Question about MicroSD Cards.

[_-Jay-_]

I want to pickup a couple MicroSD cards for Christmas for my wife and daughter. They both have the LG Optimus S (which is an awesome phone by the way if anyone is considering it). Wanted a 16GB for the wife and an 8GB for my kid. The question is, I see Newegg has them relatively cheap. $15-$20 for the 8GB and $25-$30 for the 16GB. But they talk about Class 2 and Class 4 all the way up to Class 10 or something. How do I know which I need to buy for their phones?

 

[Martimus]

The class indicated on a SD card essentially specifies the transfer speed of the card. The higher the number the faster the card. I believe the most common SD card speed class at the moment is Class 4 (4 megabytes per second).

The LG Optimus S is rated to support up to a 32gb micro SD card so you should be OK with the 8gb and 16gb cards.

 

[Medion]

I just wanted to clarify something on class/speed ratings. Some cards use class rating (Class 2, Class 4, etc.), and others use speed ratings (10x, 300x, etc.). Class rating is SUSTAINED speed, and Class 2 = 2 MB. Speed rating is PEAK, and 1x = 150kb per second (like CD Rom speed ratings). So while Class 2 and 13x SHOULD be the same, the 13x is a peak rating, so they're not. Class 2 still kills it.

Also, SanDisk has a habit of underrating their cards. Many people report read speeds and 13MB/sec and Write speeds of 5-6MB/sec, putting these Class 2 cards in the neighborhood of Class 4 or even Class 6. Third parties tend to push the rating, meaning you could be paying for a class 4 that barely qualifies.

Lastly, these higher speed ratings tend to be of lesser quality in terms of reliability, leading to corrupted data requiring a re-format, or a completely useless card. Class 8 and 10 is notorious for this. Class 6 is so-so.

There is nothing you can do on a phone that would require a higher than Class 2 rating today anyway. SanDisk Class 2 is usually equal to or better than a 3rd party Class 4 as well, so consider that when purchasing.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now

 

[marefin]

I got a class 4 microSD card recently. Works great. I mean would LOVE to have a higher class, but I don't think the cost for them is worth it yet.

 

[mrsbelpit]

I just wanted to clarify something on class/speed ratings. Some cards use class rating (Class 2, Class 4, etc.), and others use speed ratings (10x, 300x, etc.). Class rating is SUSTAINED speed, and Class 2 = 2 MB. Speed rating is PEAK, and 1x = 150kb per second (like CD Rom speed ratings). So while Class 2 and 13x SHOULD be the same, the 13x is a peak rating, so they're not. Class 2 still kills it.

Also, SanDisk has a habit of underrating their cards. Many people report read speeds and 13MB/sec and Write speeds of 5-6MB/sec, putting these Class 2 cards in the neighborhood of Class 4 or even Class 6. Third parties tend to push the rating, meaning you could be paying for a class 4 that barely qualifies.

Lastly, these higher speed ratings tend to be of lesser quality in terms of reliability, leading to corrupted data requiring a re-format, or a completely useless card. Class 8 and 10 is notorious for this. Class 6 is so-so.

There is nothing you can do on a phone that would require a higher than Class 2 rating today anyway. SanDisk Class 2 is usually equal to or better than a 3rd party Class 4 as well, so consider that when purchasing.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now

What do you think about a sandisk class 4? specifically: this one seems like a pretty good price.

Amazon.com: SanDisk 16GB SDHC Class 4 SD Card (SDSDB-016G-P36, Retail Package): Electronics

 

[4Way]

I got a class 4 as I read somewhere that that was the minimum speed when recording HD video. Don't know how true it is but I don't have any problems .

 

[Medion]

What do you think about a sandisk class 4? specifically: this one seems like a pretty good price.

Amazon.com: SanDisk 16GB SDHC Class 4 SD Card (SDSDB-016G-P36, Retail Package): Electronics

That's full SD and not MicroSD, so it won't fit in your phone.

 

[lordofthereef]

Just got a 32GB Sandisk class 2 on eBay for $15 shipped BIN. Can't beat that! I wanted a class 4 or hougher, but for $15 I won't be picky!

