What do you use your SD card for?

I found a 64G SD card in my stocking and would like to make good use of it. I will most likely just leave it in my laptop all the time.
Should I install utilities like CCleaner or malwarebytes on there? My music files aren't 'seen' by media center, so that's out. Any suggestions?

 

It doesn't sound like you have much use for it. I use SD and Micro SD cards in my cameras, tablet, and cellphone. I guess if your hard drive is full and you can't afford another solution to increase your storage space, a large SD card might tide you over until you can afford something better. You could also use it just like a USB key when transferring files between computers.

 

With Windows 8 I'm able to use a 32/64/128GB SD cards as File History locations and able to backup my most important files.

This is essentially Apple's Time Machine for Window's users. :^)

Best use of these spare cards yet. And one more backup location that I can rely on for my data.

 

Good tip tiller!

 

Since my machine only has 1 SSD with no other expansion space, I find the SD card is useful to store stuff I don't really use often but need on hand at all times. The card stays in the machine all the time and is much more convenient than an external USB stick.

 

64GB? You can fit couple seasons of your favorite show or one or two movies on there. That's what I would be using it for.

 

I did copy a movie to the SD card but it would not play. The drive was not 'seen' by media center, so I downloaded Winamp but no luck there either. Winamp saw the drive but still would not play the movie. Any ideas why this is happening?
As I mentioned before, windows media player does not recognize the drive so any music files I have on the card must be opened and played directly from the folder. I cannot open the player directly and play my music files. Video files won't play even from the folder.

 

This link SD Flash Cards Won't Play in Media Player | eHow.com I found provides some explanation to why and how to play/view sd card data through windows media player.

 

I have a 4gb and 8gb sd card and usually use it backing up important files as well as all my photos on it.

 

I got a 16GB generic one from Amazon for $10. It has done zero for my new Panasonic Blu-ray player, so maybe it'll be of some use in my new Lenovo T530 laptop?

Too funny!

I'm glad that I've only spent $10 on my one SD card.

I'll plug it in and see if it has any value on my new Lenovo T530 laptop computer.

 

I use a 16GB SD card to store my entire music library, played from foobar2000. Only problem is that it's getting full, so I'm looking to upgrade to a larger card!

 

Interesting possibility. And I also use Foobar2000 for stereo music playback.

I've been slowly building a 16/44.1 library of stereo music legally ripped (from my own purchased CD discs; a minor small miracle, IMO, given all the crap that goes on these days with regard to *digital* copy protection) stereo CD music discs.

I don't need everything on the disc. Just the stuff that I actually like repeatedly listening to.

But not sure what my size requirements currently are at.

So maybe a 64GB (or whatever the current max SD card size is) will be adequate for my .flac 16/44.1 stereo music collection?

A stunning thought, thanks!

 

I will have to investigate. I've never had that issue with any SD cards....never. I've been able to take the transflash card out of my phone and play whatever is on it directly from the card without having to copy it to my desktop first.

 

I'd pretty much put my portable apps in there, music, movies, pdfs.... Put it on my drawer that has the same effect as the Bermuda triangle and get surprised 3 years down the road that I had an sd card.



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I put my 16GB SD card into my new Lenovo T530 laptop and the SD card shows up as drive D: (FAT32 partition type, which is OK by me).

I then copied my current "small" collection, of 16/44.1 stereo music that I actually listen to, to the SD card. Turned out to be 9GB in total size, and it took ~24 minutes (slow!) for the copy from the main HDD of my T530 (a 7200rpm SATA II unit) to the SD card, so however the SD card is connected to the computer it is clearly not via a SATA connection. Or maybe my SD card is a slow one?

The .flac files can be accessed by Foobar2000 from the SD card (D: drive) and sounds the same as the same files from the C: drive (HDD).

Guess I'll soon be buying a larger SD card, and also looking at speed differences between different SD cards.

 

Yeah, you want at least a Class 10 SD card (no matter what you're using it for) and SDXC is even faster/more current.

