Ask Me Help Desk - SD Memory Cards

SD Memory Cards

My roommate bought a 4GB SD card and when my roommate tried it in the computers own card reader it wouldn't work. Than my roommate tried it in the product it was going to be used in and it wouldn't even recognize it. My roommate tried the memory card in the digital camera I have and it said something about it being unusable. I was wondering has anyone bought any memory card that wouldn't work when you tried it. If this has happened to you what was the cause of the card not working for you.

If one has a memory card slot on their computer tower that lets you put in SD memory cards is there a way to find out before you buy the SD memory card if it will read it. What I mean is I know some SD cards say HC after the SD so I wonder if my roommate had bought an SD/HC memory card if it would have recognized the card or it wouldn't have. I wonder if the SD card my roommate bought saying it's High Speed X150 might have been the reason the card isn't working in any of the items it was tried in or if the card is defective. I wonder if the card is replaced if it will work in any of the items it was tried in over a week ago. If the replacement card won't work than I don't know what my roommate will do.

The 4G SD cards are not backward compatible with regular SD readers. They would have to say SD/HC. The higher capacity cards are fairly new.

ScottGem
What did you mean by the 4G SD cards are not backward compatible? I know the higher capacity cards are new. I think they just came out this year, but I could be wrong. What do you consider as a regular card reader? The device the SD card is going to be with doesn't support SD/HC cards and my roommate wants a 4GB card for the device because a lot of things will be put on the card and a 1 or 2GB card won't hold enough things on it.
Just so people know the card reader that came with the computer I use was bought in Nov 2005.
I hope the replacement 4GB SD card will work with the card reader and if not than again I don't know what my roommate will do.

Backwards compatibility means that the cards will work in older readers. For example, when SD first came out the largest was 16MB. Cards up to 2GB are compatible with those early readers.

Since the 4G cards are a different format they will not work in any reader that is not compatible with that format.

Thanks for telling me what backwards compatibility is.

What do you mean by since the 4G cards are a different format they will not work in any reader that is not compatible with that format? What is the format you are talking about for 4GB cards?
Is there a way to know before one buys a 4GB memory card if it will work with the card reader it is going to be used with.

I think what Scott means is that when they made SD cards, the technology they used could only go up to 2GB. When people actually wanted cards bigger than that, they had to revise how everything worked, so they made SD-HC cards. The 4GB cards will ALL be SD-HC because they had to be the new version to have that much space, and since the regular SD readers aren't programmed to know how to use the SD-HC technology, the new 4GB cards don't work with them. Only the readers that say SD-HC do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by retsoksirhc

I think what Scott means is that when they made SD cards, the technology they used could only go up to 2GB. When people actually wanted cards bigger than that, they had to revise how everything worked, so they made SD-HC cards. The 4GB cards will ALL be SD-HC because they had to be the new version to have that much space, and since the regular SD readers aren't programmed to know how to use the SD-HC technology, the new 4GB cards don't work with them. Only the readers that say SD-HC do.

Just so you know not all 4GB cards are SDHC cards. The 4GB SD card my roommate bought didn't say anything on it about it being SDHC. I have seen a 4GB SDHC card at a retail store and I know it's an SDHC card because it said HC on it. Are you saying to use a card reader for an SDHC card one would have to buy an external card reader and if so do they make any that read SDHC cards. If one can buy a card reader that will read SDHC cards I bet they are over $100.

Has anyone heard of 8 and 16GB SD cards? I know that 8GB SD cards are SDHC. Knowing this I am thinking 16GB SD cards are also SDHC cards. I heard when 16GB SD cards are available to buy it will cost about $3,500 to buy one. If that is the case that is a lot of money to buy an SD card.

Here is where I read the cost of the 16GB SD card.
Indications state that 16 GB SD cards will cost around $3,500 to start with.

Here's the source of the news: MICRODIA launches 16GB SDHC card, your pocketbook weeps for shame - Engadget

The 4GB SD memory card my roommate got replaced doesn't work in the computers own card reader. I even tried it in the digital camera and it also said unusable and my roommate tried it in the product it was going to be used in and it also wouldn't read it even though my roommate was told a 4GB SD card will work with the product my roommate wants a 4GB card for. I am thinking the card can't be defective. Maybe it's the part of the card that says it's high speed that is causing the card to not work. Than again I did tell my roommate maybe the card reader wasn't made to read any memory card bigger than 2GB. If that is the case that is a shame that my roommate won't be able use a 4GB SD card if the card reader won't read it. Than again if the product my roommate wants a 4GB SD card for really can use a 4GB SD card than I need to figure out how to transfer things to a memory card when it is in the product so the card reader won't need to be used. I have no idea how you transfer things to a memory card when it's in the product it will be used with.

Why on earth can you not tell us the "product it was going to be used in"?

Well its not a weird sex toy as they don't take memory cards only batteries ;)

Why does it matter what the product the memory card will be used in?
The product the 4GB SD memory card is going to be used in is a PDA.

So surely typing PDA is a lot easier than "the product"?

Oh well.
Are you 100% sure that this PDA support 4Gb cards of this type ?

Have you checked with the mfg of the PDA to see if it supports the card?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curlyben

Are you 100% sure that this PDA support 4Gb cards of this type ?

I don't know if the PDA will support a 4GB SD card. My roommate was the one who found out from the company the PDA was ordered from that a 4GB SD card will work with it. My roommate wanted to use an 8GB SD card, but found out the PDA won't support it. My roommate called the company the 4GB SD card was bought from to find out find out why it didn't work. The guy my roommate spoke to said he would call the company that makes the PDA to find out what exactly it will support for SD cards. I hope an answer will be found on this today or this week.

My roommate ended up having to try 2 2GB SD cards since the 4GB SD card won't work in the PDA and computers card reader. The 2GB SD card does seem to work in the computers card reader. Since it works with the computers card reader I am thinking it will work with the PDA my roommate has as well. Just wondering why a 2GB SD card will work in the computers card reader, but the 4GB SD card wouldn't.

Wondering where you got to. I thought we explained that already.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

Wondering where you got to. I thought we explained that already.

What did you mean by wondering where I got to? What did you or someone else already explain to me?

Oh we aren't going to start that again, are we? Read the thread it explains why the 4G card might not have worked.

As for the other, what do you THINK I meant?

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowflake22

What did you mean by wondering where I got to? What did you or someone else already explain to me?

What do you mean what does he mean? Who said what was already explained to you?