how much quicker will a card reader transfer data?

DJFuji

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
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It took a while to transfer an 8 meg file to an SD card through the PDA sync cable. I'm wondering if it will be substantially faster to transfer large files (100-200 megs) by taking the card out and using it in a USB card reader. My mobo only supports USB 1.1 though. Any ideas?
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
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Mar 4, 2000
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2MB/sec is the average data transfer rate of the SD card. The rate fluctuates depending on the equipment and the card slot. However, the SD Memory Card will eventually transfer data at 10Mbps or more, which far exceeds the capability of earlier memory cards. It should be faster than the cable.
 

DJFuji

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
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I wonder if activesync's overhead slows that down significantly.

Do the newer "ultra" CF Cards work faster than SD?
 

corkyg

Elite Member | Peripherals
Super Moderator
Mar 4, 2000
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Read this report that I found aftermaking your reply.

Test
 

DJFuji

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
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i just transferred 64 megs to a 512mg SD card and i swear it took almost 30 minutes. Looks like activesync or some other overhead is making transfer speeds REALLY slow. I transferred 32 megs to a thumb drive once and it took less than 5 minutes if i remember correctly...
 

oog

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Feb 14, 2002
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I've always found ActiveSync to be extremely slow as compared to a card reader. It would be better if you had USB 2.0 for the card reader, but I think 1.1 will still be faster than going through ActiveSync.
 

DJFuji

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
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yeah i was going to transfer a 200 meg movie clip to the thing, but i think i'll set that up right before i go to sleep and hope that it's done when i wake up...
 

Sunner

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
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This "PDA sync cable", what kind is it? I've seen quite a few of those that are just serial cables, which is dog slow by todays standards.
 

mikecel79

Platinum Member
Jan 15, 2002
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Originally posted by: Sunner
This "PDA sync cable", what kind is it? I've seen quite a few of those that are just serial cables, which is dog slow by todays standards.

Exactly. I'm thinking it's a serial cable which transfers much much slower than USB. In my experience ActiveSync has been very fast, but then again I've always used USB connections to PDAs.
 

DJFuji

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 1999
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No it's a standard USB 1.1 sync cable. Data transfer ridiculously slow though.