Reg vs. high speed memory stick duo pro for ReadyBoost?

Will I even notice a difference between a reg. 2 GB vs. a high speed one for ReadyBoost?

 

That depends on the particular memory sticks in question. You should try to look at the specifics of each one, namely access time and transfer rate. Chances are, you might notice some difference between a normal flash drive (usually about 10-15MB/s read/write), and a high-performance drive (can be up to 25MB/s read and 15MB/s write). If you're going to have to spend a lot more for the high-performance drive, chances are you probably don't need it.

 

I purchased a "high speed" Memory Stick PRO Duo 2GB (MSX-M2GN), hoping that I could use it with ReadyBoost instead of this unsightly USB thumb drive sticking out of my laptop. Indeed, the tiny Duo stick fits nicely and flush into the built-in reader on my SZ460 with Vista Business preinstalled.

Alas, no matter what I tried I couldn't get Vista to recognize the Memory Stick as being compatible with ReadyBoost. I tried reformatting it to NTFS and FAT32 but it didn't change the result of pressing the Test Again button in Vista.

The compatibility chart at http://www.grantgibson.co.uk/misc/readyboost/?make=Sony indicates that the 2GB sticks should be compatible with ReadyBoost. But maybe just not with the built-in reader on the SZ laptops.

Any suggestions?

 

Maybe your MSX-M2GN seems to be a fake one. Where did you buy it?

The fake one is hard to tell from the genuine stick except for the perfermance. Usually, it works, even very well with most of camera and camcorders, but when it comes to Readyboost, it would not work. Also, it is not durable. Genuine sticks should work fine with Readyboost.

 

Interesting idea about it being fake. I bought it from www.pricemin.com based on the price comparison from www.pricegrabber.com. I paid ~$31 total for the stick vs. Amazon's cost of $94.99. It came in a retail package that looks exactly like the one on Amazon, with a little Sony holographic sticker and everything.

The price difference is hard to ignore, but Amazon's price is pretty high compared to the the other sellers on pricegrabber. But maybe I got what I paid for...

 

Then, I am 100% sure that yours is a fake one. The price tells everything. One of my friends paid only $5 for the one stick of the fake MSX-M2GN while he was in china. Even the seller itself mentioned that it is a fake, although it looks like a real one in everything including packaging and hologram. It worked well with camera, but suddenly died after 2 month use.

 

Yea sounds like you have a fake one because my 1gb gaming duo stick works on my sz450 for ready boost

 

Thanks for all the info about my fake memorystick, and now I know better. I didn't realize that fake memorycards were so common and I'll certainly be more careful in the future!

 

I can't find the transfer rate for the reg. SanDisk Memory Stick Pro Duo. I am trying to see what the transfer rate is because the 2gb is on sale at Circuit City for 39.99. Buy.com has the 2gb SanDisk Ultra II for like 60.99 so I was trying to see if the price difference is worth it.

 

I bought the 2gb sandisk ultra II for $54.99 at frys.com plus a $15 rebate. I noticed a big difference on my start up it was faster.

 

Just an update on this -- After my experience with the fake stick I purchased an authentic 2GB PRO Duo High Speed (MSX-M2GN) from Amazon. This stick is compatible with ReadyBoost using the internal reader of my SZ460. It reports random read speed of 4416 KB/sec, sequential write speed of 3716 KB/sec. Reformatting from FAT to NTFS didn't change the speed.

In comparison, the fake stick was disqualified by Vista because it had a sequential write speed of 1105 KB/sec (NTFS) and 837 KB/sec (FAT) in the internal reader. If I switched to the 5-in-1 reader with the Duo Adapter, it fails due to random read speed of 1780 KB/sec.

 

Has anyone tried the regular sandisk sticks?

http://www.frys.com/product/4989941

4Gb -59.99 AR

 

Follow this trick

1. Plug in the device.
2. Open the Readyboost tab on the device properties.
3. Select “Do not retest this device”
4. Unplug the device
5. Open regedit (start->run->regedit)
6. Expand - HKLM (Local Machine)->SOFTWARE->Microsoft->Windows NT->CurrentVersion->EMDgmt
7. Find your device.
8. Change Device Status to 2
9. Change ReadSpeedKBs to 1000
10. Change WriteSpeedKBs to 1000
11. Plug in the device.
12. Enable Readyboost!!!!

source: neowin.net / aeroxp.org

 

I have a 1GB one which seems to work fine. That's a pretty amazing price for 4GB. I'm happy with having 1GB for Readyboost, maybe I'll upgrade to 4GB in a couple of months.

 

any quantitative data on actual performance gains using readyboost? if i have 2gb already in my sz, how much will 1gb, 2gb, or 4gb help? and which brand and model of memorysticks should i use?

 

Here's one analysis of the benefits of ReadyBoost and SuperFetch on machines with varying amounts of RAM: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/31/windows-vista-superfetch-and-readyboostanalyzed/index.html. Essentially, ReadyBoost will still help for a 2GB system but the benefit is much less compared to a 1GB system.

As for brand/model, I think that the specific performance variations matter little in real life as long as you have one that is compatible. This seems to be the canonical compatibility list: http://www.grantgibson.co.uk/misc/readyboost/.

And here's the Q&A for all things about ReadyBoost: http://blogs.msdn.com/tomarcher/archive/2006/06/02/615199.aspx.

 

@ Mikey94025
Can you tell me where that stick was made? I just got one for $33 that says "made in Japan" (in the mail now). I know this can be faked, but was curious if yours has the same info.

 

Mine says "Made in Japan" but so did my previous fake one. I returned the fake one so I never had both in hand at the same time so it's difficult to compare, but they really looked alike. The packaging was different, however, with the "real" one being in a white-background cardboard insert vs. the dark-background insert that shows in Amazon's product page ( http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Memory-MSX-M2GN-Retail-Package/dp/B00083LJ5Y). Ah, but I now see that image on Amazon's page was uploaded by a customer. I should do the world a favor and upload the picture of the current, real product packaging.

As an aside, the online vendor who sold me the $30-something fake card actually allowed me to return it through PayPal's dispute system and refunded me all my money. They said that they would "investigate the problem with their supplier." Hmmm.

 

Thanks for the quick reply (^_^)

I'm not too sure if you can go by the package color to determine it's a knockoff though. I've seen them in all of Sonys color variations.

Does anyone know if there is a sure test for the card to determine it's authenticity?

 

This thread mentions some tests to determine authenticity of Pro Duo memory sticks: http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=59400.

However, I think you can safely rely on Vista's own ReadyBoost compatibility checks to determine authenticity since fake sticks will not comply. You can see the speed ratings determined by Vista's checks by following these instructions to read the Event Viewer entries: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=186.

For my (presumably authentic) Sony 2GB Pro Duo High Speed (MSX-M2GN), Event Viewer reports random read speed of 4416 KB/sec, sequential write speed of 3716 KB/sec.

 

Thanks for those links Mikey, especially the first one (^_^)