Database Users

[Q] SD Card Worth It?

I am going to pick one of these up, but before I did, had a quick question (anyone with a WP7 can answer)
Do you feel that 8gb is enough space? Or do you wish you had more? Should I get an SD Card?

Most definitely. I have loaded most of my music and a few videos and I already used over 6GB. That's pretty much all the stock phone has. Now, I have over 14GB still left. Might put some movies on it.

My only disappointment in the focus is the 8GB stock NAND. For a $199 on contract device, 16GB really should be the minimum, especially considering a few other WP7 phones, to say nothing of Android phones and the iPhone, all start at $199 with 16GB.
That said, adding the SD card isn't that big a deal as long as you do it before you've filled the device up. For some reason there seems to be no ability to do a full backup of the phone by any means I've been able to find.

The problem with the SD Cards is that there's intense confusion/miscommunication about which cards work well. Just because it works with 6GB doesn't mean anything. What seems to happen is once you get to 8GB filled, the phone's performance takes a nose-dive, sometimes leading to losing all data.

"Enough space" depends on you, not us. I have an iPhone, iPad and iPod, all 16GB units, each with some 14GB or so of music & apps on them so it the first thing I did when I brought the Focus home was slap an 8GB card in there, format it and load it up. I have maybe 2GB free and it's worked without a single glitch for the past two weeks. For reference, mine is a Sandisk class 2. People seem to have problems with cards other than Sandisk and other than class 2 and I noticed absolutely no performance problems so if you're going to try it, try that and keep the receipt in case you need to return or swap it should something go sour.

Enough Space?
I agree with Mark, whether there is enough space or not really depends on what your usage requirements are.
I had a 32GB Zune and when I bought my Samsung Focus the Zune had over 20GB of data on it. So for me adding and 32GB SD card to the Focus was not only a desire but a very strong selling point for the Phone.
And yes, I am seeing a few issues with the Sandisk Card that is in it. Currently they are not enough to make me yank the Card because I (again) bought the device to specifically be a convergence device for myself and I am at heart a tester and tinkerer so figuring how exactly how WP7 works.doesn't work with an SD Card and the statement that MS and Samsung are working on a fix is enough for me right now.
Smaller Sized Cards seem to be more reliable than larger cards (not to mention less expensive) but that appears to anecdotal evidence as well. My 32GB Sandisk only causes freezes and resets when on Battery for example and I've not had anyone else confirm if they are seeing the same.
Not great answers but, hey, this is the fun of learning as we go along...
- MEK

FishFaceMcGee said:
The problem with the SD Cards is that there's intense confusion/miscommunication about which cards work well. Just because it works with 6GB doesn't mean anything. What seems to happen is once you get to 8GB filled, the phone's performance takes a nose-dive, sometimes leading to losing all data.
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I have more than 11GB on my Focus with no issues at all. No slow-downs, no hiccups, no data loss period. I am currently using a PNY 16GB Class 2 card. I previously had a Centon 8GB Class 6 card with the same results.
If you read the thread on MicroSD cards, it seems there are some cards that have been working pretty much flawlessly. Both of the cards I mentioned have worked perfectly for me. I gave the 8GB to a friend and he is using it in his Focus as well.

For me, to really make a portable phone/audio/video device be best for me it would need at least 150GB of storage... and a few TB if i wanted to listen to music lossless and a few movies.