 

[reinbeau]

I tend to shy away from even Sandisk. Try aData, it's got a great reputation. I bought this one, class 6, 16 gb, but I paid $49.99 from NewEgg, seems they're out of stock now, unfortunately.

 

[Thefoodman52]

I trust Patriot for all my memory needs, be it RAM, SD cards, flash drives, you name it.

 

[lordofthereef]

I tend to shy away from even Sandisk. Try aData, it's got a great reputation. I bought this one, class 6, 16 gb, but I paid $49.99 from NewEgg, seems they're out of stock now, unfortunately.

Just curios. what is your reasoning? I have used San-Disk almost exclusively as my memory in various devices including phones, PSP, Wii, etc. and never had a problem. Is there something I should know?

 

[mrsbelpit]

That's full SD and not MicroSD, so it won't fit in your phone.

bahh, I searched microsd, amazon needs to refine their search. Thanks, I'm not sure if I would have noticed it had I ordered it.

I got a class 4 as I read somewhere that that was the minimum speed when recording HD video. Don't know how true it is but I don't have any problems .

My hd video records fine on a class 2.

 

[reinbeau]

Just curios. what is your reasoning? I have used San-Disk almost exclusively as my memory in various devices including phones, PSP, Wii, etc. and never had a problem. Is there something I should know?

It's an old prejudice held over from my Garmin iQue days. Sandisk cards were variably reliable, had horrible read times (important for the maps and navigation) and many of us just shied away from them. I'd rather pay for quality.

 

[lordofthereef]

It's an old prejudice held over from my Garmin iQue days. Sandisk cards were variably reliable, had horrible read times (important for the maps and navigation) and many of us just shied away from them. I'd rather pay for quality.

Ah ok. Well now I am interested in seeing how mu budget $15 card does. In any case, at the most it's a $15 loss LOL!

 

[Martimus]

I trust Patriot for all my memory needs, be it RAM, SD cards, flash drives, you name it.

+1 on the Patriot memory! I've had great success with their products!

 

[Medion]

Just got a 32GB Sandisk class 2 on eBay for $15 shipped BIN. Can't beat that! I wanted a class 4 or hougher, but for $15 I won't be picky!

Make sure you run tests on it. Many of these cheap 32GB cards on Ebay are fakes. Some are 4GB or less, and others are slow as molasses.

 

[ender1962]

Hi all,

New to the forum. This is my first post. Point me in the right direction if I'm in the wrong place.

I purchased a 16gb micro Sd card for my phone, mostly to hold music. I created a "Music" folder on the card and have pointed the players (the included app and Meridian) at the folder.

My problem is, the players only see some of the music I have loaded.

Last time, I added albums to those that were already there and the apps only saw the newly added albums.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[telemike]

I use Doubletwist to sync music to my phone

 

[timvalefan]

Hi, Newbie here, i've just bought a galaxy s and was wondering what was the best micro sd card size to use please. I have heard that on some the larger the capacity, the slower the phone becomes. Thanks

 

[FreddyFoFingers]

Hi all,

I purchased a 16gb micro Sd card for my phone, mostly to hold music. I created a "Music" folder on the card and have pointed the players (the included app and Meridian) at the folder.

My problem is, the players only see some of the music I have loaded.

Last time, I added albums to those that were already there and the apps only saw the newly added albums.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Same thing was happening to me. Turns out I bought the SD card from a scam. It was supposed to be 32 gb (and the phone read it as such), but really it only had a gig of usable space, and whenever I added anything over that gig of usable space the old stuff would erase. Try running h2testw on it and see if you have any corrupted segments. It's a simple computer program and I think you'll need a card reader. Also not to sound paranoid, but to whoever bought the $15 card, I'd run it through a h2testw cycle as well.

 

[ender1962]

Thanks, Freddy, but I thought of that. I bought the card from Amazon and paid $25 for a 16gb, but I ran the test anyway. The card's legit. Further trial and error tells me it's a software problem. I downloaded the trial version of PowerAmp and it sees everything. Weird thing is, it's the only app that does. Even Album Art Grabber only sees a small portion of the files.