Which compact flash card is best?

[boxman69]

I bout the driver at eru ware can you tell me a good CF card to buy? 1 GB would be nice

[n2ifp]

Buy them all, test them, and please tell us :).

BTW, what parameters are considered in determining what is best? Are they speed ratings, power consumption, or both?

The cards tested were mostly what fellow beta testers owned. No comparisions were made, other than they worked.

[boxman69]

Thanks Ill let you know the outcome

[n2ifp]

Originally posted by boxman69
Thanks Ill let you know the outcome

I am not trying to give anyone a hard time. It's a little hard to quantify without data from a reliable source to have done a major undertaking for testing.

It's like asking which is the best launcher or the best case for your Clie. Yes, you'll get a gazillion replies, but none of any value. I'd look for low power consumption and for a decent price. I'd also be wary of Lexar Media that's USB enabled until it's known if their newer cards don't need to use slow mount.

[boxman69]

good advice I was looking at viking or sandisk 1 GB ill try one or both what's your thought on this your opinion greatly appreciated

[BClie2k]

I posted this a few days ago. I hope it helps:

Revised.

So far this is what I'm understanding from all my reading about 1GB CF cards:

The slowest one, read or write, will be the SanDisk (no wonder why is cheaper than others) However, it is reliable and it sells for about $200

The next option will be the SimpleTech, which is Type II and looks like a cheap card. On the good side it is faster than SanDisk and others, but some users have reported some unstable behavior. It sells for about $230, with a $50 rebate that end this April 30th.

Now, the Viking card looks like the most popular one. It has high ratings in Amazon since it is faster than the SanDisk, looks better than the SimpleTech, it is type I and it is reliable. The best from all worlds. The bad news is that the $240 deal before $50 rebate is no longer available at Amazon.com. However, eCost has it for 230 before $50 MIR. I've read that sometimes Viking plays tricks with the rebates, so be careful. In addition to all this, the Viking 1GB card is listed on the EruWare website as tested and compatible.

Finally, If you don't care about money and feel like getting the best of all CF cards the Kingston CF is the one. I think it goes for more than $290. However, I have seen it cheaper at mobileplanet.com ($209).


Last Thursday night, I decided to buy the Viking 1GB from eCost for $230 shipped and today I found out that it should be delivered on the 29. I made this decision after reading many reviews on different websites. Now, I'm not saying that this is the only choice or the best card in the world. I'm just trying to help those who can't decide. I was also thining on buying the Kingston or the SimpleTech, and I would recommend them too.

I hope this helps anyone who needs it,


Al

[jedix]

I just ordered the 1 gb viking card from ecost too. I hope the mail in rebate goes OK!

[n2ifp]

Originally posted by boxman69
good advice I was looking at viking or sandisk 1 GB ill try one or both what's your thought on this your opinion greatly appreciated

The good points as Al mentioned about SanDisk is it's very reliable, plus it has low power consumption while being used. I can't speak for the other cards, so I can't give you a personal recommendation there. 

[oyakov]

Does anybody know anything on this new Lexar card:

1GB 32x Professional CompactFlash card with Write Acceleration (WA) Technology

Write Acceleration Technology (WA) allows digital cameras and CompactFlash cards to work together perfectly to pass and store images more quickly and achieve image-write speeds never before possible.

This 1GB card is available at ecost for $259.99
http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?DPNo=141750

[MikeLang]

...and are there reasons to get a 30x or 40x CF card? Will it make any differences?
I saw the Vikings CF claimed to be 8x while other CF cards are available in 30-40X.
Thanks.
-Mike-

[Jag]

Ecost also has the Viking 512mb card for $89.00 after a $50.00 manufacturer's mail-in rebate.

[oyakov]

So, does anybody have any idea if we really can take some advantage of the fast card, or the Clie hardware is a bottleneck and all this extra money for faster cards is just waist?

[Eddy]

originally posted by n2ifp
The good points as Al mentioned about SanDisk is it's very reliable, plus it has low power consumption while being used.

Larry, the SanDisk is in fact very reliable, though it might be slow in comparison to others. Depends on what the individual is seeking for really. I prefer Sandisk becoz it's reliable. I use it mainly for movies & mp3, just that extra storage. Most appz are with the MS.

With all these speed issues here, it's really hard to say which Compact Flash is the best. Each brand varies in its' own performance. Good thing we've many posters here who've tested with a variety of cards & can offer advice in speed performance.
But there's "no one card does it all", you just have to give and take, because there're other reports with issues such as Moive not playable on a specific brand cards but can play on other cards of other brands.
I too myself is hoping to find that one perfect card that serves all function. :D

[AndyE]

There's a great CF card comparison here:

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

It doesn't have some of the latest 1GB cards, but it does give you a good idea what manufacturers have the fastest product.

The Transcend and Ridata cards got excellent performance marks, while the Sandisk card was squarely at the bottom of the pack in both read and write performance.

[Eddy]

Thanks AndyE, as I don't want to spend more extra money for the moment, & since my SanDisk256 is working alright for me, I'll just stick with it for the meantime. But very good info though.

[n2ifp]

Originally posted by AndyE
There's a great CF card comparison here:

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

It doesn't have some of the latest 1GB cards, but it does give you a good idea what manufacturers have the fastest product.

The Transcend and Ridata cards got excellent performance marks, while the Sandisk card was squarely at the bottom of the pack in both read and write performance.

The problem is the enviorment in which the cards are tested in. Now in an XP PC it might be valid, but not necessarily the same in a Clie. It would be nice if I had big bucks to test them all on the Clie. Then things can change again if the developer optimizes the driver more. So it maybe difficult to really compare cards amongst many users.

[LukeBM]

Does anybody know if the X-factor makes any difference? Do 32X and 40X cards work on the CLIE and, if yes, do they test being faster?

thx

L.

[ASC]

I have a 1G lexar CF 32x write accelerated card sitting in my NZ90 and it works fine. I use it mainly for ripped DVD films and currently have Monsters Inc and Toy Story2 mpeg1 files sitting on it (each file is about 350MB) as well as a few MP3 files and JPEG files all of which 'play' without any problems. I use the Peleca adapted driver along with the revised versions of audioplayer, movieplayer and data import, although for a large file transfer (i.e the movies) I prefer to copy files using a USB2 card reader.

Cheers

[CliePet]

Comparisons in cameras do not apply to actual use in the CLIE.
"Write acceleration" features do not work on the CLIE

I've done a number of speed measurements, and the fastest I've seen is the one I recommend:

The PQI 40X

$240 for the 1GB size
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/insidecomputer/51pqi40xf1pr1.html
Nice and strong, metal reinforced

You may not need that much speed, but typically the slower cards aren't that much cheaper -- but cheaper cards can be very slow unless you test them yourself
(I saved $40 buying a 1GB SanDisk but it is 15X SLOWER than the PQI during writes ;-< )