Storage Space Vs. Speed


Poem58

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Ok. Thanks to a program by my medical insurance company I will be recieveing an Amazon gift certificate. Now here's my question.

Here are the two most likely scenarios I can do once my certificate arrives.

I can get 3 Kingston 16 GB Class 4 SDHC cards for approx. $90.

I can get 1 Sandisk 32 GB Class 4 (rated up to 15MB/s) for approx. $89.

I am torn. I like the Idea of having 48GB of storage (card each for games,music,movies), however it's also nice to think about having 32GB in one slot with the future addition of 32 More.
I have already been told a Class 4 card would be sufficient for Pandora usage and faster speeds may make no difference. For most things like music and games I would not swap out a lot of files and podcast videos would already be reasonably tolerable in transfer length.

So my initial instinct is to get 2-3 of the 16 gig cards. Is there anything I am not considering? Should I go with the faster card or 32GB over 16?

Thanks.
 
lulzfish said:
I'd suggest getting the 32GB so that everything is one SD slot. You can get another 32 when prices come down, and then you'll have 64.
+1

I wouldn't want to handle too many cards if I were you; the less, the better.
Also, I will probably be using loads of other operating systems (alongside Ångström) so I'll need the external static space.
 
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lulzfish said:
I'd suggest getting the 32GB so that everything is one SD slot. You can get another 32 when prices come down, and then you'll have 64.

+1

Don't forget there are other ways of transfering files on and off a Pandora
 
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Well, I'm no expert in this, but if it were me, I'd go for the 3 16GB cards, since it seems to be the better deal to me...

I look at it this way:
-are there any programs that are so large that they NEED 32GB?
-will you carry your Pandora in some sort of small bag? If so, there should be pockets in there into which you could easily put the other 16GB card(s) when you're not using them.

But your situation may vary. Just to me, it seems like you're getting a better deal by a bit under 50% (+extra storage space, -minor inconvenience of having to carry an extra card in a case pocket).

P.S. Unless your gift certificate has a certain time limit, I'd wait a bit until prices go down.
 
Actually I'd try to buy a 32GB class 6 card and another 16GB class 6 card for the money :)
At http://www.supermediastore.com/sdhc-32gb-sd-card.html I see a 32GB card for a mere 69.99.

[Edit] Then again you might want to consider card quality as well :) which I can't comment on.
 
tramp said:
Actually I'd try to buy a 32GB class 6 card and another 16GB class 6 card for the money :)
At http://www.supermediastore.com/sdhc-32gb-sd-card.html I see a 32GB card for a mere 69.99.

[Edit] Then again you might want to consider card quality as well :) which I can't comment on.

That's an amazing price. At today's exchange rates that works out at a mere £45! It's a shame they don't ship to the UK.

Whilst I'd like the convenience of a 32Gig card, and don't begrudge playing a small premium for the privilege, I simply can't justify the price at nearly twice the amount of 2 x 16Gb cards (16Gb Cards at Play.com come to £36, whereas 1 32Gb card comes to £65). Another way to look at it would be that I could get 64Gb Storage, spread across 4 cards, for the price of a single 32Gb card.

Maybe if, by the time Pandy is finally released, 32Gig cards have dropped to below the price of 3 16Gig cards, I'll cosider paying the premium. Right now it's just a little too disproportionate.

Incidentally I was last year asked what I'd like for Christmas and I said I'd like a 16Gb SD card. I got one of the '2 * 8Gb' card packages that you often see on offer. I had to try quite hard to hide my disappointment :p And how sittly do I feel now, anyway, 7 months on and they're still unopened!
 
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Is it better to have 2 card slots filled though , rather than 1?

I know it would be better for the contacts and to stop dirt and fluff getting inside, but to be fair you could add a plastic spacer SD card to fill the slot if needed.

Having 2 cards can also mean changing cards if you are executing programs on the other card.
Do the forums think having 1 card is more reliable than 2 ?

Again its more convenience vs storage.
The pandora does have dual slots for a reason, so shouldn't they both be filled first if possible ?
 
Well it depends on how you use your Pandy.

Personally if I had a 32Gig card, that would be enough to store all my games, appps, emus and associated roms. I could then ue additional 16/8 Gig cards for media - music and video.

As it is I'm likely to have a 16Gig and 2 8Gigs. Meaning I'll have to have my emus spread across a 16Gig and an 8Gig and have a much more 'refined' selection of music and videos on the other 8 gig.
 
I am currently out of work, and the prospects right now are not so good either. which is why this Amazon gift certificate is the important thing. if I didn't have that coming I'd be looking at a 1Gig Micro Sd in adapter as my only card.
I too am leaning toward the 3 16 Gig cards. I only expected to get one 16Gig card, and planned on getting that months ago when income tax allowed me to order the Pandora. The bils kept coming and the $30 I had set aside for the SD card went bye,bye. So this is it. My one and only shot in the near future of getting some memory. Only because it doesn't cost me anything to spend this gift certificate. I know there are cheaper cards at other places and everyone keeps saying to wait for prices to get lower and they have actually got higher. I could find a 16GB card online for $19 in march, now the lowest is around $29.

