OT - TF card vs microSD card?

Feb 23, 2021 Last reply: 5 years ago 8 Replies

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David 5 years ago

I've just seen details of a device which uses a TF card.

Hadn't heard of this before so I tried to look it up but the information seems to be a bit garbled and different depending on where you look.

I THINK that a TF card is a subset of a microSD card. That is, it has the same basic functionality but doesn't come with a write protect tab or extra data channels for use e.g. as a bluetooth adapter.

However it might just be an early name for a microSD card.

Or not.

Anyone know for sure?

Cheers

Dave R

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Information here may be outdated?

Jimmy Stewart ... 5 years ago

same as far as I can see...chinky stuff all mentions tf cars insread of micro sd

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Theo 5 years ago

They're the same. Vendors have to pay to use the SD card trademarks, so cheapskate (mostly Chinese) vendors instead say they have a TF slot.

TransFlash was an early name for the cards before the SD Card Association got involved, and presumably the trademark protection on that isn't as strong as the SD trademarks.

Theo

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John Rumm 5 years ago

Don't think a micros SD has a write protect tab either (unless you put it into a MicroSD to SD card adapter.

I get the impression that its basically an old name for what we now call a microSD - that went out of use when the SD consortium bought the technology, but it has gained some use again (possibly due to licensing issues with the SD consortium).

There is a somewhat garbled article here:

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