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    Thinkpad SDHC card reader speed

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by jcvjcvjcvjcv, Sep 19, 2012.

  1. jcvjcvjcvjcv

    jcvjcvjcvjcv Notebook Evangelist

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    Hello all

    For transferring large files between multiple ThinkPads (W520, T530) I was thinking about buying some fast SDHC card (the 95 MB/s rated ones for example).

    Now is my question: how fast is the SDHC card reader in recent ThinkPads? Is there any use in buying the 95 MB/s rated card? I can't find a single benchmark of the more recent TP's.

    The only SD card I have so far (my camera uses CF) is the micro-SDHC card in my phone, which is clearly not capped by my W520's reader.
     
    jcvjcvjcvjcv, Sep 19, 2012
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  2. Kaso

    Kaso Notebook Virtuoso

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    Any specific reasons for SDHC? Would a USB flash stick do? Would file transfers over LAN ("homegroup") do?

    I only use the multicard reader on the ThinkPad to transfer photos from the digital camera.
     
    Kaso, Sep 19, 2012
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  3. jcvjcvjcvjcv

    jcvjcvjcvjcv Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes; SDHC cards can be 100% inserted without parts sticking out. This means you can throw your laptop in your backpack while the card is being read / written to. You can't do that with USB sticks. LAN transfers are clumsy, especially since it's not home-based. And it's too slow since sender and receiver would be sharing bandwidth of a single 802.11G access point.

    It would be used to easily share programs (*.zip files of ~5GB, movies (1080P) and other stuff from one notebook to the other, without using a single cable.
     
    jcvjcvjcvjcv, Sep 19, 2012
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  4. LegendaryKA8

    LegendaryKA8 Nutty ThinkPad Guy

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    Another option if you are willing to get pretty spendy could be an ExpressCard-based SSD. I have a 16GB OZC Slate I've been using for three years and it's been a pretty handy device to have, although it's only about as fast as a mid-range SDHC card.

    That said, the ExpressCard drive options have gotten rarer and far more expensive, but have had a major capacity boost and transfer rates are pretty impressive. Look at the link below if you're interested. 128GB and advertised with a 165MB/s read and a 120MB/s write speed. Unfortunately it's about $250 but it'd be as plug and play as an SD card.

    Amazon.com: Wintec FileMate 128GB ExpressCard 34 MLC Internal / External Solid State Drive (SSD). Perfect Fit for Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro. High Performance 165 MB/s Read Model 3FMS4E128JM-R: Computers & Accessories
     
    LegendaryKA8, Sep 19, 2012
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  5. jcvjcvjcvjcv

    jcvjcvjcvjcv Notebook Evangelist

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    Ah nice!

    But that's really not in the budget. Speeds above 100 MB/s aren't really needed either, since files will be transferred from / to conventional HDD's that average around 85 MB/s.
     
    jcvjcvjcvjcv, Sep 19, 2012
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