MKohlman said:
I agree with Mark, whether there is enough space or not really depends on what your usage requirements are.
I had a 32GB Zune and when I bought my Samsung Focus the Zune had over 20GB of data on it. So for me adding and 32GB SD card to the Focus was not only a desire but a very strong selling point for the Phone.
And yes, I am seeing a few issues with the Sandisk Card that is in it. Currently they are not enough to make me yank the Card because I (again) bought the device to specifically be a convergence device for myself and I am at heart a tester and tinkerer so figuring how exactly how WP7 works.doesn't work with an SD Card and the statement that MS and Samsung are working on a fix is enough for me right now.
Smaller Sized Cards seem to be more reliable than larger cards (not to mention less expensive) but that appears to anecdotal evidence as well. My 32GB Sandisk only causes freezes and resets when on Battery for example and I've not had anyone else confirm if they are seeing the same.
Not great answers but, hey, this is the fun of learning as we go along...
- MEK
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Click to collapse
You know, I was thinking about this the other day...the phone has 8GB of internal memory and if you put in an SD card it stripes data across it and the internal memory. If the card is 8GB or smaller that's fine but what happens if the SD card is larger than internal memory? It doesn't stripe the first 8GB and set the rest up as another partition and it does appear to use but it can't be striped. Now you've mentioned that smaller sized cards work better and my 8GB card works perfectly. I wonder if the file system's attempt to work with a larger card is inherently unstable? I know that if you put two different sized drives in a Windows box and stripe across them you will only end up with double the size of the smallest drive, not the actual sum of the two. Might be an interesting poll...indicate the size of your SD card and if the phone has been 100% stable since inserting it.

markgamber said:
You know, I was thinking about this the other day...the phone has 8GB of internal memory and if you put in an SD card it stripes data across it and the internal memory. If the card is 8GB or smaller that's fine but what happens if the SD card is larger than internal memory? It doesn't stripe the first 8GB and set the rest up as another partition and it does appear to use but it can't be striped. Now you've mentioned that smaller sized cards work better and my 8GB card works perfectly. I wonder if the file system's attempt to work with a larger card is inherently unstable? I know that if you put two different sized drives in a Windows box and stripe across them you will only end up with double the size of the smallest drive, not the actual sum of the two. Might be an interesting poll...indicate the size of your SD card and if the phone has been 100% stable since inserting it.
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I'm not totally convinced based on comments in blogs that the disks are "striped". I think a lot of people are saying this and maybe using the term out of context and everyone just keeps using it. Has Microsoft actually come out to say "WP7 performs RAID 0 configuration"? For a phone OS which was never intended to see anything other than a single drive, don't you think throwing a RAID controller in there just for kicks is a little absurd?
The other term is "span" and if I had money, I'd bet that the two disks were spanned as a single partition, as opposed to striping like RAID 0 does.
Despite all of that, I have tried a 16gb class 4 with more issues than I cared for and currently have an 8gb class 4 with negligible issues. Any card you get, I'd run on Vista/Windows 7 and test for ReadyBoost. That at least tests the card for random access speed, which is important. My 16gb failed readyboost and had lots of issues in my Focus, whereas the 8gb passed and the only issues I've seen with that one are issues that other people might have experienced on their own phones sans sd card.

hyperzulu said:
I'm not totally convinced based on comments in blogs that the disks are "striped". I think a lot of people are saying this and maybe using the term out of context and everyone just keeps using it. Has Microsoft actually come out to say "WP7 performs RAID 0 configuration"? For a phone OS which was never intended to see anything other than a single drive, don't you think throwing a RAID controller in there just for kicks is a little absurd?
The other term is "span" and if I had money, I'd bet that the two disks were spanned as a single partition, as opposed to striping like RAID 0 does.
Despite all of that, I have tried a 16gb class 4 with more issues than I cared for and currently have an 8gb class 4 with negligible issues. Any card you get, I'd run on Vista/Windows 7 and test for ReadyBoost. That at least tests the card for random access speed, which is important. My 16gb failed readyboost and had lots of issues in my Focus, whereas the 8gb passed and the only issues I've seen with that one are issues that other people might have experienced on their own phones sans sd card.
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I've read both, striped and spanned...who knows. Considering how slow SD memory always was in old WinMo devices, I didn't think it absurd to stripe data to provide the same kind of speed boost you get when striping hard drives. Hard as it might be to believe, it may have just been that WinMo was slow. I hadn't thought of the readyboost test, that's a good idea. Readyboost is pretty picky.

