Which CF card would YOU buy?

[tok129]

I am new to PPC's and flash media memory. I am considering investing in a 1 GB CF card for my newly acquired IPAQ2215. I have read some of the other topics on this issue and have gathered some valuable information from this site. My mind is pretty much made up as to which one I'll buy but I would like to see what some you think from past experiences, word-of-mouth, etc.. It would be helpful if you posted some comments/experiences/personal preferences/etc. to go with your answer :)

Thanks for your input.


p.s. This site is great - it's good to have such a valuable information source to supplement my new found love of PPC :D

[Janak Parekh]

I would avoid type II, unless it's much cheaper. I don't think it makes a big price difference anymore, and you're limiting the kinds of devices (such as cameras) which you can use.

--janak

[tok129]

I would avoid type II, unless it's much cheaper. I don't think it makes a big price difference anymore, and you're limiting the kinds of devices (such as cameras) which you can use.

--janak

Thanks for the advice janak.

I haven't seen any real differences in prices between the two types. Does this mean that digital cameras (or most of them anyway) only accept type I CF and not type II :?: I thought that type II was the newer (and presumably better) technology :?: Do some CF cards work better for cameras and some work better for PDA's :?:

Also, has anyone had any experiences with differing quality from the same manufacturer but different cards (i.e. 256MB vs. 512 MB from same company) :?: I have read that the 256 SanDisk CF cards are more unstable than other SanDisk cards and I am wondering if this is also true with other manufacturers.

Sorry about all the questions. Any advice would be very helpful.

[Janak Parekh]

I haven't seen any real differences in prices between the two types. Does this mean that digital cameras (or most of them anyway) only accept type I CF and not type II :?:
Correct, except for higher-end cameras.

I thought that type II was the newer (and presumably better) technology :?: Do some CF cards work better for cameras and some work better for PDA's :?:
Nope. Type II only specifies a thicker form factor. It's not "newer" per se.

Also, has anyone had any experiences with differing quality from the same manufacturer but different cards (i.e. 256MB vs. 512 MB from same company) :?: I have read that the 256 SanDisk CF cards are more unstable than other SanDisk cards and I am wondering if this is also true with other manufacturers.
I'm not sure. I haven't really had bad experiences with CF cards, but mine are mostly SD nowadays.

--janak

[Kati Compton]

Also, has anyone had any experiences with differing quality from the same manufacturer but different cards (i.e. 256MB vs. 512 MB from same company) :?: I have read that the 256 SanDisk CF cards are more unstable than other SanDisk cards and I am wondering if this is also true with other manufacturers.
I have not heard of a difference in quality from the same manufacturer at different sizes. And I thought the SanDisk issue was mainly with SD cards, not CF....?

I don't know that speed makes much of a difference for use in a PPC, but if you also want to use it with a digital camera, it might be something worth looking into.

[dh]

I have a SanDisk 1GB CF card and I've used it everyday since early March with never a single problem.

I use this card as my entertainment store. There are usually two or three movies, various CDs and a bunch of books on it.

Because I have an Axim, I have to swap the CF card with my WiFi card several times a day, again no problems to report.

I use a card reader to move files between the card and my laptop, using Active Sync is too slow when dealing with movies which are often about 200 - 250 MB in size.

I would suggest you get whatever card has a good price at the time you buy.

[sbrown23]

I wish PPCT would do a CF/SD shootout comparing the speeds of various manufacturers storage cards.

Here's one ... though it is from a camera review site they do read/write performance using card readers, but only has results for CF -

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/

[Kati Compton]

I wish PPCT would do a CF/SD shootout comparing the speeds of various manufacturers storage cards.

SD maybe. From what I understand, though, the PPC interface for CF is the speed constraint, not the CF card itself. But I could be wrong.

[tok129]

I thought the SanDisk issue was mainly with SD cards, not CF....?


I can't find the source where I found this info but you are probably right - I could have read it wrong :oops:

[tok129]

I wish PPCT would do a CF/SD shootout comparing the speeds of various manufacturers storage cards.

Here's one ... though it is from a camera review site they do read/write performance using card readers, but only has results for CF -

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/

Thanks for the link! It's a little outdated, but still has lots of valuable info regarding CF cards.