SSD Expresscard vs. SDHC vs. Memorystick Duo

Hi all,

Just bought myself a Sony Vaio TZ90 with the 32 GB SSD and DVD. Such a beautiful/stylish/elegant ultraportable. I love it!

I am about to upgrade the storage capacity of the Vaio with an additional 8-16 GB of flash type memory to permanently sit in my notebook.

So I am thinking about either getting an Expresscard34 SSD or SDHC or Memorystick Duo. I know that the Expresscard SSD currently is the option which offers the highest capacity = 32 GB, but I don't need that much at this stage.

The costs aren't the main concern, so I just need your advice on which of the 3 aforementioned options are quickest and most reliable for normal storage and transfer use - i.e. storing documents, mp3s, videos, etc. In other words: what would you choose?

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Chris

 

I'd go with the ExpressCard. It's the fastest interface on a notebook, plus it's an industry standard interface - you can plug your ExpressCard into any new notebook (unlike MemoryStick or others).

That TZ90 is very sexy machine, I'm jealous!

 

There's a thread in the Sony section with a TZ user saying the internal design of the TZ is poor and the Expresscard interface goes very slowly, his Expresscard SSD ran at a snails pace.

 

Thanks a lot for the feedback thus far guys.

Lupin: Don't be jealous, just get one Though, you seem to have plenty already!
Seriously though, I think the TZ is stylistically miles ahead of most other notebooks including many ultraportables. The Dell XPS M1330 is spec wise a very nice and fast machine, but I cannot even begin to understand why people sometimes compare it to the TZ as an ultraportable. Quite a lot heavier (albeit impressive compared to the performance), much larger in size and designwise not even close to being as beautiful and "touch-delicious" as the TZ. But then again personal taste is a strange thing.

Sorry, got sidetracked there

Rahulnirmal: I read about the guy with the Vaio TZ and the slow expresscard, but I need to do some more checking-up before believing it. I didn't even know that Sandisk (the guy mentioned that it was a 32 GB Sandisk SSD Expresscard) had produced a SSD Expresscard. Did some research and couldn't find any news related to this.

Any other opinions out there? Would greatly appreciate any info or suggestions.

 

I have got a 4GB SDHC class 4 which runs OK under Vista on my Q35 (but not under XP, so I presume this is a driver issue). The cost was quite reasonable.

I am not sure what proportion of the SD card readers support SDHC. Usually it isn't mentioned in the specs. This could leave you with a headache if your computer hits a problem and you need to access some files using another computer. I wonder whether you would be better off with some USB sticks which are far more universal.

John

 

Hi John,

The Vaio TZ built-in card reader supports SDHC, but in the instruction manual it says that it has only been tested up to 4GB capacity. Nevertheless, I have decided to take a chance and buy a 8GB SDHC Class 6 as well as a 8GB Memory Stick Pro. Later I will buy a higher capacity SSD Expresscard (maybe 32GB) when they become more mainstream.

Btw, when you say SDHC on your Q35 runs okay, could you elaborate a bit more? Is it sluggish in certain operations?

 

well if you can affored that sony Vaio TZ then i would go with the express card

 

What do you base this on? Speed? Capacity?