Sd card vs Microdrives

[Taxman]

Having had a look around I get the impression that most folk expand memory by using a SD card rather than using a microdrive in a CF slot (realise that some wont have both slots). There also seems to be problems galore with SD cards (losing data) and compatibility problems with different PDAs.

So is there any reason why not go over to using a microdrive. Tosh make a 2 gig device that should hold more than enough data for most maps and some music.

Can anyone come up with pros and cons for each, bearing in mind the large capacities available on microdrives (and that they use a CF slot!!)

[Dave]

The main issue is price at the end of the day. Going back a year or more there weren't 2Gb devices out there apart from the MicroDrives coming in at around 1Gb, the 1Gb CF's were way too expensive and there were only 128mb SD's.

Prices have come down on both SD and CF, but if you want the extra storage space and don't want to pay more for it, then the MicroDrive is a good compromise. I have 2x2.2Gb MagicStor MicroDrive's and they're great. The only difference is you have to wait a few seconds for the disk to spin up, so installing maps of Europe on the MicroDrive you will find it a bit slower.

In terms of speed...

CF is fastest
SD is second fastest
MD is slowest

[Privateer]

Will your set-up ever come into contact with magnetic fields, e.g. a magnet on a mount?

Last night, I tried an iPAQ 3970 with an SD card and an iPAQ 2210 with a CF card on a new windscreen suction mount that had a strong magnet on it. Neither the iPAQs nor the storage cards were affected by the magnetic. I would not even attempt to do this with a MicroDrive! 8O

Caveat: First of all I had an up-to-date backup of both iPAQs and their storage cards. Secondly, I didn’t use the magnetic mount for long. If anybody else wishes to try this then you do so at your own risk!

BTW I did have to perform a hard reset and restore on the iPAQ 2210 because the magnet was so strong that when the 2210 connected with the mount on the second time, the battery was displaced slightly and the 2210 went dead. This is a secondary problem of using magnets near my set-up.

Regards,
_________________
Robert.
iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 14.0.1: iOS CamerAlert v2.0.7
TomTom GO Mobile iOS 2.3.1; TomTom (UK & ROI and Europe) iOS apps v1.29
Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D

[Taxman]

Thanks for the thoughts. Regarding speed - is there really that much difference for it to be 'annoying' or very noticable?

Concerning magnets - yup. Point taken

I suppose that it's something that you'd have to remember when buying kit.

But when it comes down to it I still think that reliability plays a big part. Big memory cards are now coming out but will they retain data always or will they decide to clear themselves? Microdrives don't, as far as I can recall, do this unless told to - or you stick a magnet near them!!

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