"High Speed" SD cards, any real benefits?

[sunilpunjabi]

Hi all,
I have ordered my X30 624, boy Dell takes forever, and awaiting its arrival,. While I've been waiting I’ve been looking into SD cards.

I’ve pretty much learned to stay away from SanDisk, so that’s good to know. My question is about “High Speed” cards. Lexar, SanDisk Ultra2, and others have cards rated 16x, 32x, 40x and even 60x. They are of course more expensive than the “regular” or un-rated ones. I’ve searched the forums, but I can’t seem to find CLEAR answers on SD card speeds and the X30.


Do I need these cards? Can the X30 take advantage of the extra speed? I would only use them in the X30, my camera uses CF.
I plan to use the card to hold photos, MP3, and some applications on the X30.

Additionally, does it make sense to get separate slower cards for MP3, photos, etc and a faster one for applications (that do not require the MP3s or photos on the other card)?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Kowalski]

your device will take advantage of faster cards for sure, but keep in mind that we have serious bottle necks. firstly active stink. secondly if you are planning to sync your device over USB keep in mind that the max theorical speed is not more than 1 meg/sec.
it gets worse if you sync with BT

[ctmagnus]

But if you have a newish computer with USB2.0 and you have a USB2.0 card reader, then by all means go for a faster card as data transfer will be that much faster.

I use a USB2.0 hub and card reader on a USB1.1-equipped computer and I find higher-rated cards to be much faster than other cards.

[Kowalski]

the card manifucturers recommend using USB 2.0 with high speed cards too

[ctmagnus]

But if your computer doesn't actually have USB2.0 ports, you're not going to get the speed advantage of USB2.0 over USB1.1 regardless of how many USB2.0 devices you have plugged in. ;)

To clarify my original post:

By all means, get a higher-speed card if you're using it with a reader attached to a computer, even if that computer or any of its components is only USB1.1.

[Fishie]

As for the Axim itself it wont make much of a difference, memory configurations and program requirements make them unable to do anything with the sort of speed those cards can be read/written at.

[milkman dan]

use a USB2.0 hub and card reader on a USB1.1-equipped computer and I find higher-rated cards to be much faster than other cards.


??? How does plugging a USB2.0 hub into a 1.1 slot provide any sort of improvement? its like plugging a 10/100 hub into a 10meg nic, you won't see any sort of improvements

[ctmagnus]

use a USB2.0 hub and card reader on a USB1.1-equipped computer and I find higher-rated cards to be much faster than other cards.


??? How does plugging a USB2.0 hub into a 1.1 slot provide any sort of improvement? its like plugging a 10/100 hub into a 10meg nic, you won't see any sort of improvements

The improvement comes from a faster card, regardless of the hardware it's plugged into.

[milkman dan]

? Okay, I don't think I understand what you are saying :( If you are saying that a USB2.0 card reader plugged into a USB1.1 slot will offer any speed improvements whatsoever over a USB 1.1 card reader into a USB1.1 slow, you are mistaken. From what I have read, most SD cards write at 1.5 megs a second, which is faster than USB1.1 can handle anyways, so even a faster card should technically bench the same

[Janak Parekh]

? Okay, I don't think I understand what you are saying :( If you are saying that a USB2.0 card reader plugged into a USB1.1 slot will offer any speed improvements whatsoever over a USB 1.1 card reader into a USB1.1 slow, you are mistaken. From what I have read, most SD cards write at 1.5 megs a second, which is faster than USB1.1 can handle anyways, so even a faster card should technically bench the same
All he is saying is that he's noticed a difference between flash cards, even on a USB1.1 computer. It's not the hub or the reader that's causing this, because they're both capable of 1.1 and faster speeds. A "1.5mBps" rating is theoretical, so obviously it's not so clear-cut.

--janak

[schriss]

Guys, there are reviews of those fast SD cards. The ONLY difference between "normal" and high speed cards is WRITE speed. So these cards are useful in digital cameras where write speed is crucial. But not in PDA. On the other hand, if you got cash, why not ;-)

[OskiO]

So, what cards are out there that are recommended? I want a 1GB card with quick write speed. Doesn't have to blow my doors off, just don't want to take 15 minutes to load my card with MP3s and files.

Anyone have a 1GB card that they would recommend?

Any links to reviews would be appriciated.

Thanks,
Chris

[schriss]

Google is your friend :D
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/flashcard-test/flashcard-test-p2.html
notice read speed of SD cards is almost equal while write speed varies.

and here:
Memory Card Shoot-Out: Four 512 MB Secure Digital Cards Compared

http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,30484:dont_paginate,1

"If the SD card is going into a Pocket PC or Smartphone, and will be primarily used for reading data stored on it (audio, video, programs), the read speed is more important than the write speed. If the card is going into a camera, however, write speed is paramount and you'll want the fastest card you can get your hands on even if it's more expensive."