comparison of solid-state cards for mp3 players..

[adeno]

Hi everyone,

I'm usually a lurker at the DC part of the forums, so this is my first time here

I just have a little question:
I wanna buy an mp3 player, but I'm not sure what type of solid-state memory device to use.
I've heard of four types: CompactFlash, SmartMedia, MultiMedia, and Secure Digital.
Which of these would ya recommend for an mp3 player?

From the research I've done online, it seems like smartmedia and multimedia cards are among the more popular cards for mp3 players, but compactflash seems promising. Secure digital I'm not too familiar with, but I've heard it's one of the smallest cards.

I appreciate any comments. Thanks

 

[adeno]

bump for info

 

[LukFilm]

Depends on the player. Each one only accepts ONE kind of memory, so you have to check the one you are interested in to find out which memory card it uses.

 

[adeno]

That's sort of the thing.. I wanna find out if any of these 4 have more advantages than the other.. then I'll buy my mp3 player based on that

 

[yllus]

I can help you out with a comparison between CompactFlash and SmartMedia - before I picked up a Creative Nomad II I was thinking about the same questions.

CompactFlash has one major advantage - it does not rely on firmware/device support of the card itself because it has its own control chip embedded onto the card. AFAIK, as long as your device takes CF cards, it'll accept 16, 32, 64, 128...whatever size the future holds.

SmartMedia is smaller, due primarily to the absence of that control chip. Meaning that your device may need to be firmware-flashed to support new sizes/types of SM cards - Creative just recently offered a 128MB-support firmware upgrade for my Nomad II. Smaller/thinner sure is useful, though!

CF seems to be the most prevalent type of flash media out there, probably because it sells like crazy for digital cameras. SM or MMS seems to be the way to go for MP3 players. SM, also slightly more expensive. I'd have gone with a CF-compatible MP3 player if I had the choice, but alas...

You should know that sending flash media through the USPS is a very bad idea right now - their decontamination procedures not only erase flash media, they render much of it completely inoperable. Use Fedex or UPS for now. Good luck with your decision.

 

[adeno]

Thanks for the info!

I had thought about CF as my first choice for mp3 players, but never really found a good reason to buy it besides the cheaper prices.. also, I've heard that IBM Microdrives use a Type II CF Slot.. so upgradeablity for future technologies shouldn't be much of a problem.. (though those microdrives aren't true solid-state)

I will have to look into the various brands of MP3 players and see which ones that support CF will suit me.