Fast MSpro cards do they work with TH55

[tsy]

Just wondering does the Th55 work with the new Sandisk MS PRO Extreme with faster read and write?... eyeing the 512 or 1 GB versions..

[NX80 Fan]

The TH-55 supports all the latest memory stick standards including Sony's high speed 1GB sticks. Sandisk would be crazy to produce something different from Sony's standards.

[tnhh]

I think the question isn't whether they will work at all, but whether they will operate at the faster read/write speeds. I think the answer is no - I believe most (all?) Clies don't operate at MS Pro speeds.

In any case, I think the only difference with these new Extreme sticks is that they work at extreme temperatures, not at faster speeds.

You might find this thread of interest: http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48392

[Fundoctortrev]

Tsy

The MS Pro Extreme will work fine in TH55 but not sure if faster function is enabled or not. I have the SanDisk 256PRO (not Extreme) and it is lightening fast - but all MSs would be compared to the relative slowness of a HotSync.

One thing to watch is that SonicStage, that comes with the Clie as a music management program, does not work with PRO MSs (?? why not). When say doesn't work I mean that if your file is copyright protected it will not subsequently play on the Clie. However this doesn't seem to be a problem at all with programs like iTunes. Even if your PRO MS has MagicGate the function still will not work with SonicStage.

I think the speed issue on MS is more relevent to speed of saving with digital cameras - not sure it would be worth your extra money for Clie purposes

Cheers

Fundoctor

PS: if not already done so try eBay where there is a contant supply of MS at ~60% of High Street prices.

[doboy]

Originally posted by tsy
Just wondering does the Th55 work with the new Sandisk MS PRO Extreme with faster read and write?... eyeing the 512 or 1 GB versions..

If you read the fine print from Sony website for TH55, it states:

Memory Stick media (sold separately) is required for playing back audio and video content. Supports ATRAC3 secure audio content only when used with MagicGate Memory Stick media in capacities up to 128 MB. Tested to support Memory Stick Pro media capacities up to 1GB, does not support high speed transfer, does not support access control security function, and does not support MagicGate copyright protection in Memory Stick PRO media.


It says it doesn't support high speed transfer in even the Pro media. However, I do notice speed improvements with the Pro sticks and I bet that's the fastest it's gonna get so don't bother buying the Extreme sticks unless you are going to use it for Digital camera in the future.

[ayu61200]

Extreme sticks endure very high temperatures, but I bet the TH55 does not... so it doesn't matter at all...

I just wonder why did Sony print the "Pro" logo in the TH55's mstick slot...

Wish I could try with a program the speed of both media to find out if it's really faster or not...

Anyone know about the DSC-V1 digital camera? Does it support high speed transfers using the Pro msticks? (sorry for the offtopic)

[Tudordoc]

You can download VSFMark from here

http://www.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&prodid=34400

It is a free program that tests card read & write speeds.

Here are my results for a lexar 128Mb card (that is nearly full) in my TH55. The main thing most people have compared in other user boards (I have a GArmin iQue 3600) is the summary VSFmark. For the iQue speed is important as dat is constantly being read from the card. I am not sure how important this is for a TH55 in daily use

File Create: 194%
File Delete: 100%
File Write: 231%
File Read: 220%
File Seek: 274%
DB Export: 130%
DB Import: 293%
Record Access: 341%
Resource Access: 317%

VFSMark: 233

Boyd

[LarryH137]

Nope, DSC-V1 does not support high speed transfers.. sorry ayu61200

it's a great camera though with excellent picture quality..

and what do u mean tudordoc 194% and 100%? What is the percentage compared to? I'm confused..haha

[LarryH137]

sometimes i think i know more about digital cameras than about clies... haha

[Tudordoc]

Here is the explanation of the % results from the readme file

VFSMark shows the results of those tests relative the performance of a
baseline system. The baseline chosen for VFSMark is a Palm m500 with a
Palm 16MB SD card running without any overclocking or system
performance enhancements.


Obviously cards have moved on and in the iQue forum people have Panasonic SD cards with a vsf score of 500.

Boyd

[enderenya]

Just thought you might like to know how a SanDisk 512MB MSPro fared on the TH55/E with VFSMark (this is the best out of 3 tests)

VFSMark Results:

File Create: 166%
File Delete: 417%
File Write: 256%
File Read: 527%
File Seek: 406%
DB Export: 151%
DB Import: 383%
Record Access: 613%
Resource Access: 486%

VFSMark: 378 (which is outstanding! I only got 213 on my TG50)

I had 33MB free, so it is nearly full.

[YTTAN]

MS Pro is faster only when you are transfering data to PC. Other than that, not much diff with blue MS.

[doboy]

Originally posted by YTTAN
MS Pro is faster only when you are transfering data to PC. Other than that, not much diff with blue MS.

This is not true. I can definately say it is faster reading files off of Pro sticks than non-Pro when using TH55. I tried viewing same pictures using both cards and the Pro was defintately faster. So there is some advantage to the Pro along with higher capacity.

[ayu61200]

All the results show that a PRO Mstick is indeed WAY faster. Maybe Sony does say it's not to cover their back (just in case the users can't find any noticeable speed). Just read the couple of tests above this page - it's quite obvious, I guess...

LarryH137, yeah, the V1 is a great camera, indeed, I'm so happy with it, the lack of speed writting to the MStick is not something that bothers me at all. That camera appeared around the same season MSPro's did. - It was I think the first or second camera supporting Pro sticks (as for size, at least...).

Tudordoc thanks for that prog... I'll test it with my card and post here results... maybe if we all do that, we can find out if Pro sticks are faster as they appear to be on the tests...

[doboy]

If interested, here is my old post dealing with MS speeds and arguements against using VFSMark.
http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44873&highlight=vfsmark

[ayu61200]

Well... after reading all this... it seems MS Pro reads faster? Maybe not? the best measure to be taken is to check the copying time of a file with a clock in the other hand...

[LarryH137]

anyone know what are the prices of memorysticks and where they are the cheapest?

My clie is running with a 32 Mb memory stick.. The one that came with my DSC-V1. haha

And of course the digicam is running on double-sided 128 mb..

And besides multimedia, how are many of you storing hundreds of mb onto your clie? I remember back then when each program was 16k and the 8mb Palms seem like it had a limitless supply of memory.

[enderenya]

Originally posted by LarryH137
And besides multimedia, how are many of you storing hundreds of mb onto your clie? I remember back then when each program was 16k and the 8mb Palms seem like it had a limitless supply of memory. Heh... I know what you mean, but even back then you could easily use up a ton of space. Here is a list of reasons I run low on space even with my 512mb MSPro.

Movies
mp3s
Audiobooks
eBooks/Scriptures
Photos
Maps
Backups of RAM
Macromedia flash (StrongBad emails!)
Games, games, games

[ayu61200]

I'd like to have a .5gb pro stick to watch my fave jdrama... divx'ed... that's cool. Also, mp3, dictionaries, and as Enderenya, games, many games.

LarryH137, btw, we've got the same array of Sony gadgets (TH55 + V1)... indeed I forgot about the 32mb stick... gotta find an use for it! :D

[Sera Sera]

You guys have money. I've paid US$648.42 for my V1 and US$431.92 for my TH.

Now I'm broke. So broke that I'm looking for a second job to support three families.