Compact flash cards as RAM!?

Hey was reading ebay and someone was selling a j720 with a 128MB or whatever compact flash card giving it a totaslof 160mb ram!!! (numbers prolly not accurate, but it DID mean that the CF card added to the units ram) SOOO my question is if I were to buy a 128 or 256MB CF card for my J 720 would that give me the size of the card + the 32MB on board of ram??? IF so will this help the jornada run quicker or anyting?? thanx,

.....IB a n e

The seller is misleading.

The flash card is only for storage, either for intalling programs* or saving data. But it won't work as system memory, which is used when running stuff.

CF is much slower than internal RAM, and even for storage it is better to use RAM in certain cases.

*Note: not all programs can be installed on flash storage.

no sorry CF cant never replace ram...

wow i knew i should've checked before posting...

at least.. that was my 300th!

Hey, thanx guys

......IB a n e

congrats.

Edited by stingraze 2005-04-10 8:34 AM

Maybe you could remove the RAM daughterboard and place a CF card in it's place, then see if it works

Just kidding, you know?

Hey, ok to continure this topic then, do compact flash cards draw power from the unit to run, like a pcmcia card does. Basically could you have a Cf card in the unit all the time, and when you are installing software, install everything on teh cf card... thus leaving basically ALL your internal memory free for ram.. (minus whats on the rom already) would it be
1) practical
2 ) worth it??

......IB a n e

Yes they draw power in the same way, using the save prestart pins as PCMCIA.
I have my CF in it all of the time, and I install virtually everything onto it, including quick restore bits.

There are many things that you cannot install onto it though, drivers, system libraries, registry information, databases for example.
When you hard reset the device, you may have the applications on the CF, however you will not have the libraries or registry settings for the applications, and many of them will need to be reinstalled anyway to fix it.

Is it possible to have all your internal RAM free, no. Is it practical to install onto CF instead of main RAM, yes - with the exceptions outlined above.
Is it worth it, depends how often you hard reset and what type of applications you use.

For me it is.

hey thanx alot for that very comprehensive responce. Jeez... it's refreshing to post in a forum, and actually get a responce, which is more than a yes or a no, but has information, and depth to it. I love this place

....IB a n e

Hi, IBane. I use a CF card in my HPC all the time and I install most of my applications onto it - so yes, it does free up a lot of your internal RAM. I also a full backup my HPC, including the registry, to the CF card regularly. Thus, in the event of a Hard Reset, there's no need to reinstall ANY applications whatsoever. I just restore, and voila! All I have to do is clean-up the various Icons I don't need that from the desktop. HTH.