Finally, 5GB of SD memory cards on my Treo (Sort of...)
As of this morning and after waiting weeks for it's availability, I am now finally the proud and happy owner of a new SanDisk 2GB SD card which along with my previous three 1GB ones brings my total to 5GB.
You might wonder what need I could possibly have for 5GB on my Treo but I assure you that there is logic to my madness - I hope! Until now I have used a 1GB card - the one that I consider my 'primary' card - to hold a backup of some of my MS Office files for use with DocsToGo (100MB), my Audible books (200MB), some Podcasts and Soundview business summaries (200MB), photos (40MB), voice recordings (50MB), my BackupBuddy backups (60MB) and finally Palm files and applications (250MB).
Meanwhile, my second and third 1GB cards are respectively dedicated to music and video. With an average album size of 80MB, I get between 10 and fifteen full CD's on my music card. As for videos things have changed a little in the past two weeks since TCPMP came on the scene - let me explain.
Before the release of TCPMP I used to have to re-encode videos for playback on the Treo which on the one hand was a time consuming hassle but on the other one provided me with the benefit of much smaller (albeit lower quality) files - I guess that you can't win...
Like most, I am likely to take the route of least resistance in the future and simply copy any of the existing video files on my PC directly to my card skipping the re-encoding process. This means that a typical 2 hour .avi or .mpg movie will be about 700MB and a 1 hour video program (TV series for example) will be 350MB so it looks like my new 2GB card has arrived just in time to hold these.
Having said all of this, I am stuck to figure out whether I should use my new 2GB card for movies or music and I have the feeling that I will very shortly just 'have' to buy another one...
Finally, although the availability and commercial release of 2GB SD cards was announced some months ago anyone who has tried to buy one may have found this to be a bit of an issue as many online retailers list them but don't actually have them in stock... My understanding is that sell-through of 1GB cards has been so high that there has simply not been the production capacity to get 2GB cards out. However, I imagine that this will change in coming months as SanDisk and other manufacturers ramp up their production.
[BTW: If you're wondering how I keep track of what's on which card, I have simply marked two of them with a dot (my music) and a cross (my movies)...]
Treonauts are limited only by their imagination... 
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I am a novice in this area, w/ only one 256gb card that I've used since I first got the 600 then moved it to my 650. I don't use a case, so always wondered how people carry around extra cards. What do you do?
I can vouch for the quality of the video - Awesome! Thanks for the demo in the cafe after Les Blogs - Geoff
I use a Krusell Treo 650 Classic Multidapt Case (leather), and simply slide my extra card inside the case, just under the mini clip in the back. I don't even know it's there. To access it, I just unzip the case and there it is! Since I have to remove the case to switch cards anyway, it's really no big deal. I also like the fact that the case covers the card slot, so the card doesn't accidently pop out of the slot when I'm pulling the 650 in/out of my pocket (where it usually resides.)
I've had a 2GB card for about 3 months now (I have a friend at SanDisk). Personally, though, I'm still waiting on the flippable, USB version that Andrew wrote about a few months back. Unfortunately, the 1Gb version will be out for 6 months to a year before the 2Gb version. :( And by then the regular 4Gb version will be available.
In my case, though, the 2Gb card was a huge relief. Like Andrew, I was floating two 1Gb cards... one that had a sync'd copy of my PC's My Documents folder (800Mb +/-) and another for MP3's. I was constantly switching cards and finding that I needed an app that was on the other card (was also using PowerRun to move apps to the card). With the 2Gb card my problems went away... I have my 800Mb's of documents, etc and my 1Gb of MP3's, plus a little room to spare. Then, my old 1Gb card became my video storage card. Works out pretty dang good. :)
I guess the only thing I need now is the Treo 650 upgrade for the GSM version (like the one that Sprint users got a month ago) that fixes the NVFS issues and a few other quirks.
Ok - let's say I don't mind the encoding process - what is the easiest program to use to take a DVD and turn it into a tiny file for watching on the Treo?
tony,
the unofficial version of the gsm patch is out. there is a link on treocentral.
long story short. i have 2 unlocked treo 650s. i just upgraded one of them.
