SD Card problems

[Staz]

My wife has a Dell Axim X5.

It has been acting up lately. Slowing to a crawl one minute or 20 min or more. Then all of a sudden it would work fine. finally found that it was the SD card. When I removed the SD card from the PDA it worked fine. Reinstalled and it would slow to a crawl again.

Today i ran down to CompUSA and picked up a new 256mb SD card for $60 (quite a good price) and a cleaning kit. I first cleaned the slot and the card worked fine. It has had one hicc up since then, but that is enough for me to ask what is a safe way to clean the contacts on the card as well as the card slot?

TIA

[robbie]

Thanks for the update as I have the same pda. I got a 32 meg SD and haven't noticed a prob as of yet.

Honestly I usually use my CF card ALOT more then my SD card. Ummm..... can you "format" the card!??!!? I don't remember if you can nor do I want to do mine.
Rob

[Staz]

The only way I know of to format an SD card is in a card reader. And I have done that before. But this time it seems just dirty. It is still working find with only that one hiccup that lasted less than 5 seconds. I think repeated cleanings will have it right as rain.

Should I just use isoprofol alcohol and a q-tip to clean the contacts on the card itself?

You mainly use your CF slot??? If you look around SD cards are cheap (relitively). I got one on black friday 256mb for $50 with no rebates. I picked up that one at CompUSA yesterday for $6o with no rebates. Think I paid around $140 for the first card last year. This will leave your CF slot open for a WiFi card.

[robbie]

Yes I would love a Wi Fi as I have one at home and it should be quick and easy to set up.

If I can't find any SD cards in my neck of the woods maybe I'll just send you some money to get one for me.

Becuase the only "deal" I've found so far on a SD (haven't really looked much) is a 64 (could have been 32) for $12.99
Rob

[robbie]

Anybody have a new PDA?!?!?
Rob

[Aedan]

Originally Posted by Staz

It has had one hicc up since then, but that is enough for me to ask what is a safe way to clean the contacts on the card as well as the card slot?

Isopropyl alcohol and a lint free cloth? Basically, whatever you use to actually mechanically wipe the contacts must not leave any debris stuck to the contacts.

It used to be that a pencil eraser would do a good job of rubbing the dirt off edge connector contacts, but it might be hard to find one that'll fit! You'd need to make sure you use the eraser from the body of the card outwards, to ensure that none of the used rubber ends up inside the card.

[Enterra]

Originally Posted by robbie

Ummm..... can you "format" the card!??!!? I don't remember if you can nor do I want to do mine.
Rob

you can format the card by going to settings>system>format storage (at least you can on my ipaq 4350)