unfriendly CF card - any alternatives?

[Davidish]

I just bought a Transcend 256MB compact flash card, and lo and behold - it doesn't work in my Netbook! :(

Fortunately I bought it mail order so hopefully will be able to return it without problems.

However, now I'm stuck back in CF-card less state. So, can anybody recommend a fast access 256MB CF card that DOES work with the Netbook?

I chose the Transcend card coz its supposed to be of the ultra-fast 25x variety, and was cheap in comparison with other fast access CF cards. I also chose transcend because I read a post somewhere that said the 128MB Transcend card DOES work in the Netbook...

So, (Yan?) maybe we could start a list of CF cards that ARE compatible with the netbook (a la the ethernet card list you're compiling)

Any recommendations much appreciated.

Thanks,
David.

[diem]

Yes, various people have started to compile such lists - the problem is that some brands just re-label someone else's product, and will change their supplier over time. Thus it is impossible to make absolute statements of compatibility about certain brands.

The recommendations are therefore as follows:

- choose established brands, such as Simple, Hitachi, Psion, Lexar, Viking.
- be cautious about new enhancements to the CF standard; netBook was designed 4 years ago!
- make sure you purchase with a money-back (or exchange) guarantee.

[diem]

one other thougth - have you tried formatting the card on the Psion, or is it just not recognised at all?

If you have a CF adapter for your PC, you could try formatting the card with it, but be sure you use FAT16 not FAT32.

[wanman]

Hi David,

Try Expansys for cheap CF cards although I did have problems with compatibility of larger cards (I tried both 128 & 256mb). They confirmed that it was a dodge batch so should be ok now. Currently I use a SimpleTech (www.simpletech.com) CF card which have always been quick and very reliable (both 128mb & 256mb). You can get these from www.Clove.co.uk but are can be slightly more expensive than Expansys who only sell their own brand.

Having said that I see that Clove have a special offer on their 256mb cards currently £75.20 as apposed to £78.58 for Expansys.

Hope this helps.

Si

[wanman]

Oh and while you are purchasing a large CF card, get your hands on a USB reader. Example link here: http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=IMP_E023_A&asource=TMP_PSION7

Backing up large amounts of data using Psion's trusty serial port can be very time consuming. If you have a spare USB port, this offers the fastest and convient way of backing up.

Regards

Si

[diem]

I agree with wanman - I use a USB port reader/writer that supports 6 different types of card - check out www.zadaw.com.

[Davidish]

Thanks all for your advice.

another question: Do you know if ther is a compact flash reader+writer that does not require drivers to be installed on the target machine, but which is compatible with both Macs and PCs? links/product names would be very helpful.

D

[diem]

I don't think such a product exists! And indeed how could it unless both MacOS and Windows came with appropriate drivers?

Operating system vendors tend to include drivers for older devices like video cards, but CF readers are very new tech - XP may include drivers but 2K certainly doesn't. As far as MacOS is concerned, my (uneducated) guess is that Apple have got their plate full enough with fixing bugs and speeding up OS X without including drivers for new devices...

[MikeMcC]

Originally posted by Davidish
Thanks all for your advice.

another question: Do you know if ther is a compact flash reader+writer that does not require drivers to be installed on the target machine, but which is compatible with both Macs and PCs? links/product names would be very helpful.

I have a Sandisk USB Compact Flash Reader for which I had to install software in Windows ME.

Earlier this week, I went to their website to see if they had drivers for Win XP and found that XP didn't require additional drivers - just plug in the reader and that's it. So with XP, you may not need drivers but I cannot comment on a Mac.

Also be aware that using a CF reader on a Mac can cause real problems if you subsequently use the card in a Psion. The Mac puts system files on which completely screw up the card.

[Davidish]

Thanks mike - I already experienced this Mac disaster with CF card reader once and was hoping there might be a solution. Looks like I'll have to stick to ftp backup of my netbook instead. Not ideal, but miles better than the snail.. ahem! I mean 'serial' link.


Yan, in repsonse to one of your questions earlier in this thread - the card is not recognised AT ALL by the netbook, so I don't think that formatting it will have much effect, plus I don't have access to a PC with a CF card reader so that kinda puts a halt to that idea anyway.