Micro SD card slot means no need for 32gb model?

So I'm wondering if there is a micro SD card slot then do you really need to buy the 32gb version? It appears that the current math among tablet manufacturer's is $100 for 16gb of memory which is obviously a joke. So if i buy the 16gb version and then buy a 16gb sd card ($25) do I effectively come out with the same thing for $75 cheaper?

Depends how you use it. I think it will behave like the Samsung Galaxy S in that the built in memory will appear as a different location to the external memory. Files cannot span both locations and thus your file may not fit even though the total combined free space you have left is larger than the file you are trying to copy.

well if thats the case then in general it will work just fine. Chances arent very good that i'm going to have some massive file on there.

Internal memory is probably faster than 25$ microSD card.

You could spend $90 on a Class 10 32GB card and be looking pretty good.

there you go, 32 gb for the price they are offering 16gigs. sounds good to me. not only that but you can spread that cost. Drop the $499 now, wait a couple months and get the micro sd later. thanks for the info

Magnesus said:
Internal memory is probably faster than 25$ microSD card.
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On my galaxy s, my class 4 micro sd card is as quick is the internal memory. I'm sure the tab will allow quicker speeds but it's worth noting that a class 4 card is sufficiently fast enough to play back 1080p without problems. If you want to save time transferring files between tablet and pc then fair enough but I would personally save money and get a class 4 and make a cup of tea while it copies

Just but the 16GB, as long as it has a micro SD slot you won't need anymore than that.

Thats pretty much what it mean, the question now is whether it will actually have an SD card slot, I have read conflicting reports that it does and does not have one.

Blueman101 said:
Thats pretty much what it mean, the question now is whether it will actually have an SD card slot, I have read conflicting reports that it does and does not have one.
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I think the conflicting reports are due to two different versions of the Tab 10.1. The version shown during the MWC does not appear to have a MicroSD card slot. The newer version shown at CTIA does have a MicroSD card slot. Most reviews are consistent with this but a few have gotten it wrong which has probably led to the confusion.
There's a number of differences between the versions but the easy to identify differences are thickness and MP of the rear camera. The first version (MWC) is 10.9mm thick and has an 8MP rear camera. The newer version (CTIA) is 8.6mm thick and has a 3MP rear camera.

Techno79 said:
I think the conflicting reports are due to two different versions of the Tab 10.1. The version shown during the MWC does not appear to have a MicroSD card slot. The newer version shown at CTIA does have a MicroSD card slot. Most reviews are consistent with this but a few have gotten it wrong which has probably led to the confusion.
There's a number of differences between the versions but the easy to identify differences are thickness and MP of the rear camera. The first version (MWC) is 10.9mm thick and has an 8MP rear camera. The newer version (CTIA) is 8.6mm thick and has a 3MP rear camera.
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Click to collapse
Yeah i figure thats about what happened. Hopefully we will see some detailed(confirmed) specs soon so we can know what is really driving this thing. Also, perhaps finally review the optional UI question.
Dear Samsung,
Y U NO INFORM EXCITED PUBLIC OF FINAL SPECS!

Actually, what I want is 64GB internal memory model, with or without microSD card
I prefer without, if the space can be used to a little bit more battery and/or reduce the weight!.
I am now getting used to Nexus S, the one without microSD card. To my surprise, I can live with it, comfortably

true, you probably can live without an SD card. But the reason most people will probably get a 16gb plus a 32gb SD is because its cheaper (even with the extra 32gb SD card purchase) then paying an extra $100 for a mere 16GB

I actually have a 16gb class 4 sitting around collecting dust. I'll just stick it in 16gb model
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

jvs60 said:
I actually have a 16gb class 4 sitting around collecting dust. I'll just stick it in 16gb model
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
there ya go

gogol said:
Actually, what I want is 64GB internal memory model, with or without microSD card
I prefer without, if the space can be used to a little bit more battery and/or reduce the weight!.
I am now getting used to Nexus S, the one without microSD card. To my surprise, I can live with it, comfortably
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't have thought removing a MicroSD card slot would save much space or weight. A MicroSD card is tiny as too the housing for the slot.
For me, the want of a MicroSD card slot is not for expanding storage space cheaply but more for being able to transfer files to/from MicroSD easily. There's many situations when I would want to do this with a MicroSD card from my other devices or it is a MicroSD card from someone else I am with. In those situations, it's sometimes easier than faffing around with cables, bluetooth or Wifi. So the slot just gives another option.

