Flash Card Readers

Hi All,

As I am about to invest in a Lexar 2GB card - the next problem is download speed to my laptop.

At the moment I am using a multi-card reader that connects to my USB port in my Sony Vaio.

Would I get a faster download using the firewire connection? If so do you recommend a certain brand/model of reader?

thanks as always

ron

I have a Vaio 505

If your laptop has a "standard" 6pin firewire port, then you are in business. You can buy a Lexar firewire card reader for like 50 bux.

If your laptop only has an "i-link" port then that's another problem. i-link IS firewire, but Sony decided to split up the 4pin signal and the 2pin power into their own proprietary connector. I have yet to find a "converter plug." Anyone have any ideas - something to go from 6pin firewire to i-link.

The other alternative is to buy a firewire PCMCIA card for your laptop.

USB 2.0 is an option too.

Cheers

James

I really, really, really want a cardbus pc card reader for CF. I hear there's one out in the Japanese market. Anyone know of where we can get one here in the States?

Dunno, but I am in Japan til tomorrow if ya need someone to wrangle you one...

Sony dropped the 6 pin because it was too big and they didn't want to supply the power. It's easy to convert between 6-pin and 4-pin but you'll need to externally power your reader. That's why firewire readers are bad with PC notebooks on trips. Apple notebooks power the firewire ports, though. All USB readers will be bus-powered.

PCCard readers could be fast but they aren't. Cardbus readers would be fast if you could find them. I think USB2 is the most practical if you have the ports. I suffer with PCCard and USB1.1 and wish, like Eric, I could get a Cardbus reader instead.

Dunno, but I am in Japan til tomorrow if ya need someone to wrangle you one...

That would be fantastic. FANTASTIC. I know at least 5 people who might want one, but if you can get me one or two, I would be indebted to ya...

I use a Lexar FW reader with my Mac Ibook. Very fast and works flawlessly. Not wanting to start any systems flame wars. I just want to point out if you can get a FW reader to work with your computer they are great. I'd estimate 4 or 5x faster than the camera's download cables (usb with my 2 Nikons)

Eric,

Can you give me a brand or a model number so I can go by CompMart this evening and see if they have it?

--John

I don't have a brand, unfortunately. I just know that it is a PC card CF reader that supports Cardbus... !

Hi,

I do not know how many of you are mac-based or without a laptop. But for those

who own a standard laptop: Buy a PCMCIA Microdrive/CF-Card Reader! It's a very

fast solution compared to USB and the costs are really low! I was surprised to find

out about the speed as I did not expect much of a PCMCIA Card for 12 EURO.

Andi

Yeah. So what we're looking for is a cardbus version of a PC Card CF reader. The existing ones are actually quite slow compared with firewire/usb2.0, and worst of all, they use up almost all of the CPU while transferring, so you effectively can't use your machine for anything during that time. grrrr.

But I still use it., mostly because I don't have to drag around another piece of hardware. The reader just sits in my machine all the time.

Me too - less than 15 bux at Frys. But it's a drag if you only have one PC card slot on your laptop.

Cheers

James