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SD Card and USB C Cord Suggestions for Switch

jts

jts

...hate me...
SHarris78 said:
Sorry for the stupidity of the following (genuine) questions, but why are people buying these USB C cables and charging banks - the Switch comes with all you need to charge the tablet in the box?

Also, I've bought a 128gb Micro SD card ready for launch day - are Nintendo releasing new Switch top up ecards, can we use the existing Nintendo ecards, or is it top up by credit / debit card only?
Click to expand...

The Switch comes with everything, but when you take it on the go you don't want to unplug the USB-C charger from the dock every time. Obviously you will not take the dock with you either.

Besides that the power banks will enable you to charge it even away from mains power, like on the bus or whatever.
 
C

casey_contra

Member
SHarris78 said:
Sorry for the stupidity of the following (genuine) questions, but why are people buying these USB C cables and charging banks - the Switch comes with all you need to charge the tablet in the box?

Also, I've bought a 128gb Micro SD card ready for launch day - are Nintendo releasing new Switch top up ecards, can we use the existing Nintendo ecards, or is it top up by credit / debit card only?
Click to expand...

Yep, were all just looking for extras so we don't have to unplug the dock.

And you can use existing cards I believe.
 
C

CazTGG

Member
SHarris78 said:
Sorry for the stupidity of the following (genuine) questions, but why are people buying these USB C cables and charging banks - the Switch comes with all you need to charge the tablet in the box?

Also, I've bought a 128gb Micro SD card ready for launch day - are Nintendo releasing new Switch top up ecards, can we use the existing Nintendo ecards, or is it top up by credit / debit card only?
Click to expand...

1. The Switch has a very short battery life (2.5-6 hours depending on the game, brightness settings, etc.) so people are investing in a power bank to allow them to play for longer on the go i.e. during a long road trip, plane ride, etc.

2. Several of the power banks people purchased do not come with a USB-C charging cable, thus people are purchasing the appropriate one to be able to connect their preferred power bank and charge the Switch via the aforementioned bank.
 
J

jluedtke

Member
I picked up the 200GB on Amazon using the BIGTHANKS code. $65 (after tax) is a great price for that card, I think.

Regarding the card, when I get the Switch, can I just pop out the 32GB one, put in my 200GB one and go? Or is there some formatting/transferring I need to do first?
 
W

wonderpug

Neo Member
jluedtke said:
I picked up the 200GB on Amazon using the BIGTHANKS code. $65 (after tax) is a great price for that card, I think.

Regarding the card, when I get the Switch, can I just pop out the 32GB one, put in my 200GB one and go? Or is there some formatting/transferring I need to do first?
Click to expand...

The 32GB is internal, so there's nothing to take out. I'm pretty sure the 200GB would just add on.
 
Darklor01

Darklor01

Might need to stop sniffing glue
jluedtke said:
I picked up the 200GB on Amazon using the BIGTHANKS code. $65 (after tax) is a great price for that card, I think.

Regarding the card, when I get the Switch, can I just pop out the 32GB one, put in my 200GB one and go? Or is there some formatting/transferring I need to do first?
Click to expand...

I would think you pop it in and the system should do what needs to be done to format it.
 
E

ecosse_011172

Junior Member
jluedtke said:
I picked up the 200GB on Amazon using the BIGTHANKS code. $65 (after tax) is a great price for that card, I think.

Regarding the card, when I get the Switch, can I just pop out the 32GB one, put in my 200GB one and go? Or is there some formatting/transferring I need to do first?
Click to expand...

There is no 32GB card, it's on-board flash memory.
Just pop in the card and you'll no doubt be prompted to format.
 
V

Voror

Member
So do the physical carts install on the system or would you only be taking up a lot of memory if you went full digital?
 
S

SHarris78

Member
Thanks guys for the reasoning behind people buying USB C cables / docks, I won't need them for my needs so that some cash saved!

Are current Nintendo ecards definitely confirmed to work on Switch, been googling for a while but can't get anything official?
 
K

Kade

Member
Ended up ordering this Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C powerbank and have been using it for my other USB-C devices no problem. I hope it plays nice with the Switch. Still undecided on a storage solution since I'm probably going to keep buying physical games but I did end up amassing a lot of downloadable titles on my 3DS over the years. That 200GB SanDisk microSD looks like a good option but I'm hoping I can get it cheaper in CAD sometime down the line. I'm really looking forward to my commute the Monday after launch and will share my experiences with whoever is interested in that powerbank.
 
C

CazTGG

Member
SHarris78 said:
Thanks guys for the reasoning behind people buying USB C cables / docks, I won't need them for my needs so that some cash saved!

Are current Nintendo ecards definitely confirmed to work on Switch, been googling for a while but can't get anything official?
Click to expand...