Using BackupMan i moved the file from the non-upgraded one to the upgraded one. I went from under 4000kb free to over 8000kb free.
since I just did it, i havent really tested it out fot what else is different. hopefully all will go well. :)
\
Karl,
the no frills no thrills method.
rip dvd to harddrive using smartripper or dvd decrypter.
use treo encoder to convert the the vob files.
move these files to the dcim folder of your treo.
play with the camera app.
all the above programs are free, you just need to search for them.
instead of treoencoder, you can use pocket dvd to encode the dvd to an avi file.
instead of the camera app, you can use tcpmp, which is also free.
I wonder if it's worth spending extra money for high-speed 2GB card like SanDisk Ultra II for the use on the Treo. Would movie playback benefit from a higher speed card?
A.Davis, I'm thinking I'll end up doing something similar to what you did.. use PowerRun and multiple SD cards... can you (or anyone else) recommend a fast card? I'd sacrifice size for speed I think.
This is will be for a Treo 600 by the way. Mine should be arriving soon and then I will officially join the ranks ;)
Is there something like an encrypted filesystem for SD-Cards available? I would like to have my homedir on the card and just backup/sync it with my PC...
Eileen,
Both SanDisk and Lexar offer "faster" versions of their stock cards. SanDisk's are typically called the "Ultra II" series (see advertisement on right). I'm pretty sure the 512Mb and 1GB models are available in the UltraII, however with speed comes battery life, so if you wanted to watch video, etc., you might actually be better off sacraficing some speed.
Thanks all for the great feedback!
Alan: I haven't been able to really deal with this issue yet so I still carry all the cards in my pocket in the protective plastic case provided by SanDisk. However, I have seen some nice leather SD card wallets and I will get one of those soon. As Tony notes, some Treo cases also have (usually two) slots for SD cards as well.
Karl: As Felipe also mentions, PocketDVD has been my application of choice to date but I'm looking for others now.
Raphael: I had been wondering about the very same thing so I tested a video file on a 512MB ULTRA II card that I have and the performance was identical so like A. Davis I would get the 'normal' card unless the price of the ultra was about the same.
mE: Looking into it...
Eileen: as A. Davis points out it really doesn't matter much which card speed you choose. Buy a well known brand such as SanDisk or Lexar and it'll be fine.
Cheers, A.
As for your writing about skype for treo... The symbian community (which i am a member of too with my "old" P900) also will not get skype in the near future!
But as for skype this will start to be interesting only as soon as WIFI support is available for the TREO.
Greetz Christian
My Verizon Treo 650 Instruction manual very explicitly states that the Treo cannot use a 2 gb SD card. Have people actually used a 2 gb card? Please reply ASAP as I am about to purchase a new SD card.
Thanks!
I am using Zlauncher and a 256 mb card. I want to switch to a 1 GB card. Is there an easy way to transfer all the applications and data from the 256 to the 1GB ?
Where do I begin now that I have my SanDisk 2GB SD card? My Treo 650 is almost out of room (700K of 23MB). What apps can be moved to the card and how? Thanks.
Mark (a long-time but rusty programmer, and Treo novice)
I'm thinking about buying a Treo 650. The palm website mentions the radio is muted during a call with the handsfree kit. Can you play your MP3's through the radio?
I'm new to the treo and have tcpmp, my 512 sd card is on it way, but how do I get movies form my pc to my treo 650 and can they be made saller for storage on the card ? programs I have dvd shrink 3.2,dvd decrypter. Any help is appreciated.
I just upgraded from a 512PQI to a 2.0 GB Sandisk. When i format the card in my Treo I get a full 2gb. However my laptop w/XP will not read the card. If I format on XP it will only format up to 968mb...fat16 or fat32. Am I doing something wrong? Part of the fun of my 512mb SD was the ability to pop it out of my Treo and into my work/home computers for quick mobile storage.
Any suggestions?
how do i format an sd card for my treo 700p? everytime i put a card in it it says no card is inserted. i tried fat32 and my treo still says no card is inserted. i have no ideo what to do
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