How durable are solid state readers/writers?

With a hard drive or a floppy you'd expect that the more you use it to
read/write the less life there'll be left in it. What about solid state
readers/writers?

Would it be better to use a reader other than the camera's own, besides
speed, lest it shorten its life, or would it not matter?

Mike Henley wrote:

With a hard drive or a floppy you'd expect that the more you use it to
read/write the less life there'll be left in it. What about solid state
readers/writers?

Would it be better to use a reader other than the camera's own, besides
speed, lest it shorten its life, or would it not matter?

Not sure exactly what you're asking. Certainly, a flash memory card
(and the socket/electronics it plugs into) are not subject to the
same sort of mechanical wear as a floppy drive. Flash memory is good
for a limited (but large) number of write cycles per block. If you
plug/unplug a memory card frequently, there's a little bit of wear
that happens on the contacts. None of it really matters since
obsolescence will likely overtake your "reader/writer" long before
it wears out from being used.

Paul Allen

On 1 Apr 2006 22:38:35 -0800, Mike Henley wrote:

With a hard drive or a floppy you'd expect that the more you use it to
read/write the less life there'll be left in it. What about solid state
readers/writers?

It's not clear which you're talking about here, the
readers/writers or the flash cards that are used in them. But from
your next question it would appear to be the reader/writer. In that
case, the electronic components of the reader should have an
exceedingly long life. First to go, by far would be the mechanical
components (sockets, cords, plugs, etc.).


Would it be better to use a reader other than the camera's own, besides
speed, lest it shorten its life, or would it not matter?

The same would apply to the camera. First to go, by far, would be
the flash card socket. Despite some other advantages, this is one
reason to prefer other card types such as SD and xD over CF, since
CF cards and sockets are more easily damaged. This might lead some
to prefer using the camera's USB port to transfer image files to the
computer, since if the USB socket on the camera is damaged and can
no longer be used, all is not lost. You can continue transferring
files using a card reader. But if you only use a card reader to
transfer files and the camera's card socket is damaged, the camera
will probably be useless until it is repaired, unless it's a camera
that has some built-in/internal memory, in which case the USB port
could be used to transfer files. But this memory would be so small
as to make the camera nearly useless.

That said, it's not anything I'd worry about. Use whatever is
most convenient, be it the USB port or a card reader. If anything
fails, it's much more likely to be some other part of the camera
anyway. If there are television newsgroups, your question might be
akin to asking "should one use the remote, since the original ones
are usually quite expensive to replace if they wear out, or should
the buttons on the TV be used instead at every opportunity?" g

In article .com,
Mike Henley wrote:

Would it be better to use a reader other than the camera's own, besides
speed, lest it shorten its life, or would it not matter?

In the electronics industry, connectors are usually rated in terms of
maximum recommended insert/extraction cycles. (Some internal
connectors, I was shocked to find, were only rated for a few tens of
cycles!) Good luck on finding the rating for the connector in a retail
product.

This would be the only "wear" per se, on a card reader. Removing the
card to use it in an external reader would accelerate that wear.

All theoretical, of course. I'd suspect the card connectors would
outlast other components of the camera. And, on a more expensive
camera, would be worth repairing.

Per Paul Allen:
Certainly, a flash memory card
(and the socket/electronics it plugs into) are not subject to the
same sort of mechanical wear as a floppy drive.

That's for sure... one of my CF cards had been through the wash twice.
--
PeteCresswell

"Mike Henley" wrote in message
oups.com...


With a hard drive or a floppy you'd expect that the more you use it to
read/write the less life there'll be left in it. What about solid state
readers/writers?

Would it be better to use a reader other than the camera's own, besides
speed, lest it shorten its life, or would it not matter?


I prefer the tube-type readers/writers. Of course, they are a bit pricey and
hard to find.

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote:
Per Paul Allen:
Certainly, a flash memory card
(and the socket/electronics it plugs into) are not subject to the
same sort of mechanical wear as a floppy drive.

That's for sure... one of my CF cards had been through the wash twice.

Saved having to erase it, did it....

ducks

---- Paul J. Gans