I have just gone through 4 sd cards, all of different brands, about to get my 5th so I figured I give a little insight on class ratings, cost and brands of microSD to help people deciding on which to buy.
The comparisons are among a Sandisk 16GB class 2, Sandisk 2GB class 2, PNY 4GB class 4 and RiDATA 16GB class 6.
Somewhat surprisingly, both of the Sandisks performed significantly better than the other 2 SD cards. My standard transfer rates to and from these were averaged at 4.5 to 5 MB/s, whereas the PNY was typically 2MB/s and the highest I saw was 3.2MB/s, while the RiDATA was actually the worst at consistent 1.9-2.2 MB/s. While the cheapies (PNY, RiDATA, Komputerbay, etc.) seem appealing at a sometimes lower price, they definitely do not perform anywhere near as well as Kingston and Sandisk, which seem to perform above and beyond their specs. Funny thing is I have been seeing the higher end sd cards from the cheap brands, like 16GB class 4 and up, being the same price as Kingston and Sandisk. I am about to receive my next SD, a Kinston 16GB class 4, and have seen nothing but great ratings on as well and is rated by consumers to have a consistent transfer rate of at least 6MB/s. I have also seen reviews on the Transcend SD cards having the same issues as these other low grade brands, but the reviews are definitely mixed because some people report having "quick transfer rates", but I have never used one of these so I cannot say for myself what is true of these.
But in my conclusion, unless you are getting a Sandisk or Kingston, you will be disappointed to find that the card you bought is definitely not even worth a class 2 rating most of the time.
I know some will probably say "Well so-and-so did a speed test on such-and-such card and it did well on it." Well, those do not apply to real world situations where someone is actually transferring differentiating amounts of data to/from the card so I couldn't give a crap about those anymore. I personally have used many SD cards and watched the transfer rates of each one, differing from transferring anywhere between 30MB to 10GB at a time and seen the same transfer rates in each of these cards.
So do not be swayed or fooled by the seductive price and "high rating" of the low brand microSDs, spend a couple extra dollars and get what you're paying for.
I use my class 2 16GB card from my old Droid 1. Flawless and great transfer speeds.
Great write up. I'm considering getting a 16 or even 32gb card. This helps a lot.
Thanks for the write up.
I currently have a SanDisk 4gb SDHC Flash Card. I am thinking about getting a 16gb card.
There's a deal on NewEgg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171386
Coupon Code: EMCZZYR26
Get's you 10% off, I believe.
Enjoy!
EDIT -- Better deal here.
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-microSDHC-Memory-SDSDQ-016G-Packaging/dp/B001L1H0SC
I just bought me a Transcend 16gb class 6 microsd card and I gotta say the thing is blazing fast. Taking pictures is instant now instead of getting a slight lag I got with the stock 2gb class 2 card, also downloading file attachments is instantanious, before I would be stuck on the fetching attachment screen for what seemed like forever. I highly recommend this card to anyone looking to upgrade.
I am so glad to see this thread, I have been trying to do some detailed research on microsd card comparison lately, but its hard to find anything other than people saying "oh yeah this card is fast" etc, but no real detail. Now I got my new card and am having major problems with it.
I've been using an 8gb Sandisk class 6 for about a year or so, but needed a 16, so after much indecision, I decided on the Transcend 16gb Class 6 after reading some decent reviews on newegg. I received it today and immediately ran some benchmarks on it to compare to my Sandisk, and at first I was impressed.
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Sandisk 8gb Class 6 microsd
Transcend 16gb Class 6 microsd
Even though the Sandisk was beating it on the small files, real world performance was great, until I put the Transcend into my phone. For some reason it drags my phone to a crawl, and if I do something that needs alot of access to the card, the phone will completely freeze and require a battery pull. I have tried formatting in the PC, formatting in the phone, I am at a loss and I don't know what the problem could be. It's so slow it can't even play music without skipping. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
I was reminded recently that HTC lags up write/read when the sd card is in the phone (bogs down the read-ahead speeds). Ziggy's kernels have a fix coded in to correct this. And with his current new release of kernels that run at stock speed with some light undervolt, I suggest everyone switch to his kernels.
Also, small file read/writes is a little slower on larger SD cards compared to smaller ones. Allocation unit size somewhat plays a role in this as well.
EDIT: I also recommend always formatting through PC and never with phone. The phone format option is defaulted at formatting in FAT rather than FAT32, which can cause issues (i.e. flashing PB31IMG.zip in hboot etc.). Plus you can control the format better on a computer anyways.
earthtodigi did you format the card to fat32? I have the exact same card and its running great, no slowdown at all.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Yes I've formatted it FAT32 in the computer, and in the phone. Tried changing the allocation size as well. I plan to try ziggys kernel just to see, but I don't see why the stock kernel would cause such issues.
What's really weird is, I got two card speed test apps from the market, and on both of them, it outperforms my Sandisk card while in the phone. On one of the test though, it shows 14 Mb/sec write speed, but only 5 Mb/sec read speed, which I assume is the read-ahead issue reportedly fixed by the kernel.
One of the reviews on newegg for this card, the person says they had trouble getting their incredbible to recognise the card, but after they formatted it they had no issues.
I'll let ya know how the kernel goes here in a little bit.
+1 for Sandisk. I have their 16 GB Class 2 and it consistantly does 5 MB/s.
