Sd Card Transfer Rate Options

[sedm0784]

Hi guys,

I'm looking at buying an SD card which I plan to format as ext2 (or ext3) and use for program installation/file storage, leaving my harddrive free for videos/mp3s/backups etc.

There seems to be a vast difference in advertised transfer rates for example:

Crucial 2GB, £16.44, (Minimum Transfer Rate): 6MB/s (40X)

Transcend 2GB, £22.74 (Maximum Transfer Rate): 22.5MB/s (150X)

My question is, will the difference in transfer rate really make a noticeable difference? Will my Zaurus actually be capable of making the most of this rate, or does it have its own limiting factors?

Specifically, I'm hoping that by installing XQt and Thunderbird on the SD card it will bring a marked improvement over my current setup, which is using meanie's cramfs images on the harddrive. Currently XQt seems fairly responsive, but Thunderbird is sluggish to the point of ridiculousness.

I've not been able to find anything about this on google or in the forums; the closest I've found is this page: http://www.tyrannozaurus.com/?q=wiki/SDCompatList

[dougeeebear]

If you scroll down that page, you will see this post of mine.
I performed a simple write speed test on three different cards.
It's not really conclusive, but it will give you an idea.

Doug