SD Memory options?

Abisha · 09-20-2008, 11:54 PM

Hello. I was wondering perhaps if someone could help clarify which "SD Memory" card options are viable for the Sony PRS-505? I only ask because the owners manual is rather nondescript about any possible limitations on the memory, such as size and speed class. From what I've found you can get SD memory in varying speed classes: 2, 4, 6, 8mb per/sec transfer speeds and accommodating up to 16GB of space. What has thrown me for a loop and threw up some flags for me was the following note in the owners manual: "An operation check is performed when using SD Memory Card of up to 2 GB, however, operation of all SD Memory Cards is not guaranteed." Thanks in advance for any aid anyone can offer in this matter.

-Abisha

Catire · 09-21-2008, 01:08 AM

Do you really need a memory card for your reader? i can fit about 100 books into the internal memory.

When reading from a memory stick or SD card the battery drains faster.

dordale · 09-21-2008, 01:31 AM

Abisha--

One of the features of the new firmware for 505 is listed as:

"Support for SDHC memory cards that have a capacity of more than 4 GB".

I haven't tried anything bigger than my 2GB SD card, which works fine for me. I know that some people have problems with battery life when using SD cards. I don't know if my battery life is less than it would be if I didn't have the SD card in, but my battery doesn't get below 2 bars even after a couple of weeks of reading 1-3 hours/day. I don't have a lot of stuff on my SD card because as Catire points out, you can fit a lot of books on the internal memory.

Hope this helps!
dordale

Valloric · 09-21-2008, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dordale

I don't know if my battery life is less than it would be if I didn't have the SD card in, but my battery doesn't get below 2 bars even after a couple of weeks of reading 1-3 hours/day.

I only use the Reader's internal memory, and I get a bit over three weeks with several hours of reading every day.

acidzebra · 09-21-2008, 12:01 PM

With the new firmware I have had no issues using an 8 Gb SDHC card (Sandisk Extreme III) but large amounts of books will slow your reader down to a crawl or even render it unusable. It rebuilds the internal book database after each disconnect or (re)boot and anything over 2500 books will probably drain the battery before it finishes, making it painfully obvious that it was not designed with large libraries in mind. A file manager is called for before that becomes feasible.

So I've filled it up with high-quality manga and other comics/graphic novels/whatever the hell you want to call them, they eat space like crazy. I only slot it when the mood grabs me, but I have no complaints about the battery life.

heatherc · 09-21-2008, 04:12 PM

I've got quite a lot of books on an 8 gig SD card, but I unslot it when I'm not reading them. Otherwise, the battery drain is really noticeable. Pulling the card and then putting it back later does slow down the start up, but I like knowing that I've got the books backed up.

Abisha · 09-21-2008, 07:55 PM

Thanks for the replys everyone, it helps.

tgharold · 09-21-2008, 09:38 PM

The big issue that I found with SD cards (I tried a 512MB and a 1GB) is that it drains the battery life more then an equivalent sized MemStick Duo.

So now I just have a 1GB MemStick Duo installed.

At the moment I have just shy of 400 books between my internal memory and the MemStick Duo card. And that's probably only around 300MB worth of books.

murraypaul · 09-23-2008, 10:39 AM

Just to add a little bright side to the tales of gloom about using SD cards

While on holiday I didn't charge the reader for over a week, reading easily 2-3 hours a day, exclusively books stored on a memory card, and the reader just about dropped to three bars out of four for the battery.

So it is still very usable with books stored on SD cards.

Dr. Drib · 09-23-2008, 10:45 AM

Hi, Abisha:

I don't currently use an SD memory card, but at one time I did use a 2-gig card without serious problems. The "problem" is that, as the card begins to fill up, it just takes too long for the Reader to perform certain operations, thus draining the battery.

One more thing: I get a LOT more than 100 books on my internal Reader, as one member here estimated. I have 340 titles on my Sony PRS-505, with only about 20 of those being short stories. The rest are novels of average length.

Don

dhbailey · 09-23-2008, 04:30 PM

Like Don, I get about 300 or more novels on the internal memory of my 500. I did experiment with both SD and memory card and found several things: 1) the battery did drain faster; 2) it took a lot longer when I added a book or deleted a book (even from internal memory) after I detached the USB cable before the reader was usable; 3) page turns on any book, even one in internal memory, took much longer.

So I gave up -- same with the MP3 file feature -- I experimented with it but found it's so much easier to use a dedicated MP3 player. I have a Creative Zen with 16GB internal memory (I bought it just before they came out with the 32GB version) flash memory and I have a 16GB SD card in it, so I've got about a year's solid listening (just joking, but close).