See:
Patriot EP Series SDXC UHS-I Card, 64GB at Memory Express


See:
PEF64GSXC10233 | 815530013846 | Patriot Memory Signature 64 GB Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC) at ComputerValley.ca


When you price match the second link at the first link given - the cost for a good 64GB SDXC card is just $43.74 (two max).

Also most card readers are internally connected via USB 2.0 and the SD card you have is slow - I'm guessing it is not even a Class 6 card?

The fastest card readers I have used are ExpressCard and Firewire based (and reading CF, not SD cards) - SD card readers are catching up but they need at least USB 3.0 if not an even faster connection (though it most likely won't be SATA as you suggest).

If the SD cards will be used in a computer for any length of time - the first thing I do is format them to NTFS - FAT32 is just asking for corrupted files. Even if they do get used in my cameras at a later time - it is a simple thing to format them in-camera then (actually this is highly recommended: always do an in-camera format when inserting an SD or CF card to a camera each time - even/especially if you just formatted the card in the computer immediately before).

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but SDXC doesn't dictate speeds, but more capacity as SDHC is limited to 32GB? Is there a minimum speed rating like sdhc class 2 but for sdxc?
I hate the class ratings. Class 2/4/6 are minimum speeds when fragmented, whereas Class 10 is the minimum non-fragmented.
UHS-I is the most common I've found when looking for an SDXC card. This is faster than Class 10 though so get this if budget allows.

 

FWIW wiki has this on Ultra-High Speed (UHS): Secure Digital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For what I'm doing, i.e. listening to stereo music from 16/44.1 .flac files via headphones on my laptop computer, I suspect that a high speed SD card isn't too important.

I'd further think that it is video cameras where a *fast* SD card might be important?

When one searches Amazon 1st for "SD card" and then highlights "UHS" it seems to come down to only SanDisk Extreme and Lexar.

Am I correct in thinking that Lexar is a brand name that is more oriented to photography?

 

I usually use the SD card for camera or camcorders.

 

I usually use mine in my camera. I've also occasionally used it for short-term backup when another backup wasn't available, and transferring files between computing devices (such as a scanner and my computer).

I'd struggle to find a use for 64 GB of SD card, too... mine is only 8 GB, and I would've gone with 4 GB if the 8 GB hadn't been so close in price.

 

Class 10 cards and higher are not simply for video cameras - they are useful every day they're used to transfer/update/copy files from (they are MUCH faster...).

I had 8GB cards almost a decade ago - today I can fill two 64GB cards in a matter of hours (1-2 depending on the event I'm shooting) and can fill 128GB cards in a few 'bursts' with some cameras.


OtherSongs - Lexar is a big name for pro camera users - their cards are great (but I prefer SanDisk Extremes).

 

Thanks for the comments on Lexar.

To my amazement, Lexar has a 256GB SD card (pricey as it pushes $2/GB), and it gets decent owner reviews; see: Amazon.com: Lexar Professional 400x 256GB SDXC UHS-I Flash Memory Card LSD256CTBNA400: Computers & Accessories

In addition to slower data transfer speed (than a mSATA SSD), where else does the above unit fall short?

I mean, given the even smaller form factor of the SD card, surely a 256GB SD card is not as reliable as a 256GB mSATA SSD???

 

Given the intended usage of each product I would say that they are equally reliable and both will make you want to shoot the manufacturer if/when they end up DOA one fine morning (have returned more than a few CF/SD cards...).


Taking the reliability aspect out of consideration - the place where media cards (and almost all USB drives) fall short is the fact that they expect user initiated writes of short (and usually small) duration of a few hundred MB's per minute (with relatively long rest periods in-between).

SATA storage subsystems on the other hand expect (and can deal with) user and host initiated writes that can involve a few hundred GB's per minute (continuously...).

The difference is that used for O/S use - most media cards will fail in days/weeks.


