What is the best way to use ReadyBoost on a Latitude E6500 with vista?

I wish to use ReadyBoost to speed up boots and switching between apps, as I am runnin in 32 bits I can only put 4GB of real ram in.

I don’t wish to use up one of my USB port. According to the manual, it has:

A CardBus slot
A ExpressCard slot Secure Digital (SD) Memory Card Reader
Cards supported:
- SD,
- SDIO,
- SD HC,
- Mini SD (with adapter)
- MMC,
- MMC+,
- Mini MMC (with adapter)
And some Mini-Card support (internal expansion slots) that can be used for Intel Flash Cache

So witch type of card should I use in witch slot?

How do I choose a good card of the above type?

Ian Ringrose

Posted 2010-07-18T08:49:29.747

Reputation: 1 262

Answers

I am going with a Secure Digital (SD) Memory card as it is cheap and easy.

A SSD (solid state drive) would improve my boot time a lot more, but costs a lot more and needs the OS to be reinstalled. A SD card with ReadyBoost will give a bit faster boot time with little cost of effort.

(So I have chosen the small gain for no pain option)

Ian Ringrose

Posted 2010-07-18T08:49:29.747

Reputation: 1 262

How has this worked out? I'm in the same situation and I'd like to order a high-speed SD card for my E6400, but I want to make sure you noticed a difference first. A high-speed USB drive makes a huge difference for me, but I'd like to throw an SD card in there and forget about it if it helps out as well. – SqlRyan – 2011-06-28T16:50:22.357

@rwmnau, the inprovement was not great but the cost was very low – Ian Ringrose – 2011-06-28T19:14:38.593

Thanks - I picked up a 16GB Class SD card from NewEgg for $22 today, so I can report how it goes. I'm not too hopeful, but it's significantly less than an SSD drive and it will stay inside the computer the entire time - even when I undock - and that's really what I want. Thank for the follow-up. – SqlRyan – 2011-06-28T23:12:16.370

I've been using the SD card for about a week now, and while not as pronounced as the improvement I got from my Patriot XT stick, it's definitely noticeably, and I've caught it not using my card by noticing the drop in performance. The SD card solution is ideal as well, because undocking my laptop doesn't interrupt the performance boost, as the SD card stays in place. For anybody contemplating this, I'd highly recommend it as a cheap performance improvement. The card I got is at http://tinyurl.com/5ttmpha, and it's down to $20.

– SqlRyan – 2011-07-12T17:06:21.807

Hmmm, what the reason to use ReadyBoost on a DELL's Latitude E6500??? It's not netbook, where RAM can not be set up more than 1 GB.

ReadyBoost is just replacing physical ram on start up, not even more. The SD (and other SD), MMC (and other MMC), xD, Prostick and other... they have had lower read/write rates than middle quality USB2.0 flash drives.

If you want fast booting up, replace your HDD (hard disk drive) with SSD (solid state drive).

Also you can use your cardbus slot to put in USB2.0 adaptor (now on market you can find USB3.0 adaptor - it's much better choice). So you can use any flash drive or connect an external HDD/SSD and see good performance using USB3.0 (but if you not planing connecting a SSD drive to it, so the USB2.0 have enough good speeds to handle your requests).

Anotomix

Posted 2010-07-18T08:49:29.747

Reputation: 657