Okay, so I'm not sure what happened today, but I formatted the card, copied everything over, and put it back in the phone, and everything is just fine. I was still getting the low read speeds, but now I tried Ziggy's kernel and all is well. All apps seems to be running smooth, haven't had a hiccup yet. I'm still worried that the gremlins may return, and the card may be flaky, but for now, its smoking fast.
And another one even better...
Just got my SanDisk 16gb class 2 microsd card from Amazon. Will run some tests when I get home and format it. Also, will post the results up later today evening.
I bought the "RiDATA Lightning Series 16GB" from newegg, sold as a Class 6 card. Wanted some extra space, and Class 6 would've been a nice upgrade.
I definitely got some extra storage, but the speed was an all-around downgrade from my 4GB Kingston Class 2 which tested as a Class 5. The highest speed I've seen for the RiDATA is just under 4MB/s sequential read, everything else is abysmal. All speed test apps call it class 2 read/write, and the write speed even falls to class 1 at times. I've tried testing the speed through a usb adapter, through the charging cable... same results. Also tried formatting in different ways and different chunk sizes, nothing.
Probably going to RMA and hope that RiDATA sends me an actual Class 6 card.
Great info! Thanks. Thinking about getting a 16GB card, 4GB isn't cutting it for me.
setexascustoms said:
+1 for Sandisk. I have their 16 GB Class 2 and it consistantly does 5 MB/s.
View attachment 435313
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what app is that?
EDIT: never mind found it
Related
Was wondering a few questions about upgrading my memory card.
I was looking at getting a 16gb Sandisk Class 2 = $30 ish
Anyone know of any higher or cheaper prices?
Whats the highest class the hero can hold?
I plan on upgrading to the EVO, I know it holds 32gb but which class would be better?
Unless you want to pay more for your MicroSD than for your phone I would just stick with the 16GB, the 32 costs $200. as for the class most people use a class 6 card I think there may be some higher speed classes but that would also incur higher costs.
There's a 16GB Class 10 from Kingston out there for about $100, that's the fastest you'll find.
Here's a LINK to Amazon for a TopRam 16GB Class 4 for about $40 shipped. It's good middle-ground until the 32GB cards drop in price.
8gb card serves me pretty good on the hero, fast access too.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-16GB-Micro-...wItemQQptZPDA_Accessories?hash=item2a05934f0d
20 bucks i ordered 1
H4k3r4r34l said:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-16GB-Micro-...wItemQQptZPDA_Accessories?hash=item2a05934f0d
20 bucks i ordered 1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
class 2
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Lol did see that one before I ordered mine... Gay lol
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280477800580&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
Thats the one that I got
H4k3r4r34l said:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-16GB-Micro-...wItemQQptZPDA_Accessories?hash=item2a05934f0d
20 bucks i ordered 1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, i was just whining... i just bought one.... I guess it'll be here in a month lol
Been using a class 2 16gb card for a few months now and I can't say I mind the speed at all. The price was right (around $25 at Amazon on sale) and it hasn't given me any problems. The only time I really notice the speed is when loading up my music collection. Other than that...I can't complain.
However, I don't run Apps2sd. If you're planning to do that, you might want to pay extra and go for a higher speed card.
newegg.com has good ones for cheap just bought a 8gb class 4 for 13.00
From Amazon I got a Transcend class 6 8gb card for $21.
I have had serious issues with Hong Kong generic cards (said Sony..but were fake) in the past, so buyer beware. Specifically I had two high capacity memory sticks completely fail within one month of purchase for my modded PSP. I was running Dark Alex's custom firmware and swapping a ton of games on and off the card as well as streaming games over wifi. Under the same conditions my name brand high capacity cards have been working flawlessly for over a year now.
just wait for the release of the 2TB microSDXC..
nah, but seriously.. i would recommend a class 6.. i have a 8GB class 6 Sandisk and a friend of mine HAD* a 8GB class 2 Sandisk, both of us running apps2sd.. and you can really see the difference in performance.. (needless to say, he upgraded to a class 6)
I forked over the money and got a 8Gb class 6 for $24. Don't have a ton of music, but lots of other crap that i don't really need. Mainly got it for apps2sd.
You definitely need a Class 6 card to use A2SD effectively. Otherwise your phone will be choppy or laggy.
energizer1389 said:
You definitely need a Class 6 card to use A2SD effectively. Otherwise your phone will be choppy or laggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true, if you have a good class 2 you're fine. I run A2SD and have a Class 2 that doesn't lag any more than before I did A2SD.
I've gotten 7+MB/s when transfering something off of it in disk drive mode
iviyth0s said:
Not true, if you have a good class 2 you're fine. I run A2SD and have a Class 2 that doesn't lag any more than before I did A2SD.
I've gotten 7+MB/s when transfering something off of it in disk drive mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some class 2 and class 4 cards are capable of performing at class 6 type speeds. You can call your self lucky. I got class 4 and my phone will never function as fast with a2sd as it does without. It will work fine if you dont have the Dalvik cache in your sd. But if you want everything to the sd card it will be choppy. Class 6 speeds are faster (in paper) than internal memory of the Hero. People have reported better performance with a2sd using a class 6 card than internal memory.
You should also try a 2.1 custom rom if you have not done so.