I appreciate the reponses but no one yet (other than personal preferences) has had a reason to actually NEED a 32GB card or the faster speed. Which would logically mean that 48GB is the better deal. I don't mind having one extra card, actually counting my 1GB card I would have 2 in the Pandora if I get the 32GB, or extra if I got 2-3 16's.

My thought is 16 extra GB would be the way to go. I could put all my fav music on one card. All my favorite DVD's/podcasts on the second and run Panda stuff off the third. So I only need to carry the Video card when I have the opportunity to watch video, or music when I can listen or they are so small carrying one extra isn't really a problem.

If anyone can think of a logical reason to specifically get the 32GB card, then please feel free to post.

Thanks!
 
Poem58 said:
I am currently out of work, and the prospects right now are not so good either. which is why this Amazon gift certificate is the important thing. if I didn't have that coming I'd be looking at a 1Gig Micro Sd in adapter as my only card.
I too am leaning toward the 3 16 Gig cards. I only expected to get one 16Gig card, and planned on getting that months ago when income tax allowed me to order the Pandora. The bils kept coming and the $30 I had set aside for the SD card went bye,bye. So this is it. My one and only shot in the near future of getting some memory. Only because it doesn't cost me anything to spend this gift certificate. I know there are cheaper cards at other places and everyone keeps saying to wait for prices to get lower and they have actually got higher. I could find a 16GB card online for $19 in march, now the lowest is around $29.

I appreciate the reponses but no one yet (other than personal preferences) has had a reason to actually NEED a 32GB card or the faster speed. Which would logically mean that 48GB is the better deal. I don't mind having one extra card, actually counting my 1GB card I would have 2 in the Pandora if I get the 32GB, or extra if I got 2-3 16's.

My thought is 16 extra GB would be the way to go. I could put all my fav music on one card. All my favorite DVD's/podcasts on the second and run Panda stuff off the third. So I only need to carry the Video card when I have the opportunity to watch video, or music when I can listen or they are so small carrying one extra isn't really a problem.

If anyone can think of a logical reason to specifically get the 32GB card, then please feel free to post.

Thanks!

This comes down to individual preference, no right or wrong here.

For me getting two 32gb cards in my Pandora so that I have the maximum storage and the slots blocked to stop dust and grime to get in is the way to go. I'm expecting to use the Angstrom OS for everything (fingers crossed) and would only try out other os's occasionally. I can always copy files to and from the Pandora via USB or Bluetooth. But that's me.

Its down to want you want to store on YOUR sd cards and how you want to use them. The only reason I can think of where 32gb might score over 16gb is if you have large files that don't like being spanned over smaller SD cards. To be honest I can really see where that is likely to happen. Nothing is quite that big yet.
 
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I wouldn't settle for anything but the fastest/best cards. Slow cards will waste more of your time in the future than anything else, and to me time is precious. I'd rather pay a little more and get the best.
 
Poem58 said:
I am currently out of work, and the prospects right now are not so good either. which is why this Amazon gift certificate is the important thing. if I didn't have that coming I'd be looking at a 1Gig Micro Sd in adapter as my only card.
Please pardon me for being a tad off-topic, Poem58, but with this in mind, I feel compelled to (as I often do in topics relating to SD Cards :p) warn against cards from third-party sellers on Amazon, as fake/false-capacity cards are now beginning to show up on there in addition to eBay and too-good-to-be-true web-vendors, now. It would be a headache and a pain in the backside to have to sort out such a problem, I suspect. :p

Anyway, I'd be inclined to go with the three 16GB cards, too, and picked up a similar setup myself back when the prices for cards were lower. (I have two 16GB ones and a couple of 8GB ones, with some other pre-existing cards from my collection being earmarked for trying out other Pandora-compatible OSes :p).
 
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Poem58 said:
everyone keeps saying to wait for prices to get lower and they have actually got higher. I could find a 16GB card online for $19 in march, now the lowest is around $29.
I'm not surprised - they got higher because the "boom" got temporarily busted, because of the poor economy. People stopped buying so many cards, companies stopped producing them so quickly, and prices for the remaining stock got higher.

If the economy is starting to recover (as seems to be the case), prices may start going down again...
 
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If speed is not the concern, then I would go with the higher amount of storage every time.

You also mentioned this is your only real time to get some SD cards because of cash con strains. So really, you'd be mad NOT to get the 3 16GB cards.
 
slaanesh said:
I wouldn't settle for anything but the fastest/best cards. Slow cards will waste more of your time in the future than anything else, and to me time is precious. I'd rather pay a little more and get the best.

Yup waiting 3 seconds for a ROM to load instead of 2 is going to be a real pain in the a**.

Unless your CONSTANTLY swapping data to and from your SD cards, you aren't going to notice the difference between a high speed card and a low speed one.
 