That's true. Having microSD is handy. Especially if you want to transfer a lot of files or big files.
But, my point is that no-microSD will not stop me buying a tablet
After I owned Nexus S, I don't think it is important anymore as long as the internal storage is big enough.
Again, this is my own preference
Techno79 said:
I wouldn't have thought removing a MicroSD card slot would save much space or weight. A MicroSD card is tiny as too the housing for the slot.
For me, the want of a MicroSD card slot is not for expanding storage space cheaply but more for being able to transfer files to/from MicroSD easily. There's many situations when I would want to do this with a MicroSD card from my other devices or it is a MicroSD card from someone else I am with. In those situations, it's sometimes easier than faffing around with cables, bluetooth or Wifi. So the slot just gives another option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Blueman101 said:
Yeah i figure thats about what happened. Hopefully we will see some detailed(confirmed) specs soon so we can know what is really driving this thing. Also, perhaps finally review the optional UI question.
Dear Samsung,
Y U NO INFORM EXCITED PUBLIC OF FINAL SPECS!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one released in Aust. last week is a 16GB no SD slot model. I haven't seen a confirmation of the one that has the SD slot but have heard rumours that it will be thinner and up to 32GB.
I thought the internal memory was available to both system & data doesn't this mean that the internal memory would be an ext flavour rather than a FAT?

I see your point and I have to agree that it does seem a bit cheaper just to get the 16gb model and buy a 16gb sd card unless u plan on being a data/movie packrat on ur Tab in which case you will want to get the 32gb model as well as a 32gb sd card.

I want the highest storage available period!
I don't care if it cost more. I would rather get a 32 GB and have another 32 GB of SD card storage.
I wish that there is a 64 GB version with SD card slot so that I can have 32 GB SD card to make the total of 96 GB.
I can never have enough space because I have so many HD movies that I want to store in my tablet.

[Q] does a class 10 micro sd card benefit in the A500?

Sorry if this was already asked but I tried searching. What type of class micro sd card will I actually benefit from? A samsung class 4 32gb is out there for a good price but if the tablet will actually take advantage of a class 10 I would get one of those.

for the most part it will not. Except in moving large files to and from the card.maybe playing movies from the card.but even movies are OK on 4.6 class cards..if you could run apps or have there data from SD card then it would be a big improvement. I have used a 8 gig class 4 and now have a 32gig class 10.can't tell much difference other then when pushing roms and other large files to my tablet over USB.
I would say get 6 minimum but if you have the cash faster is always better. Just don't go out and spend the money if you have a class 4card.
Im sure you will hear diffeent from others.

Not really. I have 5 sd's, and no difference between class4 and class 10.
Up to a certain size that is. Anything more than 16gb, and I would move to a class 10.
Rumor has it, that you can run a 64gb. If you partition it with Partition Magic.

I think it depends on what you are using the card for. I don't think it is the tablet that would take advantage as much as a particular app that would. If you were using apps that required fast read/write access to the card (and you were actually using the card as opposed to the internal memory) then the faster card would be best. Keep in mind that not all class 10s are the same so also make sure to look at some of the benchmarks for the different cards. I know in terms of photography and hd video captures that a higher class card really does make a difference...but that is just an example of a real use application.
Hope that made sense.

32 GB vs 16 GB

what are you guys getting? I ve pre-ordered for the 16gb but thinking to maybe switch to 32gb, for I ve heard 32gb is noticeably faster cuz of bigger storage Idk if that is true... This is my first time using android tablet, ditching ipad finally. I know there is an extended sd card option but still would you buy 32 gb for $50 more?

