[Bygracealone]

This is what I'm asking about. Most people have reported a formatted capacity of 7.6, and mine is only reporting 7.3. It's a new 8gb card that I just got bulk packaged off eBay. On top of that, today my curve started slowing to a crawl until I took the memory card out! Did I get a funky card? Should I try reformatting it differently to see if that helps?

I experienced this exact same phenomenon today when I installed my newly purchased 8GB card... 7.6 is somewhat understandable given the explanations of what a true kb/mb/gb really amounts to, but 7.3 is hard to swallow... That's almost 1GB lost to who knows where. Although, I really can't complain too much since I won the card on Ebay for $20 brand new.

I reformatted too and it didn't do anything for me.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my disappointing experience in case others were wondering if the previous was an isolated event.

Cheers,

Steve

[c32c7]

I got a 8gig sandisk and it shows 7.3 also. Should we who are missing 300mb usable space complain? I kind of want to return it. Is this justified? Would you return the product? (reformatted using bb, still 7.3)

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jeffh]

Formatting a drive to make is usable uses space. A useful metaphor is striping a parking lot. You give up possible parking spaces to make lanes. A "formatted" parking lot has less parking space than a blank pavement, but the space that remains is usable. That's primarily the reason for the usable space being less than the advertised space.

That said, every 8GB card should format to the same usable space. I don't have one, but that usable space is commonly reported as 7.6GB. I can't understand why three people are reporting 7.3GB. One I could dismiss as just bad sectors, but three? Unless there's something to all three, I can't understand this.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Technarch]

I haven't read this thread, but I just wanted to throw it out there that the Sandisk Class 4 MicroSDHC card is really a Class 6 relabelled as far as I can tell, if you wanted to save a few dollars.

On my MacBook, if I write directly to the card stored inside the BB, according to the disk activity monitor, it's writing at 12 mb/s. On a different machine with a better chipset, it would probably do 15 mb/s (esp. if inside a reader).

The Class ratings for cards mean minimum guaranteed write speed.

So, Class 6 means they guarantee that it will write at 6 mb/s. That's all.

[lawrence]

I experienced this exact same phenomenon today when I installed my newly purchased 8GB card... 7.6 is somewhat understandable given the explanations of what a true kb/mb/gb really amounts to, but 7.3 is hard to swallow... That's almost 1GB lost to who knows where. Although, I really can't complain too much since I won the card on Ebay for $20 brand new.

I reformatted too and it didn't do anything for me.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my disappointing experience in case others were wondering if the previous was an isolated event.

Cheers,

Steve

Did you happen to purchase your card from ebay seller "watercrystal"? I got my sandisk 8gb micro SD off this seller, and my card shows only 7.3 free after formatting.

[Pete6]

One explanation for the missing 300Mb could be that the BlackBerry is using the Media Card for caching.

[lawrence]

One explanation for the missing 300Mb could be that the BlackBerry is using the Media Card for caching.

A good thought, but it still reads 7.3gb after directly formatting the card in my computer.

[Pete6]

Does it say 7.3GB in the PC?

Is the number the same in the BlackBerry?

A while back I saw a 4GB SD card that was a clone of SanDisk. What they had done was to kludge 4 x 1Gb chip onto a board and then connect them and sell it as a 4Gb SD card (not microSD). This clone card failed regularly and never showed its full capacity.

I am wondering if a similar thing has not happened to you - I hope not.

I got to the bottom of it by calling SanDisk support and giving them the batch number. It was not theirs.

Maybe you should call SanDisk and ask them the same questions that you asked here. If it's their card then they will have an answer or, a replacement. However if you bought it bulk packaged then, as I said in an earlier post in this thread, bulk sales are not warrantied by SanDisk themselves.

[lawrence]

Yes, the card reads 7.3 both on the blackberry and on the computer. It was purchased bulk packaged off eBay, and makes my curve lag to **** when I put it in. Should have figured as much, since the card was so cheap...

Anyway, thanks for all the responses! Gonna try to settle this with the ebay seller...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Pete6]

Yup, write him, give him 48 business hours and then start a dispute. I have 360 points on ebay and a 100% positive record and that's what I do.

[jeffh]

I'm glad to see an explanation for the 7.3, even one based on deception. That had me stumped.

[c32c7]

mine wasn't an ebay deal, it was from a link on here to an amazon site that sold it, i didnt know it was bulk package until i got the product

[Pete6]

mine wasn't an ebay deal, it was from a link on here to an amazon site that sold it, i didnt know it was bulk package until i got the product

That's where my first one came from. I got a full refund.

[Branta]

Does it say 7.3GB in the PC?

Is the number the same in the BlackBerry?

A while back I saw a 4GB SD card that was a clone of SanDisk. What they had done was to kludge 4 x 1Gb chip onto a board and then connect them and sell it as a 4Gb SD card (not microSD). This clone card failed regularly and never showed its full capacity.

I am wondering if a similar thing has not happened to you - I hope not.

I got to the bottom of it by calling SanDisk support and giving them the batch number. It was not theirs.

Maybe you should call SanDisk and ask them the same questions that you asked here. If it's their card then they will have an answer or, a replacement. However if you bought it bulk packaged then, as I said in an earlier post in this thread, bulk sales are not warrantied by SanDisk themselves.

I believe the word you require might be 'Counterfeit'

[Pete6]

I believe the word you require might be 'Counterfeit'

I was trying to avoid a direct accusation but, thank you, your word would have done quite nicely.

[jlr24]

I have a BB 8830 running OS 4.2.2.196.

So if I am reading the posts correctly, I should be able to put a 8GB card in my BB and it will recognize it as 8GB because I am running 4.2.2.196, right?

