this post was submitted on 06 May 2024

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Which is the best micro sd card company/manufacturer you can recommend ? (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

16 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I don't care about speed, bigger storage, or small price difference all i want is it to not start corrupting my files randomly, die really fast, be unreliable etc . i just want something to put my files on then delete em and add something else, and forget about it and have it work for atleast 10 years . I don't really transfer a lot of big files so i don't think the memory cycles thing is gonna be a big problem . I used to think sandisk was good as i have an old 7+ year sd which still works without any issue but recently i bought another one which started corrupting my files and stopped working on my device under a year and i'm beginning to think sandisk is not that good anymore so share your experiences and opinions/thoughts etc .

Also i don't know where else to ask or if this is the right /c/ so feel free to let me know and i'll take it down but don't downvote incase i can actually get some answers .

Edit : This is probably a dumb question but does always being in a device reduce lifetime compared to being kept out of devices after putting data in it ? It is designed to be put in devices right so it shouldn't affect it right ?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

There is no "set and forget" solution to data storage. If not cared for, data does not last.

Already pointed out by others but:

DO NOT USE NAND FLASH FOR ARCHIVAL STORAGE

Flash storage drives work by trapping tiny electric charges to represent binary data. Multi-cell NAND uses multiple levels of charges to represent more data with less individual charges, and this makes the drive more sensitive to corruption over time. Older NAND (or just any SLC drive) is better at data retention because of this.

As capacity has gone up, the tech has become gotten smaller, cheaper and more dense, it's sensitivity has gotten worse.

If you want your data to still be there in ten years DO NOT USE NAND FLASH. It relies on being powered regularly to "refresh" the charges representing the data.

Unplugged, the data will start to become corrupt within 3-5 years.

A magnetic hard drive is slightly better but most manufacturers won't promise you more than five years of guaranteed data retention when unpowered.

If you want something to be safe for ten years, an external storage device/card of any kind is not the answer (except tape drives, they are rated at 15-30 years). A live storage array with parity and hot spares, is.

If you don't want the hassle of maintaining a storage array, the next best thing is optical media, CDs, DVDs and Memory Blu-Rays are all very reliable for their rated lifetimes. Even they will eventually experience data rot, but you can expect about 25 years before that becomes a concern.

If you intend to use the SD card to essentially expand you phones storage for example, or something similar, this is ideal.

Always plugged in, is the best, and kind of only, way to use flash storage with full reliability. In this use-case, regularly powered, their only functional limit to their lifetime is how much data is written to them over time.

How to find the good ones has already been commented on. I've had a good experience with Samsung's higher end microSDs.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Flash memory is a poor choice for offline or long-term storage as the integrity of the data degrades overtime. This technology is not intended to hold data for the span of time you're seeking.

Normally when these fail they switch into read only mode to give you time to copy your stuff but that isn't guaranteed. And the data may be seriously corrupted by the time that occurs.

I'd suggest considering worm mediums such as archival DVDs and keeping multiple copies of anything precious.

That being said, I've been happy with my Samsung cards. They will potentially survive longer in an active machine.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

The read-only fail-safe mode only prevents additional write operations from further wearing out the NAND cells, as reading does not cause nearly as much damage as writing does. This is to allow any data to be read off the drive before it is discarded.

As such, SSD lifetime is usually measured in how much can be written to it before it fails. The data should not start to become significantly corrupt before the drive cuts you off.

But this won't save OP. Unplugged, the electric charges that represent the data inside the SSD, will fade. Unpowered, the data on an SSD will begin to simply "leak away" within 3-5 years, as the NAND cells lose their charges representing the binary data.

If this is allowed to happen, the drive will be fine the next time you go to plug it in, but the data will simply be gone.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I currently use Samsung, but I've had great luck with SanDisk. I think they even gave me better random access which is clear when e.g. loading photo thumbnails.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

I've had good luck with SanDisk Ultra micro SD cards in a variety of capacities.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I’ve never had any issues with the top tier SanDisk and Samsung ones. Just make sure you get the good ones. All those little logos on the card can tell you what you’re getting: https://www.salvagedata.com/symbols-on-sd-cards-explained/

Generally, though, I find you get what you pay for with SD Cards. But I’ve had the same ones in my Switch, laptop, Steam Deck, etc. for the entire life of the products (which I guess is going on 7 years for the one in the Switch).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

same, SanDisk and Samsung drives, get their higher end ones, not the budget stuff.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Not sandisk I've bought maybe 3 and they all went unwritable in the first year and all bought from major UK stores like argos and pc world so yeah they can't blame that on online fakes.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

There are still some Transcend industrial cards I think. The medium basically sucks though. Manage your expectations and have good backups.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Class 10 SanDisk has always been good to me.

There are a lot of fakes out there so trust your supplier

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Ok i never fully understood how classes worked . Do they only increse speed which i don't care for ? Or do they increase cycles and life ? If so why don't they just tell you that or make the long life sd's the standard, why sell a cheaper ones ? like everyone buying an sd is counting on it lasting right ? People like me who just goes to a shop buy an sd with the storage we need and get out don't think about classes or anything .

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

A1 is recommended for compatibility and performance.

https://www.kingston.com/en/blog/personal-storage/memory-card-speed-classes

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

The class rating is more about data rates though to achieve higher speeds you tend to need to manufacture to a higher tolerance.

I tend to install a lot of these for media playback so a higher data rate to me is preferred.

In my experince ive only known 4-5 cards to die in the last 5 years.

Although sd cards have limits for write cycles in data sectors and theoretically have unlimited reads. When cards have failed for me in the past they are undergoing high read rates to the same sector.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

In my experience it kind of means both. You get more speed obviously, but that comes with better quality materials and control processes at the manufacturer. People expect the $5 SD card to corrupt eventually, they get more upset when the $40 card does.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I'd be actually willing to pay more if it does increase lifetime . I think my old sandisk which was not even that pricey is on its 8th year idk why it is lasting that long maybe because its always not in a device like my new ones ? Does that matter ?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I'm hardly an engineer, but I'd say the less movement the card takes, the better. SD cards are pretty old tech now, so there aren't many improvements to be made anyway. Cheap card, expensive card, as long as the contacts don't corroded or constantly get worn, I don't imagine they fail often. Photographers probably eat through them because of the transfer processes or people using them with phones/handheld games because they're always inserting/removing them. If it just sits there, it's just getting power and losing it, so it's squarely on the internals and no physical wear.

I've had the same cheap card in my dashcam for almost 5 years now, and it's never failed. High and low temps every year, but I attribute it's longevity to never removing it ever lol.