32gb... Some of these games coming out are over 1gb each, and some are approaching 2gb. I like to have things installed and not have to do the install/uninstall shuffle. Plus to have space for other things. All Media and storage go on the 64gb micro sd card though.

I pre-ordered a 16GB black from Best Buy, then changed my mind to a 32 GB white.
Best to have too much than too little.

They kind of want you to buy the 32gb version since the 16gb version is only 50 bucks less. That being said, I think it matters less on a tablet than on a phone because I always root my tablets. There's less downside from voiding warranty because my tablet is always safe and secure in it's case inside my bag while I'm on the run whereas my phone can be accidentally dropped at any time. That's just me though.
The faster speed from having a larger internal sd card is of somewhat miniscule benefit. For something like a 128gb and 256gb ssd, the improvement will be mildly noticeable but not so much on a tiny sd card. Get the one that fits your needs.
I really want a black one because I prefer understatement (don't want to get robbed too). So if I get a 32gb version, it will be because the 16gb version is only available in white in the states right now.

I got the black 32GB from Best Buy always nice to have extra, also have a 64GB sd card for it.

changed to 32 gb...lol

I was on the fence about getting which one to get too. I decided to get the 16gb because of the Amazon $50 gift card promotion. I don't game alot, so the huge app sizes are not as much as an issue for me. I will put in a 64gb sd card for videos and pictures.

i never game as much as i think i'm going to and always have tons of space left over, lol. i bought just about every emulator and a bunch of games, most of which i've never played or never installed.
i did preorder the 32GB for two reasons - 1: if i want black and by the 11th there's only one choice
2: i swear i'm gonna start playing those games i bought, lol
i also bought another 64GB sd for media. i got a 64 in my ativ 500t and 700t but only a 32 in my gn8. the only reason my phones have 32gb is b/c tw roms are crazy huge compared to AOSP and nandroids are taking 4GB a piece! otherwise 16GB would have been enough.

madsquabbles said:
i never game as much as i think i'm going to and always have tons of space left over, lol. i bought just about every emulator and a bunch of games, most of which i've never played or never installed.
i did preorder the 32GB for two reasons - 1: if i want black and by the 11th there's only one choice
2: i swear i'm gonna start playing those games i bought, lol
i also bought another 64GB sd for media. i got a 64 in my ativ 500t and 700t but only a 32 in my gn8. the only reason my phones have 32gb is b/c tw roms are crazy huge compared to AOSP and nandroids are taking 4GB a piece! otherwise 16GB would have been enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel you about the size of the tw roms. Hopefully, there will be root and a streamlined tw rom to help out a bit with that.

Diogenes5 said:
The faster speed from having a larger internal sd card is of somewhat miniscule benefit. For something like a 128gb and 256gb ssd, the improvement will be mildly noticeable but not so much on a tiny sd card. Get the one that fits your needs.
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For SSDs why is there any benefit to speed based on size at all? I assumed the OP was just confusing RAM with storage.
For magnetic HDDs, bigger is faster for the same amount of data because on a bigger drive more of that data can be stored towards the edge. The edge of the platter moves quicker, so you get faster R/W times.
Why would different size SSDs have different speeds?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Qzic said:
For SSDs why is there any benefit to speed based on size at all? I assumed the OP was just confusing RAM with storage.
For magnetic HDDs, bigger is faster for the same amount of data because on a bigger drive more of that data can be stored towards the edge. The edge of the platter moves quicker, so you get faster R/W times.
Why would different size SSDs have different speeds?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
You get faster speeds on larger SSD drives because of the way the controller works. There are more cells working in parallel which increases speed. Each individual bit of information acts rather slowly in emmc and is pretty consistent across devices as long as the type of Nand is the same. It's the controller which makes the difference in speed and the controller is better when it has more parallel units working in tandem. So in the SSD world, bigger is better.