Lol at the $2/GB price for a 256GB capacity... I remember around 2000 or 2001 when Lexar had 256MB (yeah; MB) cards for ~$2K each (bought at 10 pcs or more...). And performance measured in sub 1.5MB/s...


See:
Lexar announce new Pro Series Flash Cards: Digital Photography Review


While the link above is showing 512MB CF cards - these weren't generally available for at least a year (at least locally).

 

The only place I use SD cards is for digital cameras & camcorders.

I don't use them as storage devices for computers because:

1) Slower than USB flash drives. Even the fastest SD cards are capped at USB 2.0 speeds, at best (and are often slower than that due to the SD card itself)
2) Less convenient than USB flash drives. Every computer you ever touch will have USB. Not every computer will have an SD card reader.
3) Not practical as backup storage. If you lose your laptop, then you will also lose the SD card that you keep in the slot.

The only advantages I see to using SD cards as a storage device are:
1) You already own an SD card, and are willing to accept the drawbacks of using SD card-based storage to avoid buying a USB flash drive.
2) You really value the convenience of not having to deal with a USB flash drive that sticks out of your laptop.

 

kent1146, good points and I can agree with most of them.

Since we're discussing what to do with 'extra' cards though - the discussion is still relevant - not to mention that if your notebook gets stolen - so would the bag with the USB drive too...

 

Good points. If I had an extra 64GB SDcard, I'd either stick it in a digital camera, or just sell it as-new on eBay for $40.

As for the "bag being stolen" part... that is also true... which is why I wouldn't rely on a USB stick that I carry around in my laptop bag as my sole backup device either!

 

Interesting thought.

And yes, my USB memory sticks (both USB 2.0 and 3.0) do get warm, to more than warm, when doing an extended (large) data transfer to them.

Again interesting; something that had never crossed my mind.

>snip<

Most stuff is time relative.

Including Gates' famous quote of something like "...no one needs more than 64KB of memory"

If I'm wrong on that, I'm totally sure that there'll be more than a few who will point that out.

 

Opinions vary.

I see SD card storage as valid for playback of .flac stereo music files, and also for viewing of various format (.jpg for one) picture files; so long as one doesn't abuse them by writing more than 1 or 2 GB of data at a time.

Correct me if I'm wrong on this, as I have high interest in this. Thanks.

 

It's 640 KB of memory, the traditional DOS limit. "640KB ought to be enough for anybody."

Myself, I can't see myself ever needing more than the 32 GB my current desktop motherboard supports... but we'll see if I'm still saying that in 2033.

 

Sony NEX-5 camera ..only ..

 

In addition to cameras and video, I, on occasion, use them to transfer data, but never use one as the only source to carry data. Everything I have is backed up on multiple sources and any flash card is only a temporary way to exchange data from one computer to another, and usually only then because of convenience. I do not rely on SD (or any flash storage) as a primary source of storage or backup. As long as you realize that any flash card is not going to give you a lifetime of reliability if you use it, as Tiller and others have stated, for heavy usage, and have the data on it on other forms of backup, then you will not be disappointed.

 

My past couple laptops both had the SD card reader on the PCIe bus. This is superior to USB 2.0 of course and as good as USB 3.0. This is always something I look for when buying laptops. This ensures I am taking full advantage of my SD (micro or standard SDXC cards) card.

Something cool I learned today is that my HP ProBook 6475b can actually boot from the PCIe SD card reader since it is natively supported by the Trinity platform. I'll have to do a quick test and try booting linux from the SD card.

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I keep a 32GB card in my air with a sparsebundle full of files that make bringing it up from a clean format much easier. IE, things like an sshkey, textmate installer, etc.

I have a 64GB microSD card in my primary windows 8 tablet to augment the measly internal ssd. It right now holds my media content on that device.

I have a 32GB mSD that is in my other tablet, but iirc its currently blank.

My camera has a 16GB SD card, purely because I haven't swapped it out with a spare 32 I have laying around.

All of these are class 10 or higher, although for what I use them for speed isn't really an issue, save for maybe the camera.