Category: Geeks r Us
Okay, I've narrowed down my choices for a compact flash card for use in my laptop and desktop. But for starters, should I get type I or type II? I didn't even see anything for type II. All I know is, I have standard pcmcia card slots in both machines (though I think one of them also has a type III). I checked the size of the files etc that I'll be putting on the card and it all adds up to 16 gb. But I won't be putting all of it in a given system and some I just want on a card and not in my pc. Plus, while I'm sure XP can handle it, I'm not sure how Enhanced DR-DOS will deal with a drive larger than 10 gb. So I've included 8 gb cards as well. Of course, I could partition the card, which I might do if a 16 turns out to be the best. Finally, are their adapters that can handle various types of cf cards, assuming that I get a type I and then find my type II cards that I have lying around? I also need to repair my Braille Note, which takes a type II card. I've heard that type I can fit into a type II slot but will that cause a problem with the Braille Note recognising it?
Here are the choices with my comments/questions. Some of them seem to have the same options, only under a different brand name. so if you trust one brand over another, please let me know. This is a very important decision for me because I'll be using these as backup for my machines and don't want to buy something that will malfunction or that's only meant for a camera.
16 gb
RiDATA Lightning Series 16GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model RDCF16G-233X-LIG - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820183224
Speed: 233X: up to 46MB/s Read / 16 MB/s Write
Features: Fast Dual Channel MLC flash Conforms to the Compact Flash Association standard Compatible with PC card standards and PC card ATA Lower power consumption Provides forward and backward playing functionality Free Photo Recovery Software to keep your photos safe!
Free Shipping
Your Price:$47.49
(What do they mean by duel channel and what is ATA? What is forward and backward playing?
Kingston Elite Pro 16GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model CF/16GB-S2 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134577
Speed: 133X (25MB/sec. read, 20MB/sec. write)
Features: CF Type 1
Free Shipping
Your Price:$41.50
DANE-ELEC 16GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model DA-CF-16GB-R - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820157030
Features: Type I
Your Price:$40.99
And here are the eights.
Kingston Elite Pro 8GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model CF/8GB-S2 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134576
Speed: 133X (25MB/sec. read, 20MB/sec. write)
Features: CF Type 1 Standardized — complies with CompactFlash Association specification standards Easy — plug-and-play Economical — autosleep mode preserves system battery life
Free Shipping
Your Price:$29.99
(What is autosleep mode? does plug and play mean my pcs will automatically recognise it without a driver for cf cards?)
Transcend 8GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model TS8GCF133
Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208340
Speed: 133X
Free Shipping
Your Price:$28.99
DANE-ELEC 8GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model DA-CF-8192-R - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820157029
Features: Type I
Your Price:$17.99
(Has anyone heard of this brand? Why is this card so cheap?)
here we go again.
First things first, have you found a pcmcia cf reader for the lappy and probably a usb one for your desktop?
My laptop (Compaq Armada 1750) and desktop (Dell GX110) both have built-in pcmcia card slots. so they shouldn't need readers. Also, both have type 1 usb, so not sure if I can find a reader like that, though I might be able to. The only one that would need a reader is my netbook (Acer Aspire One) since it doesn't have the correct slot.
I'm sorry, but the last time I checked, pcmcia didn't sound like cf reader. Your going to need a pcmcia compact flash reader, end of.
Also, I have a gx150 to my right and have maintained a bunch of gx110's internally and I can say that I'm 100% sure that the gx pc's don't come with pcmcia slots, they come with pci slots which are totally different.
You can get pci > pcmcia but there pretty pricey; your better off going for a usb one imho.
