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    fastest type of card for x201 5 in 1 reader?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by marlinspike, Jun 6, 2010.

  1. marlinspike

    marlinspike Notebook Deity

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    First of all, what are the 5 kinds of cards that can go in the 5-in-1 reader of the X201? Is one faster than the other?
     
    marlinspike, Jun 6, 2010
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  2. virtualknitter

    virtualknitter Notebook Enthusiast

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    MMC, Memory Stick, Mem Stick Pro, SD, SDHC

    I don't think you'll find that one type is necessarily faster than another (but I could be wrong). Instead, you'll definitely find that there are varying speeds within each type. For instance, a "class 6" SD card is considerably faster than a "class 2" SD card. Which form factor of card you use is usually determined by the device (camera, etc).
     
    virtualknitter, Jun 6, 2010
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  3. marlinspike

    marlinspike Notebook Deity

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    Ok, so let me ask this then. Is it just mem stick pro, or mem stick pro duo-hg too?
     
    marlinspike, Jun 6, 2010
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  4. jaakobi

    jaakobi Notebook Evangelist

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    Look to Wikipedia for full information, but Memory Stick and Pro are the big size (fits in the card reader without an adapter) and Duo means it's a smaller variant that requires an adapter.
     
    jaakobi, Jun 6, 2010
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  5. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    My money would be on a high grade SDHC as the fastest (e.g. a Class 10 SDHC card or one of the premium priced Sandisk Ultra III cards). However, I ask what exactly is the reason you find yourself wanting the fastest card for your card reader?

    Are you intending on using this for Readyboost (I'm not sure throughput helps much and an SSD is a MUCH better choice)? Do you plan on using this for storing media playback (even a slow card should not be a bottleneck? Or something completely different?

    I ask because most of the fast cards (especially the Sandisk Ultra line) are intended for Pro/Semi-Pro photographers shooting large bursts of raw images (usually 20MB+ per frame at 3+ fps). As a result, these cards carry a substantial price premium that just isn't worth it for most other applications.
     
    jonlumpkin, Jun 8, 2010
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  6. marlinspike

    marlinspike Notebook Deity

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    I just figure as long as I'm buying a card I might as well get a fast one (all my photography stuff is compact flash).
     
    marlinspike, Jun 8, 2010
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  7. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    In that case just buy a name brand (Patriot, Kingston, Crucial, etc.) SDHC card rated at class 6 or class 10 as your budget allows.
     
    jonlumpkin, Jun 8, 2010
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  8. marlinspike

    marlinspike Notebook Deity

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    I wound up going with an 8gb sandisk extreme. Out of curiosity, any point in using this thing for readyboost? I bought it just to use for large file transfers, but now it's got me thinking....
     
    marlinspike, Jun 10, 2010
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  9. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    You can use it for Readyboost if you like. If you have a slow hard drive you might notice a difference on small random files that you read fairly frequently. If you have a particularly fast HDD or SSD you are unlikely to notice much benefit (I'm not even able to enable it).
     
    jonlumpkin, Jun 10, 2010
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