Is CF much slower than mem stick?

[mindows]

A friend of mine tells me that CFs are very slow reading and writing. I'm currently using a 128MB mem stick for storing mp3s, movies, etc. Do you think i wouldn't be able to play movies or mp3s if I put them on a CF card? And what about writing to it? can i record and store movies on CF cards directly?
I can't seem to find much information on reading+writing speed on these media.
thanks in advance,

[gnlew]

I have found that my Sandisk 256mb card seems faster than the memory stick for reading. This is with the 1.1 CF drivers which appear to have issues but the patch is coming on Wednesday. I am using my CF card for both MP3 listening as well as viewing videos.

[Eddy]

I'm also currently using a SanDisk 256MB CF, with Driver1.0 (until the new patch fix for v1.1). Speed is actually quite similiar to MS, or even faster, & doesn't drain any extra power neither.

256MB CF is currently most suitable for storing Movies, MP3 are definitely not a problem.

can i record and store movies on CF cards directly?
As the original use of Compact Flash Driver was to expand data storage, there're still limitations with recording movies directly to the CF. You can still record movie, but then you'd get an "error" then a soft-reset, but the movie is still stored.

[RoyoftheRovers]

The battery thing is interesting. I need to do some more solid testing, but my initial thoughts are that using Audioplayer from the Cf slot (512mb card) is sucking more life out my battery than I remember from my 128mb MS. I'll advise more once I've tested further. Anyone else have similar thoughts?

Speed wise, I still think that the MS is quicker (at least 512mb CF vs 128mb - why else won't movie clips play on CF when they will on MS - of course it may be hardware related...)

My 2c worth.

[CliePet]

> A friend of mine tells me that CFs are very slow reading and writing.

Compared to what?

CF cards come in various "speeds". Faster speeds are usually more expensive. BUT you can't trust the speeds CF card manufacturers quote - since they are best case and not typical for CLIE uses.

> I can't seem to find much information on reading+writing speed on these media.

Look at the bottom of this page:
http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12285

In my cases most of the CF cards I own are on par or slower than typical memory sticks. More expensive FAST CF cards are faster.

These are using the 1.0 driver. I am only seeing small speedups after that. The claims of a 50% speedup in the 1.1 driver are bogus based on my measurements

> I'm currently using a 128MB mem stick for storing mp3s, movies, etc. Do you think i wouldn't be able to play movies or mp3s if I put them on a CF card? And what about writing to it? can i record and store movies on CF cards directly?

These should all work. See comments about the current instability in the driver.

Power consumption of CF cards varies with manufacturer too.

---
If you are happy with 128MB sized memory sticks, and don't need to transfer media to CF cameras or other devices -- my advice is to stick with memory sticks.

Deal with the CF hassles only if you need features that memory sticks don't do (ie. you NEED 1GB on one storage card, and MSPro is obscenely expensive -- or you need to get photos off of a CF camera)