Unconfirmed; we've seen a flyer advertise eShop cards on the same page as the Nintendo Switch, but that's all we know so far. Hold out for a few more days and we'll know for sure once the embargo lifts.
 
Okami Haundo

Okami Haundo

Member
CazTGG said:
Unconfirmed; we've seen a flyer advertise eShop cards on the same page as the Nintendo Switch, but that's all we know so far. Hold out for a few more days and we'll know for sure once the embargo lifts.
Click to expand...

Just to temper expectations here, we may not know this information once the embargo lifts. Ars Technica recently published an article in which they stated that online features won't be available until day one.
 
J

JoeM86

Member
Burdmayn said:
Just to temper expectations here, we may not know this information once the embargo lifts. Ars Technica recently published an article in which they stated that online features won't be available until day one.
Click to expand...

But we know eShop will be because that's when you can get the Zelda Expansion Pass and some games.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Well regardless thanks for the heads up op. I've been waiting to see if the 209 gb micro SD went down in price since late last year, it hasnt so I went ahead and grabbed it. And also grabbed the USB C 10 foot cable you listed. Ready for this.
 
K

Kade

Member
superchunk said:
Couple questions.

1) Switch AC adapter has a large end. I suspect that using any ol USB-C charger from say a phone etc, would potentially cause problems.

Can I use, for instance, the USB-C charger I received for my Pixel phone?
Click to expand...

It'll probably work to be honest but it's not recommended to interchange AC adapters from different devices.
 
Okami Haundo

Okami Haundo

Member
JoeM86 said:
But we know eShop will be because that's when you can get the Zelda Expansion Pass and some games.
Click to expand...

Absolutely! I was under the impression that the person I replied to was talking about the "preview embargo" that lifts tomorrow. From the comments by Ars Technica, it seems that review outlets can't play around with those features yet. As such, we won't know anything else until launch unless Nintendo does their own video.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Do standard wall chargers we've used for our phones/tablets thatyou plug in the regular USB (type a) work with the USB type A to type C cables?

I don't want to have to get yet another device if I don't need to
 
Okami Haundo

Okami Haundo

Member
Admiral Woofington said:
Do standard wall chargers we've used for our phones/tablets thatyou plug in the regular USB (type a) work with the USB type A to type C cables?

I don't want to have to get yet another device if I don't need to
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure on how USB-C would be an issue there but I think you're good. That being said, the Switch needs at least 18W for portable mode and most phone/tablet chargers max out at 12W or so. You'd wanna check on that before-hand.
 
K

Krakatoa

Member
Voror said:
Gotcha. Thanks! Toying with the 200 but may go the 128 since for the most part I'll probably be physical for this and I'd think that would be enough. Unless the save files end up being huge.
Click to expand...

I assume DLC will also be saved to storage.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Burdmayn said:
I'm not 100% sure on how USB-C would be an issue there but I think you're good. That being said, the Switch needs at least 18W for portable mode and most phone/tablet chargers max out at 12W or so. You'd wanna check on that before-hand.
Click to expand...
Welp

Thanks for the heads up. Went ahead and got an 18w power adapter as Ill be playing this in portable often enough since I enjoy background noise from my TV
 
jts

jts

...hate me...
Burdmayn said:
I'm not 100% sure on how USB-C would be an issue there but I think you're good. That being said, the Switch needs at least 18W for portable mode and most phone/tablet chargers max out at 12W or so. You'd wanna check on that before-hand.
Click to expand...

But does it charge while in standby or off at 12W; and, still with 12W, does it at least slow down battery usage?

If these things were proportional, charging at 12W while drawing 18W of power would make for a net battery usage of 6W, which is a third of 18W, so it would triple the battery life. Zelda goes up from 3.5 hours to 10.5 hours.

Don't mind me if I just said something awful, I'm just a moron here trying to discuss electrics.
 
Okami Haundo

Okami Haundo

Member
jts said:
But does it charge while in standby or off at 12W; and, still with 12W, does it at least slow down battery usage?

If these things were proportional, charging at 12W while drawing 18W of power would make for a net battery usage of 6W, which is a third of 18W, so it would triple the battery life. Zelda goes up from 3.5 hours to 10.5 hours.

Don't mind me if I just said something awful, I'm just a moron here trying to discuss electrics.
Click to expand...

No idea on that one! In theory it should, but I haven't tested anything like that. I'm just going off the power requirements listed on the back of the console. I think technically their spec is a minimum of 15W, but their licensed car charger is 18W.

I know that trying to charge my iPad via my iPhone charger basically did nothing unless the device on off or in standby. At most it would slightly slow down the overall drain as you stated. I'm pretty sure that's bad for the life of the battery in the long run though.
 
