Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Kingston's 4 GB CompactFlash Card: Fast and Big
Posted by Jason Dunn in "HARDWARE" @ 09:00 AM
You can't imagine the excitement I felt when my wife handed me the package that the courier dropped off and I saw it was from Kingston. I quickly ripped it open and feasted my eyes on the most beautiful sight: a CompactFlash card with the letters 4 GB stamped on it. :D Now when it comes to memory cards, there are only two factors that matter: does it work in your device, and how fast does it work. Aesthetics don't matter in the world of flash cards.
To answer the first question, "Does it work", the answer is yes: I put the 4 GB card into my Dell Axim X5 (on of my few devices that take CF cards) and it was recognized and mounted by the file system. It did take several seconds longer than a smaller CF or SD card, but it's not terribly surprising as the Pocket PC OS likely does some sort of initial scan upon insertion. Here's the proof:
I was able to use the card normally - I loaded up every music file in my New Songs folder (where I keep music I've bought in the last 6-10 months), which was 834 files in total. That might not sound like much, but that's 43 full albums and about 50 singles. I tend to rip at high bit rates (192 kbps WMA or 224 kbps MP3), so if you're ripping at 64 kbps you can fit approximately 139 albums according to Windows Media Player's estimate that an average album will take up 28 MB of space.
Speeds tests revealed that this card is a burner: 6552 KB/s for 1 MB reads, and 6040 KB/s for 1 MB writes. My ancient Canon 32 MB card scored 3136 KB/s for 1 MB reads and only 614 KB/s for 1 MB reads. In comparison, my 512 MB Sandisk Ultra II scored 7474 KB/s for 1 MB reads and 5220 KB/s for 1 MB reads. So while the Kingston 4GB lagged by 900 KB/s or so while reading 1 MB files, it was a full 820 KB/s faster at writing files, which is what counts in almost every scenario. Why? Rare is the data file that will require 6.5 MB/s of raw bandwidth, so as long as you're above 2000 KB/s or so, you'll rarely see any sort of hiccup related to data read speeds.
With a price tag of $500 USD, this is not a memory card for a casual user, but that's to be expected at the high end. With a lifetime warranty, fast read/write speeds, and the respected Kingston brand-name, this is a serious card for serious users. It boasts the size of all but the biggest microdrives on the market, and the power-friendly nature of CompactFlash.
To answer the first question, "Does it work", the answer is yes: I put the 4 GB card into my Dell Axim X5 (on of my few devices that take CF cards) and it was recognized and mounted by the file system. It did take several seconds longer than a smaller CF or SD card, but it's not terribly surprising as the Pocket PC OS likely does some sort of initial scan upon insertion. Here's the proof:
I was able to use the card normally - I loaded up every music file in my New Songs folder (where I keep music I've bought in the last 6-10 months), which was 834 files in total. That might not sound like much, but that's 43 full albums and about 50 singles. I tend to rip at high bit rates (192 kbps WMA or 224 kbps MP3), so if you're ripping at 64 kbps you can fit approximately 139 albums according to Windows Media Player's estimate that an average album will take up 28 MB of space.
Speeds tests revealed that this card is a burner: 6552 KB/s for 1 MB reads, and 6040 KB/s for 1 MB writes. My ancient Canon 32 MB card scored 3136 KB/s for 1 MB reads and only 614 KB/s for 1 MB reads. In comparison, my 512 MB Sandisk Ultra II scored 7474 KB/s for 1 MB reads and 5220 KB/s for 1 MB reads. So while the Kingston 4GB lagged by 900 KB/s or so while reading 1 MB files, it was a full 820 KB/s faster at writing files, which is what counts in almost every scenario. Why? Rare is the data file that will require 6.5 MB/s of raw bandwidth, so as long as you're above 2000 KB/s or so, you'll rarely see any sort of hiccup related to data read speeds.
With a price tag of $500 USD, this is not a memory card for a casual user, but that's to be expected at the high end. With a lifetime warranty, fast read/write speeds, and the respected Kingston brand-name, this is a serious card for serious users. It boasts the size of all but the biggest microdrives on the market, and the power-friendly nature of CompactFlash.
