4Gb CF Drive

[hwolfejr]

Has anyone used a CF 4Gb drive in the VZ? (SONY or Hitachi)
Is it fast enough for video playback?


Thanks to anyone who replys.

[CliePet]

> Has anyone used a CF 4Gb drive in the VZ?
I have used/tested 2GB CF micro-drives. It works, although it is not recommended. Micro drives take a lot of power, and have other problems. AFAIK: The Sony media players are not optimized for micro-drive power usage.

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The VZ90 does not support "FAT32", so drives larger than 2GB are not supported!
[see thread on the pirated/hacked FAT32 driver from the LifeDrive - haven't tried it on the VZ90 -- but will probably not work with the Media Launcher movie player or FullMoviePlayer]

Overall I recommend 2GB Flash CF cards (not microdrives). They are relatively cheap, and most cards should be fast enough for max bitrate movies (768kbps, 4 or 5 hours of movies, much longer if you drop the bitrate). Keep the CF card formatted as "FAT16" and it will work in all devices.

[hwolfejr]

Thanks CliePet,

How about the difference in the UltraII and Extreme III CF cards? I know the VZ site has some messages about CF cards, but I have no translator.

Thanks again for the recommendation.

[CliePet]

> How about the difference in the UltraII and Extreme III CF cards
Generally a waste of money (originally much more expensive -- but if you can get them at a price similar to a 'regular' CF card, then buy them)

Most of the speedups are added for devices that support faster protocols -- supported by only a few devices (like certain multi-megapixel cameras). Also they use chips that can be written to faster than the typical CF. That's important for taking big photos quickly or recording movies.
For the typical PDA use, and expecially for the VZ90, you copy data to the CF from your PC. The CLIE only reads the CF card, using the standard CF protocols. Not very taxing.

Note: similar to MS v. MS Pro issues. MS Pro sticks capabilities are greatly underutilized in the CLIEs (ie. the MS Pro can go 4 or 8 times faster, but not in a CLIE). The main reason people get them is for capacity.

[soda97]

i can only encode 512Kb on a 4GB microdrive without hiccup
so CF can really pass that with 768Kb?

is there any limitation for MS pro? I see that they have 4gb now

thanks in advance,
soda

[CliePet]

> I can only encode 512Kb on a 4GB microdrive without hiccup
? playing back on a PDA ? if so which PDA?

> so CF can really pass that with 768Kb?
It depends on the CLIE model - NX/NZ family or the HHE family (UX/TH/VZ - of which only one has a CF slot). The VZ90 can handle it. The NX/NZ can't.
IIRC that's also a limitation to movies from memory stick (default Image Converter 1.x only goes up to 384kbps IIRC -- Image Converter 2.0 goes up to 768kbps)

It also depends on the CF card itself (raw read speed as well as some unknown problem with the card freezing for short periods of time)

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> is there any limitation for MS pro? I see that they have 4gb now
For the NX/NZ you will be out of luck.
The UX/TH/VZ 768kbps should work (the TH55 needs a patch, check the TH55 forum).

NOTE: 4GB sticks won't work (even with the pirated FAT32 driver). Keep to 2GB or smaller for media playing. Memory Stick Pro is generally better all around (shop around and the price differences shouldn't be too bad)

[registered NOT]

> is there any limitation for MS pro? I see that they have 4gb now...
For the NX/NZ you will be out of luck.
NOTE: 4GB sticks won't work (even with the pirated FAT32 driver). Keep to 2GB or smaller for media playing. Memory Stick Pro is generally better all around (shop around and the price differences shouldn't be too bad)
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I can confirm being "out of luck" in my attempt to use 4GB MS-PRO on an NX80v... the 4GB card isn't recognized, 'choking' within seconds of format attempt. Copying an image of 800MB (from 1GB MS-PRO to 4GB) changes nothing--...format?... prompted immediately upon insertion...

'Anybody suggest someplace I could trade a SanDisk ULTRA II 4GB MS-PRO for a couple 2GB cards...??

[tonyreynolds]

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I can confirm being "out of luck" in my attempt to use 4GB MS-PRO on an NX80v... the 4GB card isn't recognized, 'choking' within seconds of format attempt. Copying an image of 800MB (from 1GB MS-PRO to 4GB) changes nothing--...format?... prompted immediately upon insertion...

'Anybody suggest someplace I could trade a SanDisk ULTRA II 4GB MS-PRO for a couple 2GB cards...??

eBay is probably your best source, OR, look for a bulletin board that's frequented by users of Sony cameras:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1009

Tony