Hacking Micro SDHC cards for M3

[LD560]

I'm trying to decide which Micro SD card to get with the M3?

I've read that some cards have trouble playing certain games, (mostly Castlevania: PoR)

So short story (as my last thread was massive...lol)

Can anyone recommened the best card for the M3 Real -PERFECT bundle that has no or not to much trouble running NDS/GBA games

Addict Supplies where I am getting my M3 recommend a 4GB TRANSCEND micro SDHC Class 6
Addict Supplies direct link to card actually saying they recommend it for the M3

I have seen this card on Amazon: SanDisk - micro SDHC 8GB on Amazon UK

Oh also does the size of the card and class really matter??

I heard the M3's only reason for reading cards more than 2gig such as 8 gigs is for multimedia such as MP3's etc

Thanks for any help in advance

LD560

 

[Kittymat]

Class is the speed that the sd operates, higher the class the better, however for most games there is no problem. I use a class 2 and it is fine on 99% of games.

Size - depends what you want on the card, I have a 16GB as I have several films, MP3's and lots of games - still have space for anything new.

4GB - 70 mixed games (brain games tend to be smaller - clone wars is 256mb on its own)
8GB - 150

I can buy a Sandisc 8GB class 6 for $21

 

[LD560]

Just tried online for a 16 gig only to realise they dont do one higher than a class 2..lol

 

[Densetsu]

Toshiba is supposed to release a 16GB Class 6 this year, but it won't be cheap.

 

[LD560]

I just googled that info in.

Toshiba apparently plan to release it between January to April time.

Thing is a 16 gig card is $350 (£238)[be rounded to £240], and apprently the 32 gig (£476)[rounded to £480] is double O_O;

Think I'll try and find a nice affordable (if possible) 8gb class 6 one...lol...^.^;

By the way does the brand of the card make any diffrence what-so-ever?

 

[Densetsu]

I haven't heard of any real issues with MicroSD card brands, but most people seem to stand by the quality of the Kingston Japanese cards, A-Data and Sandisk.

To my knowledge, there aren't any Class 6 Kingston or Sandisk cards (they only go up to Class 4 speed).

I own/have used all three brands, and they all work well for me. I had a problem with a Patriot card once, and had to return it to the store. It might've just been a fluke card, but I never bought another Patriot card after that so I can't be sure.

 

[superbob]

Addict Supplies where I am getting my M3 recommend a 4GB TRANSCEND micro SDHC Class 6

This is the one I have and it works fine with me, if you only play games 4gig is enough, but if you plan to watch videos, think of buying a larger one ...
As for me Transcend is a good brand along with those Densetsu3000 told (Kingston Japanese cards, A-Data and Sandisk).

 

[LD560]

Hey guy's whilst waiting for replys i think I might have found the perfect card

San disc 8 gig class 6

Comes with a reader as well, might be handy as a back-up if the M3 one in the bundle I've ordered ever breaks...lol

Cheers for all your help guys, if you've got any other recommendations keep them coming =)

Oh I do have one last question...Whats the difference between the Japanese cards and US/EU cards?

 

[Densetsu]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Sandisk Mobile Ultra.

I can't say for sure whether the Japanese cards offer better performance, but I guess people overall feel safer with a Japan-made product as opposed to one made in Taiwan.

 

[Archimdae]

Hey guy's whilst waiting for replys i think I might have found the perfect card

San disc 8 gig class 6

Comes with a reader as well, might be handy as a back-up if the M3 one in the bundle I've ordered ever breaks...lol

Cheers for all your help guys, if you've got any other recommendations keep them coming =)

Oh I do have one last question...Whats the difference between the Japanese cards and US/EU cards?

I'm not sure if this got resolved at some point, but from everything I've heard, you should not use the stock reader that comes with the M3. Many many people toasted cards with it. Anyone feel free to correct me if things have changed.

 

[dgwillia]

At Dealextreme.com i personally got the "Nameless" or "No Name" Micro SD card, only cost 16 dollars for an 8 gig, and the transfer speeds are pretty amazing (transfers about 150 MB's in about 10 seconds, and 3 Gigs in about 2 mins, my old card took like 10 times as long just for 120 MB's).

 

[Densetsu]

You can get trusted name brands for less at Newegg, and they ship much faster than DealExtreme.

A-Data - $15
Transcend - $14

 

[dgwillia]

How fast is fast shipping? I might actually order one of those... (has exactly 15 dollars left on a gift credit card). Could always use one for my PSP, cant even find enough games to put on my 8 Gig on my DS.

 

[Densetsu]

On the second week of December I ordered two of each card as Christmas presents for other people. I was stressing that they wouldn't come on time for Christmas, but they did. In fact, they arrived a week before Christmas. It took just under a week during the holiday season to get the cards. From what I understand, DealExtreme takes anywhere from 3-6 weeks for delivery to the US.

Newegg is based in California (click on the "Write" tab to see their address), whereas DealExtreme is based in Hong Kong. But I live in California as well, so that might be part of the reason why Newegg is so fast for me.

 

[dgwillia]

Hmm, ill have to order then >_>, stupid Gift Credit card got a 2 dollar service charge from PSN, so i have to wait till friday till ill have 15$ again. Hope the free shipping last until then.

 

[Archimdae]

Newegg is great and they have the free shipping all the time on their cards, especially the popular ones like a-data and kingston. I'm in Washington and things usually show up about 3-5 days after ordering. Almost always the shorter end.

 

[LD560]

There is a list on the GBAtemp Wiki.

However it dosent cover all cards, but gives an idea of what brands are okay.

 

[powerpuff]

In my experience, everything is iffy, but Kingston Japan 2GB is fast. I ordered one from New Egg because my SanDisks ran about 10MB/sec. and that's too slow for TWEWY and Castlevania.

The Kingston runs 18MB/sec. And everything works.

I've got an A-Data Class 6 here that's not much faster than the SanDisk, so really YMMV!

The "Class" rating is, I've decided, COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS for real world read performance in your M3.

 

[binarybin]

does anybody know of a 8gb micro sd card that can play castlevania portrait of ruin without lag/slowdown/locking up?

 

[binarybin]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820211342
adata 8gb micro sd, class 6, but still to slow, causes audio delays when playing back intro video. even tried largest cluster size.