The class refers to minimum write speed, not read. Most Class 2 cards have read speeds rivaling or equaling those of Class 6 cards.
jonnythan said:
The class refers to minimum write speed, not read. Most Class 2 cards have read speeds rivaling or equaling those of Class 6 cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah gotcha
Yeah the write speeds aren't terrible but they're a little lower (like 4-5MB/s)
iviyth0s said:
Ah gotcha
Yeah the write speeds aren't terrible but they're a little lower (like 4-5MB/s)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im starting to get worried. I just got my transcend class 6 8gb micro sd. Im copying the data from a folder in my laptop to the card via a Pro Gear card reader. I have not seen the speed pass the 3.87 MB/second mark. I hope its the sd adapter and the reader and not the card.
Should I be worried??
energizer1389 said:
Im starting to get worried. I just got my transcend class 6 8gb micro sd. Im copying the data from a folder in my laptop to the card via a Pro Gear card reader. I have not seen the speed pass the 3.87 MB/second mark. I hope its the sd adapter and the reader and not the card.
Should I be worried??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. The write speed is measured as total throughput in ideal conditions on an new, empty, formatted card.
~ 4 MB/s as read by Windows isn't anything to really be worried about.
Kingston 32GB Micro SDHC Flash Card with MicroSD Reader Gen 2 Model MRG2+SDC4/32GB
Average Rating 5 out of 5 eggs5/5(1 reviews)
In stock.
Now: $99.99
*
Free Shipping (restrictions apply)
Additional fees may apply to shipments to AK, HI and PR.
At New Egg!
This is worth it, take it from someone who was looking for something other than SanDisk 32GB C2 I have been waiting for Kingston's 32GB C4 for long time and when it came out I got it though offical site for $159.
Yeah, I ordered one of these last week from newegg along with an otterbox defender case for $33 w/free shipping for both.... not too bad at all. Should be getting them today. Has anyone used the Kingston class 4 32gb card for running android on the hd2?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Well, far as I know people do claim the R/W IOPs for HD2 when card inside the device won't go beyond class 2 rate but some who did use class 4-6 cards said they did see major improvement in terms of loading OS/Apps from mSD card. Anything beyond class 4 is an overkill on HD2 that I accept unless you are moving around massive amount of data and use HD2 as your mean to transfer it, in that case just buy thumb drive.
"Sent from my PC using THE hand" lol
I was in a Fry's Electronics the other day and I saw a 16gb Class 10 microsd card for $32.00. Don't remember the maker but it was not name brand, that is extremely questionable
wow
my videos which are about 12g play almost instantly now i love this card and the free usb reader, thanks kingston
Ya this card was worth waiting for hell I shot up an storm in this section comparing other vendors. Now I have the SanDisk 16GB C2 card not sure what to do with it, hopefully I can sell that cheap.
same
stuck with the sandisk
I ordered this 32GB class 4 card from Kingston and it is much slower then my old SanDisk card. Booting Android took over 5 minutes and after that the device still is VERY slow.
With its card reader I could copy my files onto it with 3-4MB/s.
Then I installed SKTools under Windows Mobile and used its benchmark tool to compare my SD Cards:
My old SanDisk 8GB card (stock one from the blackstone, afaik class 2): ~6,6MB/s reading and 1,1-1,5MB/s writing
The new class 4 32GB Kingston card: ~2,2MB/s reading and 500-700KB/s writing
So I can't use Android with this crappy SD card.
Ya IDK man same on my end. Took me 25min to traf 320mb files, ATM showing me 116min to traf 4.1gb.
i got kingston 23gb class 4. really disappointed takes forever to transfer. but speed test shows its class 4.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=861232
oh yeah i got the one from frys it rocks to bad its not 32gb.
I would stick with SanDisk.
I wanned to try out a faster card so got a class 6 Kingston 8gb.. while it loaded things faster, it caused severe stuttering and lagginess at times.
Upon reserach i found, kingston, and many other cards are not the same quality grade as sandisk, i am told in order to be price competitive they buy crap from others at cheap and stick thier name in it. And sometimes they buy rejects from sandisk, toshiba, samsung etc and brand them.....
Unfortunately i cant remmeber the links i researched....
So i would stick with sandisk, or another proven manufacturer....
UThis is total BS, I started it at like 6PM and now its 10:40PM and still 78min's to go WTF and its just 4.2GB music files avg at like 3-6mb/ea. Now I remember putting the whole dir in SanDisk 16GB Class 2 in less than 40min. So WTF does it take so long? Also as I wrote to Kingston CS ill share it here.
To make the file transfer go faster you have to directly allocate the file in memory thus saving time for R/W IO access. I did test many times but I am not even sure HD2 is following SD 2.0 or is it just this POS card no were close to even the stock SanDisk's.
Test: Dir with 5 files at 5mb/ea so thats 25mb. If you copy each file you reduce the time by 3x but if you copy the dir all the objects inside takes time to allocate for some reason.
PS: I am thinking about now getting SanDisk 32GB Class 2.
***UPDATE***
3.85GB
Write
--------
SanDisk 16GB Class 2 = 26min
Kingston 32GB Class 4 = 191min
HyperNode said:
Ya IDK man same on my end. Took me 25min to traf 320mb files, ATM showing me 116min to traf 4.1gb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also don't understand this.. I have a 16gb C2 card and wanted to experiment a lot with the various android roms out there, so thought a C4 would be the answer. ordered a 16gb C4 and it is always slower than the C2. a full 30 seconds on booting Android.
This confuses me.....okay okay .. thats not hard to do, but as far as I'm concerned if a card is rated at twice the "constant" speed of the other .. it should be faster...
