ARTICLE Comments: Memory card comparison and compatibility

MikeB

Well they said we need to evaluate cards. Right I said and booked a flight to Las Vegas. "No, not that sort of card, you know chips". So I still kept my flight tickets. "No, not that sort of chip. Storage cards, memory-chips!". "Damn" I thought. I still went to Vegas though!

Over the last year or so there has been an explosion in the number, size and speed of storage cards in production. There is a lot of myth and legend about speed and compatibility issues with various devices. To try and cut through some of the misconceptions PocketGPSWorld.com has gathered together a large number and type of storage card and has created a compatibility/speed comparison test.

Thanks to the generosity of a number of the Memory Card manufacturers we have collected a number of different cards with varying storage capacities to help you determine which cards you should be considering for your navigation equipment. Our thanks go out specifically to ATP, Kingston and Sandisk for providing test samples, and also to Rob at ValueFlash.co.uk.

Click here to find out what we tested, how we tested them and how they shaped up.
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Mike Barrett

Pocketgps · Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 8:37 pm Post subject:

Hello Everyone,

Just a small observation, I often see posts on the forum saying that storage cards will not work, well from my experience this has nothing to do with the cards at all, but the card reader that is used.

I have used several different makes over the years, and noticed that after just deleting files from a card sometimes that the card then would not work, reformating the card in the same reader did not cure the problem, only a few weeks ago I had taken over 400 photos for a work project, these were on 3 different storage cards (2 MMC256MB - 1 SD512MB), after using a card reader from Dazzle - Model - Hi-Speed USB 2.0 - 8 in 1, none of the cards could be read by either of my cameras, at this stage I had only deleted the photos from the cards, not formated them, so I then reformated the cards in the reader, but this made no difference, the cards could not be read by the cameras and both cameras read Error when insterting the cards, I then tried the cards in a Epsom 6 in 1 reader, this again would not even show that a card was present in the reader, I then contacted Dazzle who sent me a Flash Rom update, this I did to the reader and then reformated the cards and now all work OK again.

Before this, I had tried copying to the SD card via the Dazzle my GPS maps and software to see if that would work, and although you could see the files via the card reader it would not work in the PDA.

My conclusion is that most cards are fine, and some card readers are the problem.

Thanks to the Dazzle support team who responded to my email the same day.

uffe73 · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 10:14 am Post subject:

Very interesting test!!! Especicially, the conclusion about the Integral cards, which is exactly the kind of card I'm using. It could maybe explain some of the issues I've had with my setup. This is excellent input for me since I was about to buy a 1GB card any day.

One question that comes to my mind is how the applications from TT and Navman differs in terms of memory card usage. I've seen some postings claiming that TT is rougher on the memory card than Navman. It would have been very intersting to see the application test from this test performed with Navman SmartST as well to see if there is really a difference.
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JohnBoy59 · Regular Visitor Joined: Feb 21, 2005 Posts: 120

Once again a very interesting and comprehesive test.
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Life's a bitch... then I met Jane...

Jammy1 · Regular Visitor Joined: Oct 20, 2004 Posts: 63

Quick question. The Dane-Elec card on test, is this the standard SD card or the XS one. There seems to be both available on their website. Not sure which is best got my GO.

Countryman · Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 3:21 pm Post subject:

Mike, thanks for a great review! I have two questions though. One of the CF cards tested was a Kingston 2.0 GB Elite Pro. Where was this obtained from as ValueFlash do not have this item on their website. I am also interested where the internal USB 2.0 card reader was purchased from. I purchased such a device from Maplin last year and when I read the Instruction Manual I discovered that it would not work with cards over 512MB. This was not mentioned in the catalogue or on the box. I rang Sitecom and they confirmed this.

Brian

MikeB · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:27 pm Post subject:

MikeB · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:15 pm Post subject:

lostagain · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject:

Sandisk have an Ultra card, supposed to be much faster than the standard type.
It would be useful to know if they really make any difference.
I assume the test was the standard type.

MikeB · Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2005 9:47 pm Post subject:

Indeed it was the standard one. SanDisk told me "there was no value in reviewing the Ultra series they were for professionals" as it had taken me over 3 months to get them to buy into the tests I decided not to argue the point.
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Mike Barrett

nicknick · Regular Visitor Joined: 03/02/2003 17:18:53 Posts: 154

Sandisk also have the new Extreme III CF card which claims a 20MB/sec sequential write and read speed. I have one on order so I'll give you my thoughts later in the month
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Nick

lydiachris · Regular Visitor Joined: Mar 09, 2005 Posts: 193

Hi there,

Thanks for the very helpful review, it was so helpful that I went out and purchased a Kingston 512MB SD Card, just like the one in the review as it came out tops on re-routing speeds using TomTom Navigator 3.

I have searched around on these forums and not found the answer to my question.

What is the best file format to reformat the Kingston 512MB SD Card!?

Im using an XDAIIi with TomTom Navigator 3 3.07T. I have the Great Britain Map installed and the Major Roads of Europe.

At present, the card is formatted to the FAT format, What is the difference between FAT and FAT32!?

Is there any difference in speed between the two file formats?!
What did format did you use to carry out the tests in the review FAT or FAT32!?

I use my computer with Windows XP SP2 to defragment and copy/paste/transfer files to the SD Card.

Like yourselves I have planned a route from Lands End to John O'Groats and it takes on average 55 seconds to calculate.

Before I take any drastic measure and start fiddling with reformatting my SD Card to a different format, I would greatly appreciate a reply and some information about the file formats and which is the best to use in my XDAIIi with TomTom Nav 3 installed.

Keep up the good work!!!
Warmest Regards,
LydiaChris Embarassed

lydiachris · Regular Visitor Joined: Mar 09, 2005 Posts: 193

Hey Mike, was just wondering if you could post a reply?!?!?

Di · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 20, 2005 Posts: 17

Very interesting report - but I would like to have known the CLAIMED card speeds, either related to the standard benchmark (eg 40x) or - preferably - the actual read/write speed (eg 6MB/s) for each of the cards tested. This applies particularly to the CD cards, which presumably varied considerably based on the quoted "Type" descriptions. Is it worth paying the sometimes substantial premium for the (claimed) faster cards?

Di · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 20, 2005 Posts: 17

Sorry - I meant to type "CF cards", NOT "CD"!!!

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