Fastest memory card for Delorme PN-40

[snakyjake]

I'm getting the Delorme PN-40 and wondering what the fastest memory card would be?

 

If it can be answered, how much faster is the #1 fastest vs. #2 fastest. Is the difference between the top place and second place a noticeable difference, or is it only a blink of an eye difference? Or would it be worth the higher cost for the #1.

 

I'm also thinking a memory card holding > 16 gb, unless 8 gb is good enough for a 1/3 size of Washington State.

 

Thank you,

 

Jake

[+benjamin921]

I don't have any large SD cards so I am not much help on the speed thing but the card I have is not a speedy card but it does not make any difference that I can tell, the 40 itself is fast.

 

Go big or go home

[+Pabloturtle]

I recently picked up the PN-20. I was able to load the entire state of Idaho(all four sections) onto the 1GB card. Complete download was about 850MB. So it's packed. Seems most people use a 4GB card. If you go to DeLorme forum site you'll find a lot of helpful info.

[+intolerable]

While I can't really answer the question, I'd try the DeLorme forums. There's tons of info there and from posts I know that some folks were quickly filling up the 8 gig memory.

 

Looking forward to getting one of these in the not so distant future, so if you find something that works (I'd be loading as many maps of all of WA as possible myself), I'd greatly appreciate you posting

[+Team CowboyPapa]

Ok, Snakeyjake, I just got back from the donut shop and ready to go. So there are two issues here, SD card size and card speed, and I'll do the former first and the latter later. (Geez, that play on words really looks great! )

 

I've been fortunate enough to have been beta testing the DeLorme PN-40 and now their newly introduced "all you can eat" imagery download subscription. That is, for a 1 year subscription of $29.99, one can download as much imagery, USGS 24:1K 3DTQ maps, Color aerial photography, Hi-Res City imagery, Satellite imagery, etc., as will fit on there hard drive. Availing myself of that opportunity, I now have 13GB of maps and imagery on a 16GB SDHC card. Your package will have a coupon for $40 worth of those downloads. Try some of that imagery and if you like go for the subscription and a 16GB card. Otherwise, a 8GB card might do and they are not that much more cost than a 4GB card.

 

I don't expect that anyone has benchmark data regarding card speed as used in a PN-40. I do see the cards advertised on special as being Class 4 or Class 6. My speculation is that it really would not make a measureable, noticeable difference in any event. They are now talking on the DeLorme factor than file size of the color aerial photos can be a speed determiner. It looks like one should limit the file size to less than 1.5GB. So, my advice is to grab whichever class is on sale and let 'er rip.

[+g-o-cashers]

I tried to search for some better answers on this but I'm pretty sure the SD speed classes only have to do with write bandwidth not reads. Writes are important when you are using these memory cards in cameras where the device is storing lots of data, not so much in a GPS where the amount of data being stored in the field is very small. You might find that the read speeds of all of relatively new devices are about the same (or at least they are fast enough not to be the bottleneck).

 

The only place this might matter is when you are storing maps from your computer to the card. USB 2.0 gets up to around 40MB/s (Bytes) and a class 6 card is supposed sustain 6MB/s and class 4 is 4MB/s. Since the card might be the bottleneck you might be able to download your maps a little faster if the card reader (or GPS being used as a card reader) can take advantage of the speed.

 

GO$Rs

[snakyjake]

With so many manufacturer choices, should I only decide based on storage vs. value? Are there other factors to consider?

[+Pabloturtle]

I'll only buy those with Lifetime Warranty.

[+davemcwish]

I agree with Pabloturtle - reliability & warranty is very important and for me more important than cost. There's no point in having a cheap card that fails. I currently use Sandisk and found them very reliable. Customer support is very good as I've had to have a card replaced that they did very promptly.

[+Team CowboyPapa]

I agree with Pabloturtle - reliability & warranty is very important and for me more important than cost. There's no point in having a cheap card that fails. I currently use Sandisk and found them very reliable. Customer support is very good as I've had to have a card replaced that they did very promptly.

I agree, Sandisk is a great brand. Also, Kingston and Transcend are excellent. I have several of all three brands.

 

Decide on capacity, 8GB or 16GB, and then see which of those three is the cheapest.

 

Personally, I could care less about reliability, warranty, or lifetime. Only two things, dies soon afrer purchase or later:

1. Soon after: I send it back to retailer for full refund.

2. Later: Am I really going to send back to manufacturer, for replacement, the 1GB card that I bought two years ago for $12 which now sells for $4?

[gps_dr]

One of the features of the PN series is the ability to save screen captures to the memory card.

This is great for documentation.

 

If the GPS discovers a "screenshots" folder on the SD card, it will save a copy of the screen image any time the power button is pressed. After the image is written, the user is instructed to press the <Enter> button to power down, any other key cancels power off sequence. This write operation is quicker on faster cards.

I noticed a big change after switching to a class 6 Transcend 16GB card from standard 4GB cards.