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Veinticinco

macrumors 65816
Feb 25, 2009
1,469
1,428
Europe
Personally, I'd go for the black version to match the micro SD card and look much more 'invisible' in the SD port itself.

1960088l.jpg
 

gihad

macrumors newbie
Aug 13, 2011
22
0
I'm going to assume around 10mbs on both the read and write but I'll run this app in the morning.

As for the disk speed test I'm getting 9.6 mb/s write and 15.6 mb/s read.

Hey, my Class 6 Card does about the same speed, so I think something is limiting the speed of your card as it is probably faster.
 

blulite

macrumors newbie
Jul 2, 2011
22
0
How about this from Patriot. Looks like it will work just the same (cut off the end), but also includes the memory card (Class 10).

(Edit - removed link, it was the standard SDcard adapter, won't work for this)
 
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weespeed

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2010
430
0
Thanks for this idea. Mine came in and here is what it looks like. I put a tab on it so I can pull it out if I have to. The tab in the pic was before I cut it down.
 

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iphonsteve4ajob

macrumors regular
Aug 6, 2011
186
0
Someone correct me if I am mistaken, but doesn't the USB port (or SD card slot) draw power? I read somewhere that leaving something (in this case a drive) constantly plugged in reduces battery life.

This would seem likely since it obviously isn't powered by pixie dust. But..perhaps it's a minimal draw??

Only bring it up since members seem to be hell bent on squeezing every minute of life they can out of their batteries. Wouldn't this adversely affect batt life?

I'd just not plug it in, unless I really needed the extra storage. Seems like this solution is a workable novelty, a very easy storage expansion upgrade, but...at the cost of batt life.
 

weespeed

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2010
430
0
Someone correct me if I am mistaken, but doesn't the USB port (or SD card slot) draw power? I read somewhere that leaving something (in this case a drive) constantly plugged in reduces battery life.

This would seem likely since it obviously isn't powered by pixie dust. But..perhaps it's a minimal draw??

Only bring it up since members seem to be hell bent on squeezing every minute of life they can out of their batteries. Wouldn't this adversely affect batt life?

I'd just not plug it in, unless I really needed the extra storage. Seems like this solution is a workable novelty, a very easy storage expansion upgrade, but...at the cost of batt life.


I thought of that too. And did some research and found this on another forum: "By example, a Sandisk SD memory card draws 40mA (milliamps) when in use and 150uA (microamps) when in standby.

In other words, the power consumption drops to roughly 1/250 when in standby...truly negligible."
 

iphonsteve4ajob

macrumors regular
Aug 6, 2011
186
0
I thought of that too. And did some research and found this on another forum: "By example, a Sandisk SD memory card draws 40mA (milliamps) when in use and 150uA (microamps) when in standby.

In other words, the power consumption drops to roughly 1/250 when in standby...truly negligible."

Nice thank you for the information.
 

EJ8

Suspended
Oct 13, 2010
645
324
Thanks for this idea. Mine came in and here is what it looks like. I put a tab on it so I can pull it out if I have to. The tab in the pic was before I cut it down.

So now you have a piece of paper sticking out the side of your MBA??? What's the purpose of cutting the memory card down if you are going to have that eyesore?
 

technopimp

macrumors 6502a
Aug 12, 2009
645
219
Someone correct me if I am mistaken, but doesn't the USB port (or SD card slot) draw power? I read somewhere that leaving something (in this case a drive) constantly plugged in reduces battery life.

This would seem likely since it obviously isn't powered by pixie dust. But..perhaps it's a minimal draw??

Only bring it up since members seem to be hell bent on squeezing every minute of life they can out of their batteries. Wouldn't this adversely affect batt life?

I'd just not plug it in, unless I really needed the extra storage. Seems like this solution is a workable novelty, a very easy storage expansion upgrade, but...at the cost of batt life.

I have one of the USB microsdhc adapters, and while I have no idea how much actual power it draws, I've noticed with it plugged in (but no SDHC activity) battery life has dropped by 30-60 minutes.
 

weespeed

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2010
430
0
So now you have a piece of paper sticking out the side of your MBA??? What's the purpose of cutting the memory card down if you are going to have that eyesore?

Sorry, no it was there for when I was trying it out. I cut it down and when I insert it, I tuck it in. So you can't even tell it's there, sort of.