It's all so depressing, I was hoping to have a card that would be a massive improvement on my current CF card, which takes 20seconds to write 1MB!

I tested my card's througput with the DiskBench utility, found here:
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/babbage/399/diskbench11.zip

See its creator's homepage here:
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/babbage/399/

D.

[wanman]

Mike is right. You don't need drivers for Win2000 or XP. When you plug the usb connector in (whilst the machine is switched on), windows loads the drivers it needs and adds the compact flash as a removeable drive. You can then drag & drop, copy, cut and paste within explorer as normal. You will note that a little icon appears in the application tray at the bottom right of your screen when the connection is made correctly and the extra drive has been created.

I always make use this icon to close the connection before physically removing either the USB or the compact flash from the reader. The reason for this is that I have very occasionally corrupted files when removing the card 'hot'.

No clues on MAC though, sorry !!



Regards

Si

[Davidish]

Has anybody used an 256MB Integral compact flash card in a netbook?

Also, what difference does the "USB-enabled" thing on some cards make?

for example, see:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00006GEQP/ref=pd_sim_ce_dp/202-8618087-3306212

Does this do what I was wondering above? I.e. built in USB support so you don't need a driver (for the older OS's) ? Otherwise, what's the point of mentioning the USB thing on the card?

Cheers,
David.

[MikeMcC]

Also, what difference does the "USB-enabled" thing on some cards make?
I remember seeing a really cheap USB CF Reader in Dixons (about £10) and thought this was too good to be true. Further investigation revealed that this device required the "USB-enabled" CF cards. I bought a normal Sandisk USB CF Reader (about £30 if I remember correctly) and this works with conventional CF cards.

If you already have conventional CF cards, I wouldn't go the "USB-enabled" route, but if starting out it might be an option. I haven't actually heard of anyone using these with a Psion so have no idea about compatibility issues.

[diem]

I've not heard of the Intergral brand, so I cannot comment.

Regarding the 'USB-enabled' tag, I think this is weird and misleading. Its not up to the card to work via any given interface, that's the job of the CF reader/writer . The example you gave of the Lexar card at Amazon also claims to work on an IDE/ATA interface, but you can no more plug a CF card into a USB port than into an IDE cable!

Thus I think the point of mentioning USB on the card is to give confidence to the purchaser that the card will work with their USB interface CF card reader/writer. It remains necessary to install drivers for such devices if the OS doesn't support them inherently.

The current advice is that Win 2K and XP have support built-in, but earlier versions will need a driver. Win Me may be an exception, since it came out after 2K.

[MikeMcC]

The current advice is that Win 2K and XP have support built-in, but earlier versions will need a driver. Win Me may be an exception, since it came out after 2K.
My Sandisk CF Reader did need software installation with my Win ME machine, but not with XP.

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by Davidish
Has anybody used an 256MB Integral compact flash card in a netbook?
No, but I have a 128Mb one of that brand, which seems slow and a bit flaky. It's the only one of that size I've had though, so it's hard to compare. I don't think I'd choose that brand again however.

I've also got an Integral-branded CF/SM reader which I can't get to work. Works fine on my Win98 partition, but on my Win2K installation, where I really need it, it just doesn't want to know!

Julie

[martyscholes]

Originally posted by diem
The example you gave of the Lexar card at Amazon also claims to work on an IDE/ATA interface, but you can no more plug a CF card into a USB port than into an IDE cable!


That's not entirely true.

From http://www.compactflash.org/info/cfinfo.htm

"They provide complete PCMCIA-ATA functionality and compatibility plus TrueIDE functionality compatible with ATA/ATAPI-4."

I have heard of several projects where a CF card is placed directly on the IDE chain and the computer used it just like a hard drive. Never done it myself, tho.

[diem]

Fair comment - news to me. I can understand how this might work since both IDE and CF use a parallel interface (although there'd obviously be a need for a physicall interface to convert the pinouts) and are used solely for data storage transfer.

I cannot see something similar working for USB however, because it is a general purpose bus and is serial.

[martyscholes]

Originally posted by diem
I cannot see something similar working for USB however, because it is a general purpose bus and is serial.

Agreed.