Now of course, we all know a nifty bit about MicroSD/MicroSDHC cards. They're tiny, use little electricity, mostly cheap for what they are, and damn useful in our good old flashcarts and phones and mp3 players and what not. They're so useful because they're absolutely tiny and hold so much, so, here's a thread on them.
I haven't immediately been able to notice a thread on these beloved cards that we use, so I hope nobody minds me making a thread for info on them, and also I suppose a thread to let people "know" about good cards, bad cards, where to get cards (although that's a matter of google) and stuff...
Basic stuff:
MicroSD - The Original format for the small cards. Goes up to a capacity of 2GB maximum. Still around and usable in SDHC standard devices.
MicroSDHC - Same form factor as MicroSD, but more important, hold a LOT more data. I've seen 16GB cards in stores and heard about 32GB cards. Usually formatted on the FAT32 file storage system. (Can do FAT16, and others, though FAT32 is what's used in DS flashcarts for the most part).
Brands
VERY GOOD
Sandisk
Kingston
Transcend
A-Data
GOOD
Patriot
PNY
Crucial (from what I've seen of their RAM...)
BAD
Unbranded
Obscure name brand that you've never heard of.
SPEED
Now there's the deal about Classes. What are they? They depict the write speed of the memory in the card, as so:
* Class 2: 2 MB/s - 13x - 1950 kBps
* Class 4: 4 MB/s - 26x - 3900 kBps
* Class 6: 6 MB/s - 40x - 6000 kBps
I gave the rough speeds in kBps so you can get a general image of how fast it actually is. Of course they probably won't actually reach that speed, they'll perhaps near writing, and much much faster reading. Apparently.
Now obviously Class 6 is preferable, but 4 is fine too. You don't need to go out of your way for a Class 6, but it does speed up the process in cases of gameplay and file copying. In any case, as can be seen, each class card is potent, it's just whether or not you want to be more potent or not.
Great places to buy?:
Amazon GLOBAL/UK - You're going to find great deals on there, huge online marketplace, often free and quick shipping (Yes!) Finding the cards, I'd say just do a search for Micro SD. There isn't an actually category. Or I failed at searching.
Ebuyer(UK) - I trust them, bought with them frequently. Free shipping over the threshold basket cost.
DealWoot (US) - Reasonably priced, many people have bought from here. Free shipping above a certain threshold, I notice.
GainGame - I notice that it's cheap, pleasant and easy to use.
Newegg - MicroSD/MicroSDHC - They look very well priced, this site is used by lots people in the US. This website is US and Canada.
I'm personally unsure about this place, but you guys buy are and whatever so it's fine in most cases:
DealExtreme (Global?) - Free International Shipping - Cheap. Seriously. Ships slow though. If you take a look at some stuff you'll come to notice some items that aren't as trustworthy as others, so it pays to be aware of what you're looking at. It's a bit difficult to navigate.
Okay there's way more websites, you can post links if you'd like one up here, I'll assess it myself. I'm getting tired of links XD
As for the rest of the info, do feel free to point out any flaws, extra info and so on that I can add to this post. This can be a general microSD card thread I suppose.
I haven't immediately been able to notice a thread on these beloved cards that we use, so I hope nobody minds me making a thread for info on them, and also I suppose a thread to let people "know" about good cards, bad cards, where to get cards (although that's a matter of google) and stuff...
Basic stuff:
MicroSD - The Original format for the small cards. Goes up to a capacity of 2GB maximum. Still around and usable in SDHC standard devices.
MicroSDHC - Same form factor as MicroSD, but more important, hold a LOT more data. I've seen 16GB cards in stores and heard about 32GB cards. Usually formatted on the FAT32 file storage system. (Can do FAT16, and others, though FAT32 is what's used in DS flashcarts for the most part).
Brands
VERY GOOD
Sandisk
Kingston
Transcend
A-Data
GOOD
Patriot
PNY
Crucial (from what I've seen of their RAM...)
BAD
Unbranded
Obscure name brand that you've never heard of.
SPEED
Now there's the deal about Classes. What are they? They depict the write speed of the memory in the card, as so:
* Class 2: 2 MB/s - 13x - 1950 kBps
* Class 4: 4 MB/s - 26x - 3900 kBps
* Class 6: 6 MB/s - 40x - 6000 kBps
I gave the rough speeds in kBps so you can get a general image of how fast it actually is. Of course they probably won't actually reach that speed, they'll perhaps near writing, and much much faster reading. Apparently.
Now obviously Class 6 is preferable, but 4 is fine too. You don't need to go out of your way for a Class 6, but it does speed up the process in cases of gameplay and file copying. In any case, as can be seen, each class card is potent, it's just whether or not you want to be more potent or not.
Great places to buy?:
Amazon GLOBAL/UK - You're going to find great deals on there, huge online marketplace, often free and quick shipping (Yes!) Finding the cards, I'd say just do a search for Micro SD. There isn't an actually category. Or I failed at searching.
Ebuyer(UK) - I trust them, bought with them frequently. Free shipping over the threshold basket cost.
DealWoot (US) - Reasonably priced, many people have bought from here. Free shipping above a certain threshold, I notice.
GainGame - I notice that it's cheap, pleasant and easy to use.
Newegg - MicroSD/MicroSDHC - They look very well priced, this site is used by lots people in the US. This website is US and Canada.
I'm personally unsure about this place, but you guys buy are and whatever so it's fine in most cases:
DealExtreme (Global?) - Free International Shipping - Cheap. Seriously. Ships slow though. If you take a look at some stuff you'll come to notice some items that aren't as trustworthy as others, so it pays to be aware of what you're looking at. It's a bit difficult to navigate.
Okay there's way more websites, you can post links if you'd like one up here, I'll assess it myself. I'm getting tired of links XD
As for the rest of the info, do feel free to point out any flaws, extra info and so on that I can add to this post. This can be a general microSD card thread I suppose.
