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I use an HP Pavilion dv6000 series laptop. Is there a way I can find out whether the card reader on this computer supports SDHC cards and what class?

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To clarify, I would like to use a Class 4 or Class 6 card but don't want to buy one if it isn't going to be read. –  ymasood Sep 7 '09 at 22:01
What exactly does it list your card reader as in device manager on your computer? –  Kez Sep 7 '09 at 23:09
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2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

The best place to check would be the specifications on HP's website or your box (if you still have it) or manual (you may not have a printed one, but there is almost certainly a PDF somewhere on the machine or the media that came with it.

If the official specifications state explicitly that SDHC is supported then it almost definitely is, if it doesn't then it almost certainly isn't.

If SDHC is supported then both class 4 and class 6 cards should work equally well.

Be careful with 4 GB cards - there was apparently some confusion in the standards around that point and there are some combinations of card and reader that do not like each other.

The "external media" PDF listed at this page for the machine only mentions SD, so you are probably out of luck. The search suggests that there were a couple of revisions of the mode, so you may want to look deeper.

If the machine itself doesn't support SDHC then USB readers for the format are cheap and easy to find. I have a couple of nice mini-USB-adaptors for microSDHC cards for my netbook (they stick out from the port by only about 5 mm) that were very inexpensive, cheap and haven't stopped working yet (these might not be the exact model, but they look very similar).

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i checked the HP spec sheet ... to no avail, even Ricoh, the card reader manufacturer won't tell. as for the 4GB cards you mention, SDHC is fine, true 2GB and 4GB SD cards, however, are very rare and better be avoided. my wee Eee PC 701 4G has a SD card reader which doesn't officially support SDHC and yet it works with just fine with any SDHC card i have tried (except for one 8GB Toshiba, which it reads alright, just for some reason doesn't want to write to it). –  Molly7244 Sep 7 '09 at 23:38
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Unfortunately, the best answer I can give you is that, no matter what the specs say, they may be wrong. Hopefully anything within the last two years should read SDHC.

Your best bet is to find a friend or coworker with an SDHC card to let you try it. If you don't have any friends with an SDHC card (or just don't have any friends...) then you can possibly go to a Best Buy or other retailer where there may be someone working that can help you try it out. I know that after being taken over by Tiger Direct, CompUSA seems to be more helpful if there is one in your area.

Some retailers will even sell you a card, let you try it in your laptop, and immediately return it if it doesn't work. Make sure you ask about this first as not all will do this, and you could be stuck.

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I noticed that my laptop, A Toshiba Satellite A100 series, seems to be able to read SDHC cards, up to a certain size. Although it seemed to have only been spec'd for SD cards, some SD cards seem to be readable. I also have a reader that was marked for SD cards, bu can read SDHC cards, up to a certain size. Strangely enough, I have a Creative Labs ZEN, which can read SDHC cards of any size when used as a card reader, but only up to 4G when playing MP3 files off the card. –  jfmessier Sep 8 '09 at 12:36
That's exactly the type of thing I was talking about. I have a printer that reads SD cards, but will only read certain cards that are 2GB. Granted it's not SDHC, but 2GB should work with the SD spec (in theory). –  Joshua Nurczyk Sep 8 '09 at 12:45
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