<fx: scratches head and moves on>
HyperNode said:
Well, far as I know people do claim the R/W IOPs for HD2 when card inside the device won't go beyond class 2 rate but some who did use class 4-6 cards said they did see major improvement in terms of loading OS/Apps from mSD card. Anything beyond class 4 is an overkill on HD2 that I accept unless you are moving around massive amount of data and use HD2 as your mean to transfer it, in that case just buy thumb drive.
"Sent from my PC using THE hand" lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it really depends on the card and not the class. I have a couple of Class4 and Class6 cards with identical builds of android and my class2 16gb continually outperform them in boot times and general speed. Class only designates write speed and there is a lot more to an SD card's performance that is not captured in the class designation.
ATM I am thinking about returning the Kingston 32GB C4 as I spoke to Kingston Tech Support and might go with SanDisk 32GB C2. Alot of people say SanDisk is superior and is faster for some reason and getting close to class 4 rating.
HyperNode said:
ATM I am thinking about returning the Kingston 32GB C4 as I spoke to Kingston Tech Support and might go with SanDisk 32GB C2. Alot of people say SanDisk is superior and is faster for some reason and getting close to class 4 rating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can only quote my experience and that is that kingston C4 is NOT fast at all.
Good luck to you.. and if you find the San Disk C4 is sooo much faster than the C2 can you report back please .. ?? So I can go get one
I just bought a kingston 32gb class 6 micro sdhc but when ever i put it in my hd2 it just freezes up and as soon as I remove the card it works fine again.At first i thought that it was a fake so I:
1)performed multiple tests,
2)reformated a 1000 times,
3)even putting 20gb of data just to make sure.
Turns out that it is authentic and it works perfectly on my girlfriend's htc BalckStone it also worked when I installed NAND (which i later removed due to insufficient memory).Ive been searching for days, I think its a windows mobile issue, any tips??
gothikserpent said:
I just bought a kingston 32gb class 6 micro sdhc but when ever i put it in my hd2 it just freezes up and as soon as I remove the card it works fine again.At first i thought that it was a fake so I:
1)performed multiple tests,
2)reformated a 1000 times,
3)even putting 20gb of data just to make sure.
Turns out that it is authentic and it works perfectly on my girlfriend's htc BalckStone it also worked when I installed NAND (which i later removed due to insufficient memory).Ive been searching for days, I think its a windows mobile issue, any tips??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL you are way to funny man as you said "I just bought a kingston 32gb class 6 micro sdhc" and then on top of that "Turns out that it is authentic".
I am guessing you got this card from eBay? If thats the case then its fake ill tell you why as there is no Kingston 32GB Class 6 card ATM. My best bet is you do extended data testing on it and verify the content to make sure its not corrupted. But if I was you I wouldn't do any of this as ill return that POS, why take chance with your data? Also NEVER buy memory cards via eBay or else you will be pwned with notorious chinese fakes.
But for those who actually thinking about buying the legit Kingston 32GB Class 4 microSD read below and think twice.
STHNS said:
Here this might be helpful to you.
Code:
df /dev/mnt/sdcard
File system: FAT32 (0x0c)
Used space: 16.0 KB (16,384 bytes)
Free space: 29.8 GB (32,073,891,840 bytes)
The data below is the actual IOPs from System (USB: Standard-A) to Device (USB: Micro-B) via USB (USB 2.0/SD 2.0). I am not using any type of card reader for this test as we only want the actual data rate of the card itself natively while its mounted in the device.
Subject: Kingston 32GB Class 4 (4MB/s) microSDHC.
Sequential Test Data (Block Size = 1024KB|0 Fill = 0x00)
Read [MB/s]: 13.07+11.72+13.11=37.9/3=12.63
Write [MB/s]: 4.080+3.339+1.592=9.011/3=3.00
Sequential Test Data (Block Size = 1024KB|1 Fill = 0xFF)
Read [MB/s]: 13.07+13.10+11.61=37.78/3=12.59
Write [MB/s]: 3.659+2.618+3.607=9.884/3=3.30
Mode: Low level R+W+V initialization
Data volume: 30588MBytes
Patterns: 18 sets, 8 of "walking one", 8 of "walking zero", 55h, AAh
Writing speed [03:24:28]: 2.49 MByte/s
Reading speed [00:44:20]: 11.5 MByte/s
Burst write: 4.0+4.0+4.0=4.0 MB/s
Burst read: 10.0+9.0+9.0=9.33 MB/s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's class 4 but it's very expensive.. too much money for just a SD card
Hey guys,
I'm interested in getting a 32gb card. I will be watching movies off it and just basically reading books. Is there a huge diff between the two? I googled and I found the diff write and read speeds but my question is how relevant is it to the user? Like will the movies be choppier or books open slower? etc
Julian2103 said:
Hey guys,
I'm interested in getting a 32gb card. I will be watching movies off it and just basically reading books. Is there a huge diff between the two? I googled and I found the diff write and read speeds but my question is how relevant is it to the user? Like will the movies be choppier or books open slower? etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, to throw a wrench in your question, there is authority behind the class markings. Basically, there is nothing stoping makers for marking a card Class 10, even when it can barely do 1MB/s writes. So, how does that answer your question?
It comes down to brand. Sandisk by far makes the best microSD cards, which almost always outperform their rating. I have an 8Gb Class 2, that constantly benches at 5MB/s sustained write, and 12MB/s sustained read. I also have an 8GB Kingston clas4, that can barely hold 2MB/s write, if it is lucky. The other issue few talk about is random reads, where again, the Sandisk is much faster (and random reads are not part of the class specifications)..