Uh oh. This isn't good. Damn! I thought that they were the same. I know my Keynote Gold has a slot that fits a pc card. It's actually what the Keynote Voicecard comes on. I also know that my Braille Note fits type II cards, both on their own and with an adapter and that it has an external floppy drive that uses the same slot. I've always heard it called a pcmcia slot. I really wanna use compact flash, since I feel the most comfortable with it and trust it far more than cds, floppies and external hard drives. I just went to the page for the Compaq
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/10012_div/10012_div.HTML
and it said "Two Type II/One Type III PC Card Slots; CardBus-capable 7" so am I at least safe there? Do you know of any cf card readers that connect via a parallel or serial port? I'm so so glad that you chimed in about the Dell but I'm also very disappointed.
its talking about the type of pcmcia slot it has, so you'll still need a reader.
You can probably get serial / paralel ones but there going to be stupidly slow in contrast to the bandwidth that the card is capable of.
Thanks for the explanation. This really isn't good. Now I've gotta get a card, an adapter and a reader. I could've sworn I could just put it into the computer and have it read it but I guess not. Okay, back to the drawing board. Thanks.
Where's the problem? Just buy a SB card reader that reads all formats (I have seen 19:1 readers), they'll cost you 20dollars, possibly less. Then use whatever card format you want. I'd go with SD or SDHC cards, practically the same.
As long asyour devices have USB ports you're good to go.
and to add in with what bru said, with all in one sd card reader, you can usually read your beloved cf card too, if having a sd card or sdhc card disproved your idea of technology.
as far as brand goes, i'll personally choose either kingston or transcend. kingston and Sandisk always my first choice, but for doing what you do, pratically transfering stuff, any reliable brand will do. that includes transcend and other brand that might be popular and cheeper.
to answer one of your question about the different between type 1 and 2... this is a short summary that is available on the net... ones you google the different between cf 1 and 2, you will find it, but...
At 43mm (1.7") x 36mm (1.4") x 3.3mm (0.13"), the CF Type I card's thickness is about one-half of a current PCMCIA Type II card. It is actually one-fourth the volume of a PCMCIA card. Compared to a 68-pin PCMCIA card, a CF card has 50 pins but still conforms to ATA specs. It can be easily slipped into a passive 68-pin PCMCIA Type II to CF Type I adapter that fully meets PCMCIA electrical and mechanical interface specifications.
At 43mm (1.7") x 36mm (1.4") x 5mm (0.19"), the CF Type II card's thickness is equal to a current PCMCIA Type II card. It is actually less than one-half the volume of a PCMCIA card. Compared to a 68-pin PCMCIA card, a CF card has 50 pins but still conforms to ATA specs. It can be easily slipped into a passive 68-pin PCMCIA Type II to CF Type II adapter that fully meets PCMCIA electrical and mechanical interface specifications.
The only difference between CF Type I and CF Type II cards is the card thickness. CF Type I is 3.3 mm thick and CF Type II cards are 5mm thick. A CF Type I card will operate in a CF Type I or CF Type II slot. A CF Type II card will only fit in a CF Type II slot. The electrical interfaces are identical. CompactFlash is available in both CF Type I and CF Type II cards, though predominantly in CF Type I cards. The Microdrive is a CF Type II card. Most CF I/O cards are CF Type I, but there are some CF Type II I/O cards.
refference: www.compactflash.org/faqs/faq.htm -
and if you just google it, you will know that most user tempt to think that CF Type2 term to have high capacity than cf type1. just do some googleling, all your information that you want is there. and uterlize the link above if you have any specefic cf question
I've got usb 1 on both the desktop and laptop, and though I know as a fact that MS-DOS has usb drivers for certain things but I'm not sure about Enhanced Dr-DOS, since they were only experimenting with usb memory sticks a few months ago, and don't wanna chance it until the support is stable. Thanks for the wonderful explanation and the site. I'll definitely check it out. Looks like either will be good, saving me alot of money.
I just did a search on ebay and found a pcmcia adapter/reader for under $4 and an all-in-one card reader for under $7, both with free shipping. So now I know why I was confused about the reader. I guess the adapter I had was also a reader, which made me think that I didn't need to purchase one if my computer had the right kind of slot. Anyway, I'll probably get both of these and one or more of the cards at newegg, as soon as I figure out if and how I want to divide my information.