they are no longer sealed. I said they have no packaging above. but I'm sure I can still return to Amazon without the packaging. I'm not worried about that. i just feel at ease with as much as I can, but I swear I won't buy another, even if they come back in stock. i think one extra is good, but 2? that's a little absurd. and technically i needed 2 for SW1 as my current one is nearly full, so if i was going to keep playing on it, i would have had to use another 1.5 microSD, but no, I didn't need 2 extra. 1 would have been perfectly fine. as is the case here as well.

now, on to our regularly scheduled posting...

Man those cards are expensive! I didn't realize it was quite that much. I was planning on getting one, but now I'm not sure I will. Might just hang with a 256 for a while.
Congrats on being probably the only person to spend more on memory cards for their new handheld system than they paid for the system itself. 😁

What is the difference between the new and old SD cards? Is it way faster or something?

Nearly 10X the speed, yeah, plus they're more durable and have better error correction.

What does durability mean in this context? The one in my Switch is like 7 years old and doesn't seem to be 'wearing out' or anything.

I was just going from a summary I read, but it sounds like higher quality components and better thermal protection. It was about the format as a whole and not as it relates to the Switch specifically. I don’t remember when I got my (first and only) microSD card for the Switch — I really got it for my wife’s Animal Crossing screenshots and videos — but it’s been years, and I haven’t had any issues either.

Number of read/write cycles. Mostly writing to the memory card. All memory has a theoretical maximum number of times you can write to it. In most applications you won't get nearly to that number for decades. But certain applications, like dash cams, can get up to that max and wear out the memory card relatively quickly since they are continually writing to it. So typically you should buy "high endurance" cards that have a longer lifespan in terms of read write cycles. NVME drives express this as TBW (Terabytes Written) The higher the number the higher the theoretical limit of data you can write to the drive.

Not sure if endurance is as much of a concern with the Switch 2 as it would only write to it once and then read the game off of the memory card. So I think it's the read speed that's more important here.

I have to say that in certain ways Nintendo is still at the cutting edge of technology. With the first Switch I was really pleased they were using USB C when it was still somewhat new. And now microSD express cards which I hadn't even heard of. And knowing Nintendo I'm pretty sure it requires those speeds otherwise they probably would use the cheaper technology.

i'm returning one of them. thanks to all for the advice...

Print label & instructions Email copy of label
All items must be sent by May 28, 2025.

Additional instructions for mailing your package

• Ensure that there are no other tracking labels attached to your package. If you are shipping a non-hazardous item, completely remove or cover any hazardous materials markings.
• Affix the mailing label squarely onto the address side of the parcel, covering up any previous delivery address and barcode without overlapping any adjacent side.
• If your package fits in your mail box or a postal box, deposit your package for your postal carrier to pick it up. If your package does not fit, bring it to any Post Office.
• To find your closest Post Office or USPS Collection Box, visit the USPS locator or go to www.usps.com and select Find USPS Locations.
• To ensure safe transportation, the battery must be returned inside the product.

Return Mailing Label

Cut this label and affix to the outside of the return package

Return Authorization Slip

Place this barcode and item description inside your return package (in case your mailing label gets damaged).

Yes! My plan worked. Now I can pick up a cheap, returned microSD express card!



Did we talk about Amazon's fake memory card problem yet? I think I've talked about it elsewhere on this forum. But Amazon has a fake memory card (and other highly faked products like dewalt rechargeable batteries) because they practice comingling products. So basically with all of the third parties that sell on Amazon Amazon offers to hold on to their stock at their warehouse for a fee. They accept whatever stock 3rd parties send them and they put them in the same exact bin as the stock the get from the manufacturers. So there's a decent chance you can get a fake memory card from Amazon even if you buy it directly from them. I no longer buy batteries or memory cards or anything else that can be faked from Amazon. And generally if I can I'd rather buy it from a different store.

So make caveat emptor on buying memory cards from Amazon. And if you do make sure you test them out before the return period using this program.

https://h2testw.org/

I honestly don't think you need even one extra, for all the reasons above, especially if you are keeping your switch 1 and those memory cards and aren't moving everything over. I've never even heard of someone switching memory cards on a switch 1 to play different games.

In fact on my switch 1 I find myself running out of internal space (since some data and all the saves have to go there) more than microsd space since I upgraded to 1tb or whatever.

my SW1 will be put away (either sell it or give it away) when 2 comes out. so, it's not like i can use the SW1 cards with SW2.

If you have 2TB worth of saved games on your SW1 why would you get rid of it? Most games will have no upgrades and I'm sure you haven't even touched the majority of the switch 1 games you bought yet.

but, won't all those games on my SW1 microSD that were saved to the cloud be able to be transferred to SW2?

Yes, most will. They will also be taking up the same amount of space on your new, more expensive memory cards. For someone who actually switches memory cards to have games at hand, I don't get why you wouldn't just keep your old system around and just use the new system for new and/or updated games.

but why would I need the old system when the new system plays all games from SW1?

I would hold off on getting rid of your OG Switch. Seems like backwards compatibility may be emulated? So I would make sure everything works first before getting rid of it.

This will be an odd question, but need to know. Does anyone know what shipping service Walmart uses on electronics like this? Thanks in advance.

If they're getting it to you same day, at least here they'll use independent drivers like most of their same day deliveries from local stores. But I don't know for sure. I'm pretty sure I've gotten packages from Walmart via UPS, Fedex, and Ontrac before.

As long as it’s not USPS, I’m a very happy camper.

Yeah, the promise of launch-day delivery by 9 AM makes me think it'll be along those lines.

They’re really promising that? Wow. That’s pretty great.

Yup!

that's terrific. I'm glad I got from them.

Cool, I'll take it.

Ssssshhh!!!

i bought a 5 HDMI switch (no pun intended) so I may still keep it attached, but i would still transfer most my games to SW2. that'll work right? i don't think i need a different/another console attached.