So, if you get a decent brand (again, Sandisk), a class 2 should be suitable for all music, and most movies. If you can afford it, class 4 will give you wiggle room.
How about adata? Have you had any experience with them?
Julian2103 said:
How about adata? Have you had any experience with them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
personal experience no, but i haven't heard alot bad (actually, better than Kingston in many cases). I know they have decent prices on their cards.
With what i was saying before, it is fair to mention that while slow, my Kingston does still work. But saving things to it was painful, and so i avoid its use. Even if you don't get the fastest card, i think the biggest pain will be filling it once.. after that, using it should be ok..
I see. What about the performance? Saving stuff to it isnt much of an issue to me I think. Im more concerned on the performance. Like running movies off it and launching programs etc the sandisk sounds awesome but the price is much higher
For the use you are planning(movies) the big factor will be sequential read speeds. The class system is too easy for the manufacturers to game. Check the specs for the card you are looking at...if they don't tell you, it's likely because they suck. Sandisk class 2 cards are, as stated, usually better than the class 2 they are rated.
so you guys would recommend a class 2 32gb sandisk over a class 4 adata card of the same size yeah?
Can't really say one way or the other. From reading reviews at Newegg...seems like Adata tech support might be a bit iffy...then again those reviews are usually posted by those who have issues or feel like they have to defend their purchase(ie...fanboi's).
One thing I can see for myself...Adata is the only manufacturer on Newegg to actually list their full specs. Even on the manufacturers pages...only Adata has manned up and posted specs. otherwise they all just fall back on the SDHC specifications for class...which as stated can be gamed a bit.
At the end of it all..it's your cash...spend it the way you feel like...do some research for yourself first.
I have a scandisk class 4 32GB and it is way slower then a smaller class 6 that I have. For me, I don't think I could stomach anything slower then the class 4 for large files.
Divine_Madcat said:
Sadly, to throw a wrench in your question, there is authority behind the class markings. Basically, there is nothing stoping makers for marking a card Class 10, even when it can barely do 1MB/s writes. So, how does that answer your question?
It comes down to brand. Sandisk by far makes the best microSD cards, which almost always outperform their rating. I have an 8Gb Class 2, that constantly benches at 5MB/s sustained write, and 12MB/s sustained read. I also have an 8GB Kingston clas4, that can barely hold 2MB/s write, if it is lucky. The other issue few talk about is random reads, where again, the Sandisk is much faster (and random reads are not part of the class specifications)..
So, if you get a decent brand (again, Sandisk), a class 2 should be suitable for all music, and most movies. If you can afford it, class 4 will give you wiggle room.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sandisk is great. I was originally running Nookie Froyo from a class 2 Sandisk. It was actually pretty solid. I moved up to a Transcend class 6 and it's been good too. Both seem to perform well over their class specification when I'm transferring files and have been very stable.
On the other hand, my friend has a Kingston class 10 which seems pretty buggy. A lot of force close errors, looping boots, etc. Though these could just be a coincidence. Haven't seen him transfer any files though, so I can't judge the speed.
SD Cards..
You should be aware that Sandisk, Adata and others do not actually manufacture flash memory chips, they mostly package and test it - the big boys in the game are Intel, Samsung, Toshiba and Hynix. Depending on where or from whom Sandisk buys the basic chip the specs may be different.
Divine_Madcat said:
Sadly, to throw a wrench in your question, there is authority behind the class markings. Basically, there is nothing stoping makers for marking a card Class 10, even when it can barely do 1MB/s writes. So, how does that answer your question?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually there is a requirement if you're in the SD Association. But in reality anyone can stamp a C10 on a card, especially no-name brands.
Julian2103 said:
so you guys would recommend a class 2 32gb sandisk over a class 4 adata card of the same size yeah?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely. AData are junk in my experience.
Kingston and SanDisc are the only ones that are reliable for all devices that I've owned. Others are hit and miss, PARTICULARLY Patriot. I've had 3 Patriot cards that were JUNK in most devices. I had two Patriot SD cards for a camera that were fine but couldn't work right in anything else, and I (stupidly) purchased an 8G uSD card a few years ago for a phone and it was junk there, and I've periodically tried it in new devices for giggles and it's been junk in every single one.
I'll bet a SanDisc C4 out classes any other brand C10 in device like a phone or tablet.
Side note: All 3 Patriot's work just fine on my computer. I did tests particuarlly on the 8G uSD over and over and over and it was fast and reliable in my card reader. Every device locks up or goes slow as hell if it's in 'em. My guess is that they didn't follow specs closely.
So a Sandisk Class 4, 8GB would be a good pick?
I Am Marino said:
So a Sandisk Class 4, 8GB would be a good pick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently bought this on and have found it to be an excellent performer. Loading/watching mp4 movies. The 30 day return window is pretty generous.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sandisk-32GB-Mi...352023?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item2eb43c6317
SD cards are a complicated topic... not to throw another wrench into the system but you also want to be careful WHERE you buy your card. SanDisk counterfeiting is RAMPANT since a vendor can take a blank card, less than a pennies worth of ink and then charge you some percentage of the SanDisk price while still reaping a huge profit. As unfortunate as it is, real SanDisk cards always seem to just work while the other cheaper cards can be hit or miss. Honestly though the only real problem with off brand cards and the NC I have had is that they don't always boot so good. So I use my SanDisk 8GB C2 (bought from Costco) to boot and my Patriot 16GB C10 to watch movies and store stuff. Buying from Retail, Newegg, or Amazon (Amazon itself, not a sold through vendor on Amazon) should help make sure whatever you buy is the real thing. Good Luck!
