, at least. The good, is a chance to do the combo mentioned above.

[StPatrick]

Ah, ok, thank you :) Yep, I guess for storage SD card will be better, with CompactFlash I need to carry the exp. pack too..

[phanprod]

That's basically the theory I use, too --- sd for ram, cf for accessories.

My first purchase after the 3955 itself was the CF Pro pack. The extra battery provides ample juice for my cf wifi card, without taxing the internal battery.

Then, I found a great pack from MemPlug which allows me to utilize Sony's Memory Sticks as well as cf. This worked out great because I already had tons of memory for my digi cam. I only wish this had an external battery, too... but that's only an option on their dual cf pack.

Finally, I picked up a 128 MB sd card. So I've got plenty of options - and can't complain about it at all!

[StPatrick]

So I've got plenty of options - and can't complain about it at all!

No, no, not complaining :) Better to have MANY options than NONE lol

[Chris Spera]

Everyone here is right on...

I recently bought a 256MB SD card for my iPAQ 5455 and use it exclusively for storage. The card will always be in the slot, even tho the slot also supports SDIO. I also have a PC Card expansion sleeve, and if I want to add any external accessories that require a slot, I'll most likely do it thru that Sleeve.

As I said, I recently bought that card because my SanDisk 128MB SD card crapped out, out of nowhere. boom! sector errors! Sucks big time!

It formats ok; but I keep getting data errors from it. Its doubtful that I will trust another SanDisk card with any of my data regardless of how cheap they become.

Kind Regards,


Christopher Spera

[Johnny Blaze]

I would go for the CF Expansion Pack Plus. Although I dont always keep mine on me I do find it of great use for the extra battery and definitely for wifi card. I use my SD slot sparingly mainly to store ebooks and such.

[Traveller]

I too use the CF Expansion Plus Pack but I also use CF memory cards in addition to my SD memory card. The CF memory is used for music, movie, and picture files- I figured that the expansion battery would be useful when using the associated apps for these files.

My data and applications are installed on my SD card. Both cards are Sandisk, 128 MB and I haven't had a problem with either of them.

[Shadowcat]

So far I've been sticking to CF cards. When I was shopping for a new memory card last Christmas, I really wanted to buy a SD card but I settled for a CF card instead. Why, you might ask? I was looking for a 256 MB card. At that time I could find a CF for slightly over 100 CDN, while SD was slightly more than twice the cost. Unless SD prices come down to approximately the same level as CF, I won't buy SD cards. Just my opinion.