P

PSGames

Junior Member
If you're going mostly physical I would think the internal storage would be enough for patches and DLC for a couple years at least. By then larger storage will be available at cheaper prices.
 
E

EDarkness

Member
Kade said:
Ended up ordering this Anker PowerCore+ 20100 USB-C powerbank and have been using it for my other USB-C devices no problem. I hope it plays nice with the Switch. Still undecided on a storage solution since I'm probably going to keep buying physical games but I did end up amassing a lot of downloadable titles on my 3DS over the years. That 200GB SanDisk microSD looks like a good option but I'm hoping I can get it cheaper in CAD sometime down the line. I'm really looking forward to my commute the Monday after launch and will share my experiences with whoever is interested in that powerbank.
Click to expand...

That's the micro SD card I bought. I think it'll be plenty since I'm going physical when possible and I don't think the games I'll be buying digitally will be all that large. The first game I'm gonna buy this way will be I Am Setsuna on launch day. 200GB plus the 26.6GB internally should be more than enough until they let us use HDDs.
 
S

shiyrley

Banned
Do you guys think a 2.4A powerbank will be able to actually charge while playing in portable mode with the Google USB A to C cable? If it doesn't, I'll end up selling it and getting a USB-C powerbank that's tested to work with the Switch.
 
M

MiddeSummer

Banned
Darklor01 said:
IMO maybe wait until after launch for proper verified info on which power bank, cord, charger work best. Most of us are just guessing what should work/work best.
Click to expand...

It's really confusing that the iMuto page is already saying this device supports the Switch. What aren't you telling us, iMuto??
 
H

H3xum

Member
I have been avoiding buying a card thinking they will eventually allow hard drives, but, idk, I should just pull the trigger on at least a 128
 
D

DragonNC

Member
casey_contra said:
Sorry for another Switch thread. Coming into new, big purchases, I like to do what I can to spread out the spending. Right now the most I can do is look into SD cards (128 or 256) and a good USB-C cord (or two, one super long!) so I'm ready to go 3/3/17

The problem is that there are so many options out there! Plus I hear a lot about USB-C safety and what's good and what's not. Naturally, I look to gaf for some suggestions and I'm sure we'll also start some good discussions about this type of tech.

Finally, if we get enough good, solid recommendations then I'll update this post so people can easily check and see what the community likes.

Thanks everyone :) I honestly don't even know where to begin aside from Google and Amazon.

Edit: Following are some recommendations from this thread

Micro SD

SanDisk Ultra 200GB Micro SD $59.00- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V62XBQQ/?tag=neogaf0e-20

PNY Elite-X 32GB microSDHC Card $14.99 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G26R0BM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Samsung 128GB 80MB/s EVO Select Micro SDXC Memory Card $39.99 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DOB6YW4/?tag=neogaf0e-20

USB Type C

Here are some USB-C recommendations from this thread – RustySpoon posted this spreadsheet from a Google engineer who is really invested in investigating USB-C. Every recommendation has passed the “Benson Leung” test.

iOrange-E Braided USB C Charger Cable (6.6ft) $10.99 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010VFFU1W/?tag=neogaf0e-20

iOrange-E Braided USB C Charger Cable (10ft) $13.99 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016ZYUDT2/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Anker PowerLine+ USB-C to USB 3.0 cable (6ft) $12.99 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M5GMZ6X/?tag=neogaf0e-20


Bonus Power Bank: Anker PowerCore 20100 (4.8A) $39.99 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X5RV14Y/?tag=neogaf0e-20



Edit: here is my official pre-Switch haul.

- iOrange 10ft USB C to A
- 2 Anker wall units (one for iOrange cord another for the USB C to A included with the Pro Controller
- 200GB SanDisk microSDXC card

KRFJIlg.jpg
Click to expand...

For powerbank I will sugest you this one
http://www.gearbest.com/power-banks/pp_491119.html?wid=21
 
Darklor01

Darklor01

Might need to stop sniffing glue
MiddeSummer said:
It's really confusing that the iMuto page is already saying this device supports the Switch. What aren't you telling us, iMuto??
Click to expand...

Lol. I didn't read the whole thing. Just looked at the volts and amps. It should charge, not sure on speed or how well during play.
 
Okami Haundo

Okami Haundo

Member
H3xum said:
I have been avoiding buying a card thinking they will eventually allow hard drives, but, idk, I should just pull the trigger on at least a 128
Click to expand...

I don't plan on using an external hard drive, but my thinking was just to go with the largest amount of memory for the cheapest available price. 200Gb cards just seem... off to me for lack of a better word, so I grabbed a 128Gb for $40.
 
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