Just got NC for early Father's Day! I luv ma fam!
Everything I been finding here talks about 2,4, or 8 gigs SD cards.
NC says it can use up to 32gig.
Anyone tried this? I figure SDHC 32 G class 6 would work.
MrGeek said:
Just got NC for early Father's Day! I luv ma fam!
Everything I been finding here talks about 2,4, or 8 gigs SD cards.
NC says it can use up to 32gig.
Anyone tried this? I figure SDHC 32 G class 6 would work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything I've read states the higher capacity cards don't do well running ROMs. Like you I'm new to the nook so I"m sure someone else with more experience will chime in.
I have a 32 gig card installed right now. Works just fine as a data card.
If you want to run custom ROMS off the card, make sure its a sandisk. That flapping sound about larger sized card being bad for Roms is a buncha crap in my opinion (and I have the benchmarks on this card to prove it), but the BRAND of card makes a huge difference when running Roms. Avoid transcend and PNY like the plague.
That said, if you just want the card for data, then yes, the NC can handle them just fine.
skwalas said:
I have a 32 gig card installed right now. Works just fine as a data card.
If you want to run custom ROMS off the card, make sure its a sandisk. That flapping sound about larger sized card being bad for Roms is a buncha crap in my opinion (and I have the benchmarks on this card to prove it), but the BRAND of card makes a huge difference when running Roms. Avoid transcend and PNY like the plague.
That said, if you just want the card for data, then yes, the NC can handle them just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What size Sandisk card do you recommend for running custom ROMs? I've read 8 but I really would like to run a 16.
With a sandisk, I can't see any reason why a 16 or even 32 gig card would give you trouble on roms.
Using the card to run your "operating system" seems to require a higher small-block read/write speed than most cards have. Two things seem to affect it: 1) brand (sandisk is currently the only way to go), and 2)it seems that higher classed cards sacrifice the small block performance a bit. This makes sense to me, since the classification related to large block sequential read/writes (iirc), so some trade-iffs are always expected.
See this thread for useful things.
And I think most people are buying the smaller card mostly because of price, and partly due to a herd mentality on threads like the above.
Sandisk 16gb is just fine for running the Rom off the sd card; that is my current setup.
LBN1 said:
Sandisk 16gb is just fine for running the Rom off the sd card; that is my current setup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What class? I'm having a hard time finding class 4.
skwalas said:
I have a 32 gig card installed right now. Works just fine as a data card.
If you want to run custom ROMS off the card, make sure its a sandisk. That flapping sound about larger sized card being bad for Roms is a buncha crap in my opinion (and I have the benchmarks on this card to prove it), but the BRAND of card makes a huge difference when running Roms. Avoid transcend and PNY like the plague.
That said, if you just want the card for data, then yes, the NC can handle them just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny how all the Transcend cards in all 3 Nooks in my house are brilliant. I've used Transcend for years and have never had a problem, be it in my cameras to my phones.
Nburnes said:
Funny how all the Transcend cards in all 3 Nooks in my house are brilliant. I've used Transcend for years and have never had a problem, be it in my cameras to my phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was referring to the specific instance of using transcend for running cm7 for example. I understand transcend and patriot are decent when used for data, and I have PNY cards in our cameras, so they seem to work fine for data.
I have a wintec SDCH 16g class 4 and it works fine, but I only use it for data.
I've been looking into this, and here's what it boils down to:
Most MicroSD cards are set up for data transfer aimed at large files, such as video or high resolution pictures. The majority of the market these cards are manufactured for are digital camcorders, cameras, and smart phones with cameras.
They've gotten great at streaming media to and from the cards, and using them as storage mediums.
Running an operating system from the card requires a whole lot of small data transfers, which is not a specification that manufacterers pay much attention to. Most people would never notice improvement in this area of the manufacturing process, so the companies don't waste money on it.
Different manufacturers have different ideas of what their product should be capable of.
SanDisk is the brand that has consistently tested better for small data transfer then other card makers.
Running programs/operating systems from a MicroSD card is a new animal, something that hasn't really been done before now, and the tablet market is still in it's infancy.
I'm sure this issue will be addressed by the hardware makers of memory cards over the next year or so, but for now we are stuck with the task of trying to figure out what works for our purpose given what's available on the market right now.
All this being said, out of a handful of cards I own, my 16 gig SanDisk class 2 MicroSD card is my highest performing card - more then twice as fast as even 4 out of 5 of the 8 gig SanDisk cards I have.
Here is the link to the software we are using to test the cards: Crystal Disk Mark
Post 5 in this thread has a link that takes you to the one that has become our communal benchmark thread, and has a lot of info on this topic.
I would surmise that a 32 gig SanDisk brand card would probably be pretty good given that:
-Sandisk 8 gig cards (in class 2 and 4) are the general recommendation
-SanDisk 16 gig cards consistently test to a higher performance level then the 8 gig cards.
If this is the beginning of a pattern, and the larger capacity SanDisk cards are inherently manufactered to a higher small data standard, then theoretically the 32 gig card would be better.
But, this is only a theory. A 32 gig card is more then just a couple of bucks, and I don't think we have enough benchmarks on them yet to say one way or another.
Even with the SanDisk 8 gig cards, there is a wide range of what you could end up with on small data transfer speed. It's kind of pot luck. Even the slowest ones are many orders of magnitude faster then most other manufacturers, though.