If so, how should I get started? Should I format the disk in my computer first and then put in my BB or put it first in my BB and format it using my BB? I just need to know what steps to take, so if someone could list it out for me, I would appreciate it.

Also I have heard it is easier when transferring music, to connect your SD card directly to your computer and then just copying and pasting it into your SD card. Is that so, and if so, will I have a problem playing it on my BB.

What about the compatibility of the songs and reformatting them on Roxio Media Manager? I have them all saved in itunes.

It would be great if someone could help me get started.

[FF22]

That OS version WORKS with an 8 gig card - I've had an 8 gig for months now and it works. Scanning that much data can sometimes take a while.

I believe formatting the card in the BB will create the folder structure generally used by Media Player in the BB - music, video, ringtones, etc. Or you can create them yourself and add any other folders you want.

Loading an 8gigs worth of data or even less is slower when the card in inside the BB. If you have a usb card reader, it will be faster but if you ran it overnight - just go to sleep.

Make sure you mp3 files have fully edited mp3 tags as that helps find tunes by composer/artist/genre, etc

I just used drag/drop with Explorer.

[jeffh]

I have a BB 8830 running OS 4.2.2.196.

So if I am reading the posts correctly, I should be able to put a 8GB card in my BB and it will recognize it as 8GB because I am running 4.2.2.196, right?

If so, how should I get started? Should I format the disk in my computer first and then put in my BB or put it first in my BB and format it using my BB? I just need to know what steps to take, so if someone could list it out for me, I would appreciate it.

Also I have heard it is easier when transferring music, to connect your SD card directly to your computer and then just copying and pasting it into your SD card. Is that so, and if so, will I have a problem playing it on my BB.

What about the compatibility of the songs and reformatting them on Roxio Media Manager? I have them all saved in itunes.

It would be great if someone could help me get started.

Yes, you can use an 8GB Media Card in your 8830. Mass Storage Mode lets you drag and drop files to/from your computer to your BlackBerry Media Card. You enable it as follows:

Status / Options / Media Card
Media Card Support: On
Encryption Mode: your choice
Mass Storage Mode Support: On
Auto Enable Mass Storage Mode When Connected: Prompt

Format the card in the 8830. That's a menu option from this same screen.

Plug the BlackBerry into a USB port, answer Yes to the prompt, and the BlackBerry Media card will show up as a disk drive in My Computer. Then you can drag and drop.

In Rim's implementation of microSD cards, they're used for ringtones, videos, music, and pictures. (That's why Rim calls them Media Cards, even though they're sold as microSD cards.) You can also use one as a memory stick, like a USB disk, using Mass Storage mode, but you can't access those files from the BlackBerry without 3rd party software. You can't run apps from one, yet.

I don't have music stored on my card, so I can't help you with iTunes.

[jlr24]

Thanks,
Did you format your MicroSD card first, either in the computer using a USB (I have one) or in the BB.

I also planned on drag/drop in explorer because I thought that would be the fastest. Did you put the card in your BB first?

How do I make sure my mp3 has the right tag. I am using itunes and they save them as m4a? You did not use roxio for any of it?

[jaywaller]

for anyone interested, meritline is running a special on an 8gb kingston class 4 card for 24.99 shipped, adapter included..

can i post urls?

h t t p : / / w w w . meritline. com/kingston-8gb-microsdhc-card-with-adapter-class4.html

[Bygracealone]

Did you happen to purchase your card from ebay seller "watercrystal"? I got my sandisk 8gb micro SD off this seller, and my card shows only 7.3 free after formatting.

Sorry for the delay in response...

No, I purchased mine from "progressing0114"

I'm not going to sweat it. Hopefully, it will continue to perform well.

[twistedwrench]

I just bought a Sandisk microSDHC card CLASS 6 today at Best Buy for 49.95 in Phoenix AZ (for price comparison purposes across the country - if anyone cares). Formatted in the phone to a clean 3.7 GB. Reloaded everything I had in my 1 Gig plus a bunch of other videos, MS Docs, txt files from the puter, plus 10 themes and 100 ringtones i had in mp3 form on the computer.
As a speed comparison - someone above was saying that BB's can only support 2/sec transfer so buying a 6/sec is useless - I am noticing the access time on my TAG-Heuer chronograph as being halfed from the original 1GB 2/sec card.
For what it's worth...

[Pete6]

Thank you for posting this. Very interesting. I have always said that a Class 2 card was sufficient for a BlackBerry becasue nothing that the BlackBerry did exceeded the Class 2 spec. and this remains true if cost is the major consideration. With a Class 2 card you are able to continuosly record or playback video and that is the fastest transfer requirment on the phone.

What you (and you Tag Heuer) have demonstrated is that the Blackberry can perform faster data trnsfers when presented with a faster card. This is valuable information for those wishing more performance in exchange for slightly more money.

I shall try to acquire a Class 6 card and then I shall check its data transfer speeds against my Omega - lol.

[krazykatie]

I just got a 8Gb SanDisk MicroSDHC (class 4) for my Bold, for 27�, free delivery
(for anyone living in the same godforsaken country as me (Belgium) I'm not allowed to post URLs yet as I'm a noob here, but the store in question is called Alternate.
Google is your friend )

I've been using a standard 2 Gb MicroSD card until now, so I'm curious to see whether there is a lot of speed difference between the two. I'll post my findings soon.

Awesome topic, Pete

[steveb944]

Thank you for having this topic. It answered all my questions in regards to buying micro sd for my new flip. Now I just need to decide whether to wait for the supposed price drop of the 16gb before Christmas, or else rush and buy an 8g. Decisions, decisions...