Amalthia · 09-23-2008, 05:22 PM

I use my SD 2 gig card for reading everything but I think maybe something is wrong with my battery because I read about 3 hours a day and I'm down to 1 bar by the end of 7 days. (though I think part of it is that I'm using RTF files and the book reader re-flows RTF so I assumed that was draining the battery, plus all the bookmarking)

edit: PS. I don't think I mind the 7 day battery life because I like to re-charge when the battery gets down to 1 bar anyways...and when I recharage I add more stories to my book reader...so far the system is working rather well for me.

dhbailey · 09-23-2008, 06:41 PM

No, nothing's wrong -- using an SD card drains the battery faster than not using any memory card.

murraypaul · 09-30-2008, 11:34 AM

Just to add another datapoint, I've read about 1500 pages since my last recharge, all from SD card, and am still showing 4 bars on the battery, so I'm definately not seeing the sort of terrible battery life some people seem to be experiencing.

I'm using a good quality SD card (SanDisk Extreme III), and the books are LRF format. This is with the latest firmware upgrade.

wmrawls · 10-01-2008, 09:54 AM

I have to agree with murraypaul. I use SD cards exclusively and don't even keep the Sony memory stick in the reader. I have all of my books broken down by Author and by SD card and if there is a drain on my battery life it is insignificant. After all how hard is it to put it on a charge when it gets a couple of bars down. I have an external charge and the cost was insignificant. My cards when exchanged index in seconds and I can go about my merry way. Also by using the cards I do a direct install on them and bypass the cranky Sony software used for syncing. After several months of pretty much daily use I have no major issues with how I handle my reader and books.

09-20-2008, 11:54 PM	#1
Abisha Connoisseur Posts: 86 Karma: 2272 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Milwaukee, WI, U.S.A. Device: Sony PRS-505, Sony PRS-950	SD Memory options? Hello. I was wondering perhaps if someone could help clarify which "SD Memory" card options are viable for the Sony PRS-505? I only ask because the owners manual is rather nondescript about any possible limitations on the memory, such as size and speed class. From what I've found you can get SD memory in varying speed classes: 2, 4, 6, 8mb per/sec transfer speeds and accommodating up to 16GB of space. What has thrown me for a loop and threw up some flags for me was the following note in the owners manual: "An operation check is performed when using SD Memory Card of up to 2 GB, however, operation of all SD Memory Cards is not guaranteed." Thanks in advance for any aid anyone can offer in this matter. -Abisha

09-21-2008, 12:01 PM	#5
acidzebra Liseuse Lover Posts: 869 Karma: 1035404 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Netherlands Device: PRS-505	With the new firmware I have had no issues using an 8 Gb SDHC card (Sandisk Extreme III) but large amounts of books will slow your reader down to a crawl or even render it unusable. It rebuilds the internal book database after each disconnect or (re)boot and anything over 2500 books will probably drain the battery before it finishes, making it painfully obvious that it was not designed with large libraries in mind. A file manager is called for before that becomes feasible. So I've filled it up with high-quality manga and other comics/graphic novels/whatever the hell you want to call them, they eat space like crazy. I only slot it when the mood grabs me, but I have no complaints about the battery life. Last edited by acidzebra; 09-21-2008 at 04:13 PM. Reason: I speel good.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Transferring from Main Memory to Memory Card	Modern Bear	Sony Reader	3	12-13-2009 06:40 AM
Books on internal memory show as on Memory Stick	doreenjoy	Sony Reader	6	06-05-2009 02:08 AM
memory card to main memory copy	alexxxm	Sony Reader Dev Corner	1	09-01-2008 11:04 AM
Suddenly files won't copy to flash memory-plenty of memory	skoobwoman	iRex	3	08-15-2008 02:52 PM
Moving files from memory card to main memory	dhbailey	Sony Reader	2	03-12-2007 11:43 AM

09-21-2008, 01:08 AM	#2
Catire Lord of the Universe Posts: 670 Karma: 737849 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Maturin , Venezuela Device: Sony Reader PRS-505 / PSP	Do you really need a memory card for your reader? i can fit about 100 books into the internal memory. When reading from a memory stick or SD card the battery drains faster.

09-21-2008, 01:31 AM	#3
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	Abisha-- One of the features of the new firmware for 505 is listed as: "Support for SDHC memory cards that have a capacity of more than 4 GB". I haven't tried anything bigger than my 2GB SD card, which works fine for me. I know that some people have problems with battery life when using SD cards. I don't know if my battery life is less than it would be if I didn't have the SD card in, but my battery doesn't get below 2 bars even after a couple of weeks of reading 1-3 hours/day. I don't have a lot of stuff on my SD card because as Catire points out, you can fit a lot of books on the internal memory. Hope this helps! dordale

09-21-2008, 04:12 PM	#6
heatherc Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 20 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Alberta Device: Sony PRS505	I've got quite a lot of books on an 8 gig SD card, but I unslot it when I'm not reading them. Otherwise, the battery drain is really noticeable. Pulling the card and then putting it back later does slow down the start up, but I like knowing that I've got the books backed up.