I have 32gb MicroSd in it. I have my itunes library there and also my pictures. I like it.


----------

I have one of the USB microsdhc adapters, and while I have no idea how much actual power it draws, I've noticed with it plugged in (but no SDHC activity) battery life has dropped by 30-60 minutes.

hmm I'm gonna keep an eye on it. I'm already having battery issues and don't need more.

But from my research and some knowledge in circuits, when the idle bit is set, the current draw is very small. Many of the major memory card sellers have that info on their sites.

Could it be you have stuff on there that gets accessed from time to time by the OS, like spotlight etc...?
 

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maclook

macrumors 65816
Nov 2, 2008
1,146
40
That pull tab is really smart, weespeed. You've convinced me to invest in that method now. How did you cut yours down so smoothly?
 

weespeed

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2010
430
0
That pull tab is really smart, weespeed. You've convinced me to invest in that method now. How did you cut yours down so smoothly?

Thanks, but I give all the adulations to the OP. He thought of it, I just figured a pull tab would make it easy to remove if I have to.

I cut the adapter like the OP. I used good wire cutters but I'm sure some good scissors would work good too. Then I ran it along a file until it was even.
There is a circuit board and chips in there, so I used some 3m masking tape and cut it down to cover the exposed circuit. See OP first picture. The black area in his/her picture is the exposed circuit board.
Then I folded some of the masking tape and left part of the sticky side exposed. Cut it to match the adapter and stuck it on.
When I insert the adapter, I fold the tab in and it fits snug in there. It does make it really easy to remove.
 

maclook

macrumors 65816
Nov 2, 2008
1,146
40
Yeah, props to OP for the great idea in the first place.

Is a class 6 microsd card fast enough to store an iTunes library on? I just don't want a delay when I choose a song to play. I was going to go all out and find a class 10, but there's to much of a price hike imo so I wouldn't mind getting a class 6 if it can do the job.
 

weespeed

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2010
430
0
Yeah, props to OP for the great idea in the first place.

Is a class 6 microsd card fast enough to store an iTunes library on? I just don't want a delay when I choose a song to play. I was going to go all out and find a class 10, but there's to much of a price hike imo so I wouldn't mind getting a class 6 if it can do the job.

Class ratings are just a minimum. So a class 6 means it has to have a minimum sustained transfer of 6mbs or more. Some higher quality cards can exceed that rating.
I have a patriot class 10 in my galaxy tab 7". Running speed tests I get around 10.5 to 11.5 mbs.
I'm using a scandisk class 6 in my Air. Using the same app to test the speeds in my Galaxy Tab I get 8.5 to 9.9 mbs speeds.

So depending on the card it may not matter much.

I play songs from my Micro SD card and not one hiccup. I can skip forward backwards etc.. and not one stutter.

I can pull up my photo library scroll up down look at high res images and no stutter.

As with anything that is just my personal experience.
 

ihonda

Suspended
Sep 17, 2009
1,848
195
what does the underside of the card look like that you can cut off the usb port side? im a little confused on how this works..
 

All About Jake

macrumors newbie
Oct 5, 2011
1
0
There was another topic on here that said to get a Micro SD / USB / SD card adapter and cut the USB half off and it would fit flush and use a Micro SD card with it.

I made one of these in a similar fashion:

I used a $4.30 shipped adapter from ebay "MicroSD/TF to SD USB". I took some care in dissecting it, turns out most of the circuitry is inside the USB connector, so with an sharp knife (exacto, or box cutter) you can cut most of the guts out. There ware a few surface mount components (resistors or capacitors) left visible inside the hole. I picked them out with the knife for completeness sake. Finally, I used a bit of scrap plastic and a file to fashion a "plug" for the hole left where the USB connector and circuitry used to be. A little CA glue and some filing and a tape tab similar to above, and good to go!

It works great, but I only have a 2GB micro SD card, and it seems like the 64 and 128GB microSDs aren't available. I guess I'll have to opt for a 32GB since I can't find anything else. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'd also love to know if the full-size 128GB Lexar SD card that is available confirms to the same pattern as mentiond above-- all of the vital bits inside the half closest to the pins. I'd hate to cut an expensive 128GB SD only to find that they used all the available physical space to cram that much storage in.
 
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