32g enough for video games
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Does Shield TV has UHS-II reader?

I search around website but couldn't find the specific specs for the micro sd card reader for Shield TV. Does it support UHS-II? I am planning to purchase the Lexar 1800x and want to make sure if I can take full advantage of that card which support read speed up to 300MB/S. I'm also wondering about the writing and reading speed of original storage on 16GB version.

Nvm I contacted Nvidia support, only support UHS-I class 3.

emptydream said:
Nvm I contacted Nvidia support, only support UHS-I class 3.
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by chance, did you ask what the maximum read/write speeds were for on the microsd slot?

unvaluablespace said:
by chance, did you ask what the maximum read/write speeds were for on the microsd slot?
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I assume all the card reader of UHS-1 class3 should have same limit...based on the wiki the limit for that is 104 MByte/s.
I did some further research and seems like random writing and reading speed is actually more important than sequence speed. However, the review on amazon shows Samsung pro plus is best on both random and sequence speed so I guess I will just go with that for now. Laxer is actually only good at reading speed.

http://www.storagereview.com/samsung_evo_plus_microsd_memory_card_review
Based on this one ....San disk is better? I'm confused...

emptydream said:
Based on this one ....San disk is better? I'm confused...
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Click to collapse
thats a pretty misleading article, there compairing a 128gb evo plus to other various sized cards. from what ive seen (so far) all premium 128gb cards have relatively low write speeds vs their smaller counterparts.
lexar's generally have the best sequential read/write speed, samsung's usually are better with random read/write, and sandisk is definitely solid too.
for example
lexar 64gb 633x sequential read/write 93.36 / 48.09 MB/s
lexar 128gb 633x sequential read/write 73.17 / 22.16 MB/s
results are basically the same for other manufacturers.

trevor112358 said:
thats a pretty misleading article, there compairing a 128gb evo plus to other various sized cards. from what ive seen (so far) all premium 128gb cards have relatively low write speeds vs their smaller counterparts.
lexar's generally have the best sequential read/write speed, samsung's usually are better with random read/write, and sandisk is definitely solid too.
for example
lexar 64gb 633x sequential read/write 93.36 / 48.09 MB/s
lexar 128gb 633x sequential read/write 73.17 / 22.16 MB/s
results are basically the same for other manufacturers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, I ordered samsung 64gb pro plus... Hope it will be good~

emptydream said:
I see, I ordered samsung 64gb pro plus... Hope it will be good~
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Click to collapse
Definitely a fast card read/write was a bit faster than 80/40 MB/s iirc.
I haven't ran any legit benchmarks on shield yet, but regardless of the sd card i haven't really seen write speeds over 12-15 MB/s while transferring from internal to sd with file managers, ES specifically.
So im thinking internal storage isn't particularly fast, just like on the shield tablet. If i get bored I'll run some tests and see what I come up with

I haven't found a device that's not a camera that support this format yet.

^^ yeah pretty much. even if they call it out. real world speeds dont seem to get there. outside of HD cameras

The microsd reader is UHS-I so you will spend money for nothing. No matter how fast the external storage is you still depend on the speed of the internal storage which is gong to be the bottleneck when you run the OS and apps. 4K video needs 25Mbps and UHS-I can deliver easily. Same story if you read from USB 3 ports. I don't know the speed of the internal storage but it should be at the commercial level of the beginning of 2015.
emptydream said:
I search around website but couldn't find the specific specs for the micro sd card reader for Shield TV. Does it support UHS-II? I am planning to purchase the Lexar 1800x and want to make sure if I can take full advantage of that card which support read speed up to 300MB/S. I'm also wondering about the writing and reading speed of original storage on 16GB version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

emptydream said:
I see, I ordered samsung 64gb pro plus... Hope it will be good~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's your read/write speed with the pro plus? I got the same, I get 60~ r/w.

I ordered 500gb version...I did get the card for my phone lol but like 40s speed sad