09-21-2008, 07:55 PM	#7
Abisha Connoisseur Posts: 86 Karma: 2272 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Milwaukee, WI, U.S.A. Device: Sony PRS-505, Sony PRS-950	Thanks for the replys everyone, it helps.

09-21-2008, 09:38 PM	#8
tgharold Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	The big issue that I found with SD cards (I tried a 512MB and a 1GB) is that it drains the battery life more then an equivalent sized MemStick Duo. So now I just have a 1GB MemStick Duo installed. At the moment I have just shy of 400 books between my internal memory and the MemStick Duo card. And that's probably only around 300MB worth of books.

09-23-2008, 10:39 AM	#9
murraypaul Interested Bystander Posts: 3,725 Karma: 19728152 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: Note 4, Kobo One	Just to add a little bright side to the tales of gloom about using SD cards While on holiday I didn't charge the reader for over a week, reading easily 2-3 hours a day, exclusively books stored on a memory card, and the reader just about dropped to three bars out of four for the battery. So it is still very usable with books stored on SD cards.

09-23-2008, 10:45 AM	#10
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 44,743 Karma: 55645321 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: Kindle: Oasis 3, Voyage WiFi; Kobo: Libra 2, Aura One	Hi, Abisha: I don't currently use an SD memory card, but at one time I did use a 2-gig card without serious problems. The "problem" is that, as the card begins to fill up, it just takes too long for the Reader to perform certain operations, thus draining the battery. One more thing: I get a LOT more than 100 books on my internal Reader, as one member here estimated. I have 340 titles on my Sony PRS-505, with only about 20 of those being short stories. The rest are novels of average length. Don

09-23-2008, 04:30 PM	#11
dhbailey Guru Posts: 604 Karma: 733 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: HP iPAQ211 / PRS 500, 700 and 505	Like Don, I get about 300 or more novels on the internal memory of my 500. I did experiment with both SD and memory card and found several things: 1) the battery did drain faster; 2) it took a lot longer when I added a book or deleted a book (even from internal memory) after I detached the USB cable before the reader was usable; 3) page turns on any book, even one in internal memory, took much longer. So I gave up -- same with the MP3 file feature -- I experimented with it but found it's so much easier to use a dedicated MP3 player. I have a Creative Zen with 16GB internal memory (I bought it just before they came out with the 32GB version) flash memory and I have a 16GB SD card in it, so I've got about a year's solid listening (just joking, but close).

09-23-2008, 05:22 PM	#12
Amalthia Wizard Posts: 1,158 Karma: 32196 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Anchorage, AK Device: Sony Reader PRS-505, PRS-650, PRS-T3, Pocketbook HD2	I use my SD 2 gig card for reading everything but I think maybe something is wrong with my battery because I read about 3 hours a day and I'm down to 1 bar by the end of 7 days. (though I think part of it is that I'm using RTF files and the book reader re-flows RTF so I assumed that was draining the battery, plus all the bookmarking) edit: PS. I don't think I mind the 7 day battery life because I like to re-charge when the battery gets down to 1 bar anyways...and when I recharage I add more stories to my book reader...so far the system is working rather well for me.

09-23-2008, 06:41 PM	#13
dhbailey Guru Posts: 604 Karma: 733 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: HP iPAQ211 / PRS 500, 700 and 505	No, nothing's wrong -- using an SD card drains the battery faster than not using any memory card.

09-30-2008, 11:34 AM	#14
murraypaul Interested Bystander Posts: 3,725 Karma: 19728152 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: Note 4, Kobo One	Just to add another datapoint, I've read about 1500 pages since my last recharge, all from SD card, and am still showing 4 bars on the battery, so I'm definately not seeing the sort of terrible battery life some people seem to be experiencing. I'm using a good quality SD card (SanDisk Extreme III), and the books are LRF format. This is with the latest firmware upgrade.

10-01-2008, 09:54 AM	#15
wmrawls Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 20 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Rock Hill,SC Device: Sony PRS 505, Dell Axim X50V	I have to agree with murraypaul. I use SD cards exclusively and don't even keep the Sony memory stick in the reader. I have all of my books broken down by Author and by SD card and if there is a drain on my battery life it is insignificant. After all how hard is it to put it on a charge when it gets a couple of bars down. I have an external charge and the cost was insignificant. My cards when exchanged index in seconds and I can go about my merry way. Also by using the cards I do a direct install on them and bypass the cranky Sony software used for syncing. After several months of pretty much daily use I have no major issues with how I handle my reader and books.