This would be a good thread for people who do have 32 gig cards of any brand to chime in on, so we could keep the discussion about the largest supported capacity card on the Nook seperate from the other threads on this topic.
I saw a thread a week or so ago regarding testing class 4 cards and which were better. I just ordered a NC the other day. Anyone know the thread?
Blue6IX said:
I've been looking into this, and here's what it boils down to:
Most MicroSD cards are set up for data transfer aimed at large files, such as video or high resolution pictures. The majority of the market these cards are manufactured for are digital camcorders, cameras, and smart phones with cameras.
They've gotten great at streaming media to and from the cards, and using them as storage mediums.
Running an operating system from the card requires a whole lot of small data transfers, which is not a specification that manufacterers pay much attention to. Most people would never notice improvement in this area of the manufacturing process, so the companies don't waste money on it.
Different manufacturers have different ideas of what their product should be capable of.
SanDisk is the brand that has consistently tested better for small data transfer then other card makers.
Running programs/operating systems from a MicroSD card is a new animal, something that hasn't really been done before now, and the tablet market is still in it's infancy.
I'm sure this issue will be addressed by the hardware makers of memory cards over the next year or so, but for now we are stuck with the task of trying to figure out what works for our purpose given what's available on the market right now.
All this being said, out of a handful of cards I own, my 16 gig SanDisk class 2 MicroSD card is my highest performing card - more then twice as fast as even 4 out of 5 of the 8 gig SanDisk cards I have.
Here is the link to the software we are using to test the cards: Crystal Disk Mark
Post 5 in this thread has a link that takes you to the one that has become our communal benchmark thread, and has a lot of info on this topic.
I would surmise that a 32 gig SanDisk brand card would probably be pretty good given that:
-Sandisk 8 gig cards (in class 2 and 4) are the general recommendation
-SanDisk 16 gig cards consistently test to a higher performance level then the 8 gig cards.
If this is the beginning of a pattern, and the larger capacity SanDisk cards are inherently manufactered to a higher small data standard, then theoretically the 32 gig card would be better.
But, this is only a theory. A 32 gig card is more then just a couple of bucks, and I don't think we have enough benchmarks on them yet to say one way or another.
Even with the SanDisk 8 gig cards, there is a wide range of what you could end up with on small data transfer speed. It's kind of pot luck. Even the slowest ones are many orders of magnitude faster then most other manufacturers, though.
This would be a good thread for people who do have 32 gig cards of any brand to chime in on, so we could keep the discussion about the largest supported capacity card on the Nook seperate from the other threads on this topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for a very informative post. As I mentioned earlier I'm new to the NC and your post has helped me considerably.
androidmonkey said:
I saw a thread a week or so ago regarding testing class 4 cards and which were better. I just ordered a NC the other day. Anyone know the thread?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might mean my thread on comparing speed results between different readers using the benchmark software.
It's more a look at the testing software and methods of doing so then the actual cards themselves.
The more people who post benchmark results in the thread skwalas linked to back in post 5, the better of an idea we'll have of what works for us.
The amount of information we've collected so far in such a short time is astonishing - this is a great community.
harpo1 said:
What class? I'm having a hard time finding class 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sandisk 16gb, Class 4; Got it from Radio Shack a month or so ago on sale for like $25.
32 Gig
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G7D0IW
Bought this one about a month ago. Transferred my 16G class 2 from Radio Shack to the 32G then expanded the partition. I run CM7 off the SD. Works GREAT!. I run movies, apps from the card with tons of room.
Thanks for all the replies! They been very helpful!
However...
Here is the link to the software we are using to test the cards: Crystal Disk Mark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried downloading that and it got flagged as malware by Microsoft Security Essentials.
Rocking a 32 Lexar Class 10 here. Just download SD Tools from the market and its running 11 MB/s write and 25 MB/s read.
lucas993 said:
Rocking a 32 Lexar Class 10 here. Just download SD Tools from the market and its running 11 MB/s write and 25 MB/s read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IIRC, Lexar splits their Class X cards into two more classifications, a regular and an Ultra class. Which one was yours?
Also, Radio Shack currently has 8gb Sandisk C4 cards for sale at 14.99. Perfect for playing with an SD install. With Crystal mark and a cheapie USB reader I got 2.5mb/s read, 1.5 mb/s write (both of the small block ones). I believe these are the important ones for an SD card based ROM?
I suspect the main reason there's not much info out there on 32GB cards is that people are less willing to drop $50-80 on something that may not work (IF they're trying to run a custom ROM from the card). If you're not trying to set up a custom ROM install on the SD, get any card you want--you may appreciate that higher sequential read/write in the higher class cards when you're moving multiple GB of movies or music to and from the card.
From everything I've read, the size of the card makes no difference whatsoever. The only reason people harp on the 8GB and 16GB Sandisk cards is because those specific models (both class 2 and 4 in those sizes) have been tested many times and return both reliably high small-block random writes and positive anecdotal reports for running ROMs. The size, manufacturer and class are irrelevant in and of themselves: they just let us identify specific models identified as most consistently working well.
Also, CrystalDiskMark is not malware: just do a custom install and choose not to install whatever is bundled with it (do this always for all software, I'd say). It's whatever program they use to suggest other software that triggers the false positives in security programs.
I currently have a Samsung branded 64gb micro sd uhs1 card in my note 4. I was thinking of upgrading my card so I got on eBay looking up prices for 128 gb cards since the note takes amazing video and those files are HUGE.