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Prometheus said:
Poem58 said:
I am currently out of work, and the prospects right now are not so good either. which is why this Amazon gift certificate is the important thing. if I didn't have that coming I'd be looking at a 1Gig Micro Sd in adapter as my only card.
Please pardon me for being a tad off-topic, Poem58, but with this in mind, I feel compelled to (as I often do in topics relating to SD Cards :p ) warn against cards from third-party sellers on Amazon, as fake/false-capacity cards are now beginning to show up on there in addition to eBay and too-good-to-be-true web-vendors, now. It would be a headache and a pain in the backside to have to sort out such a problem, I suspect. :p

Anyway, I'd be inclined to go with the three 16GB cards, too, and picked up a similar setup myself back when the prices for cards were lower. (I have two 16GB ones and a couple of 8GB ones, with some other pre-existing cards from my collection being earmarked for trying out other Pandora-compatible OSes :p ).

Thanks, I hadn't realized the fakes had gotten to places like Amazon. i do believe however that the cards I were looking at were actually sold BY Amazon, but may be a thirs party so I wil investigate further.

Esn said:
Poem58 said:
everyone keeps saying to wait for prices to get lower and they have actually got higher. I could find a 16GB card online for $19 in march, now the lowest is around $29.
I'm not surprised - they got higher because the "boom" got temporarily busted, because of the poor economy. People stopped buying so many cards, companies stopped producing them so quickly, and prices for the remaining stock got higher.

If the economy is starting to recover (as seems to be the case), prices may start going down again...

All signs here point to the economy getting worse, we now have I think a 10% unemployment rate officially which realistically then translates to about 20%, the healthcare bill, raising minimum wage etc. are signs things are beginning to spiral out of control. In my city they just passed a law that they can now fine you if you happen to have your wiper blades on with your headlights off. Who in their right mind is gonna think to flip their lights on in the middle of the day to get some splashed mud or dirt off the windshield!? I have never seen this level of ridiculousness in my entire lifetime. I am afraid the country, as I grew up knowing it, is gone and the present and future are a frightening prospect.
Besides all that I am married, if I don't spend that gift card on my SD cards RIGHT AWAY, well all you married guys will understand. there WILL be some reason, and rather quickly, that I need to let her spend it. (With the promise that I can do it later, but a sorry when I cannot)

:)

White Demon said:
If speed is not the concern, then I would go with the higher amount of storage every time.

You also mentioned this is your only real time to get some SD cards because of cash con strains. So really, you'd be mad NOT to get the 3 16GB cards.

That's what I was thinking. Yeah my dream was to get a 32GB. When I saw the price I was fine with the fact I would have just 1 of the 16GB cards. Now I have a choice. I instantly thought I would just get the 32 until I saw that I could get 3 of the 16's.
So as much as I want to eventually have 2 32's in my Pandora, it was hard to think of any reason why 48GB wouldn't realistically be more than I could ever need. (we know how that works though, so, more than initially I would ever need...lol)
I just wanted to be sure that if I went the 16's route, I wouldn't be making a mistake when it comes to something like future OS's or whatever. I couldn't think of anything I could ever need more than a 16 card for. I was thinking it'd be nice to have everything all on one card. Then I was thinking. If I had some issue and needed to reformat a card, I would have to write EVERYTHING back where if this were the case with 1 of 3 16's, At least some parts of my data would be unaffected. I guess it really comes down to preference. Which is fine.

I do wanna thank you all for your input. It's good to know that there is nothing anyone can think of that makes either decision a problem in any way.

Pleng said:
slaanesh said:
I wouldn't settle for anything but the fastest/best cards. Slow cards will waste more of your time in the future than anything else, and to me time is precious. I'd rather pay a little more and get the best.

Yup waiting 3 seconds for a ROM to load instead of 2 is going to be a real pain in the a**.

Unless your CONSTANTLY swapping data to and from your SD cards, you aren't going to notice the difference between a high speed card and a low speed one.

The way Chip described the speed issue was that the data from the SD card would be transferred from the card to RAM to be executed. According to what he told me a 4MB/s card would be plenty fast and faster cards shouldn't make any difference. Even on the PC side of things I was reading that the 30MB/s Sandisk Ultra III's were only reaching high speeds on a couple of readers and they too topped out near 20MB/s. So I gave up on the whole max speed is important issue.
 
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Pleng said:
slaanesh said:
I wouldn't settle for anything but the fastest/best cards. Slow cards will waste more of your time in the future than anything else, and to me time is precious. I'd rather pay a little more and get the best.

Yup waiting 3 seconds for a ROM to load instead of 2 is going to be a real pain in the a**.

Unless your CONSTANTLY swapping data to and from your SD cards, you aren't going to notice the difference between a high speed card and a low speed one.

Well i'm coming from a development point of view. Transferring a new 10MB build takes a seconds on my best cards and sometimes a minute on my slow crappy card (which I put a hammer to). I don't know why there is such a huge difference.
Anyway, the development cycle means that you could be building/testing repeatedly and you don't want to wait - even a few extra seconds gets annoying.
 
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