Well to my surprise 128 gb class 10 cards are super cheap, like under $20 cheap, while uhs1 class cards are closer to $100.
Is there a significant performance hit using a class 10 vs uhs1?
I downloaded "A1 SD Bench" from the play store, here's the results I got on my uhs1 64gb Samsung card.
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If anyone is running a class 10 card, I'd love to see what your bench is using the same app. (Or suggest a different app)
Yes- I ordered a name brand 128 gb micro sd class 10 for $14 [emoji106] [emoji6]
I can't imagine it could possibly perform that bad? But I don't know, that's why I'm asking the question.
Thanks!
Wiki
You should be getting much faster speeds from the sammy card.
If a 128GB SD card goes for $10 on ebay, then I would be very surprised if that card was legit. The web is rife with stories of knock off cards that are hacked up to look report as a larger capacity than they really are. As the old saying goes, "if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is. "
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Premium HD app
UHS1 and Class 10 have the same minimum sequential write speed, but Class 10 is compatible with the High Speed Bus while UHS uses the UHS Bus.
https://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/bus_speed/
Basically, Class 10 cards have a theoretical maximum speed of 25MBps in either direction since that is the maximum bus speed. UHS cards can hit 50, 104, 156 or 312 depending on the bus version used. So if you switch to a Class 10 card you will see your read speed drop significantly (42 per your test results down to 25 at maximum).
My Samsung 64GB EVO card did 36.85MB/s read and 12.11MB/s write.
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage-accessories/MB-MP64DA/AM
Will the phone take advantage of the UHS Speed Class 3 devices that claim up to 40MB/s write?
Is the note 4 UHS1 capable?
Note 4 awesome SD card speed
Araltd said:
Is the note 4 UHS1 capable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
quote... "Galaxy Note 4 can achieve super fast speed for the SD cards on the mobile device – 61.40MB/s read, and 47.84MB/s write speed"
Full article: http://a1dev.wishmesh.com/2014/11/sandisk-32gb-extreme-pro-microsd-card-photos-and-benchmark/
Wow, UHS3. Ok, that kind of explains the class 10 prices.
Now I'm upset my uhs1 card only got 8mb write [emoji35]
I had a Lexar 64gb class 10 and I was having problems with delay when waking up the screen. I took out the card and the phone was waking up instantly. I then exchanged it with 64gb Samsung Evo and the wake up lag was gone.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but how can a 128gb class 10 micro sd card not be worth $14! ?
Segjin said:
My Samsung 64GB EVO card did 36.85MB/s read and 12.11MB/s write.
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage-accessories/MB-MP64DA/AM
Will the phone take advantage of the UHS Speed Class 3 devices that claim up to 40MB/s write?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so I bought a SanDisk Extreme Plus 64GB UHS-I/ U3 Micro SDXC and gave it a try.
73.98MB/s read, 41.96MB/s write
Note: Not as good as the "up to" 80 read, 50 write Amazon advertises.
Araltd said:
I can't believe I'm saying this, but how can a 128gb class 10 micro sd card not be worth $14! ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Careful, if it ships from ebay or China at that price, it's fake. Even Amazon 3rd parties sell fakes.
Araltd said:
I currently have a Samsung branded 64gb micro sd uhs1 card in my note 4. I was thinking of upgrading my card so I got on eBay looking up prices for 128 gb cards since the note takes amazing video and those files are HUGE.
Well to my surprise 128 gb class 10 cards are super cheap, like under $20 cheap, while uhs1 class cards are closer to $100.
Is there a significant performance hit using a class 10 vs uhs1?
I downloaded "A1 SD Bench" from the play store, here's the results I got on my uhs1 64gb Samsung card.
If anyone is running a class 10 card, I'd love to see what your bench is using the same app. (Or suggest a different app)
Yes- I ordered a name brand 128 gb micro sd class 10 for $14 [emoji106] [emoji6]
I can't imagine it could possibly perform that bad? But I don't know, that's why I'm asking the question.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like a fake, to know for sure, once you receive it, fill the card up with movies or whatever... the fake card will crash and you wont be able to use it anymore, it will never reach the 64gb capacity. that is what I do with every card I buy.
$14 please...
095-897-6426
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It shipped from U.S.A. (can't remember which state) ave I didn't get the "generic" for $12, I sprung for the A DATA branded for $14 [emoji6]
I've used the a data usb thumb drives, and never had issue. I'll check the card when it arrives.
Honestly, I'm fully expecting it to be real, 128 gb capacity, but I'm sure it won't be anything close to my Samsung UHS-1 64gb cards performance.
After the link above, and seeing the note 4 is capable of UHS-3, I'd love to find a good price on one of those, but it would have to be 128gb since I already have a 64gb.
Now the real question is while we all crave the ultimate performance, is that speed difference anything you'll feel in day to day use?
gbigazalek22 said:
095-897-6426
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? I'm confused.
Araltd said:
Is the note 4 UHS1 capable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do a couple of creative Google searches... Read the speed test results from credible testers. The new Samsung cards, rated at UHS1 are faster than most all claimed UHS3 cards.
Yeah, I'm sure that's true. I'm just wondering if the real world, day to day use benefits from the speed? Or is it just a benchmark thing?
Received the 128gb card today. Benchmark was pretty low.
I bought a Samsung 32GB EVO MicroSD from the official Samsung sellers page on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IVPU786/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/180-5224329-8773259
Note 4 T-Mobile