Is the PCMCIA faster than USB.

[tpinchback]

I have a PCMCIA slot in my laptop and I did not know if USB 1.1 was faster, or the PCMCIA slot for downloading pictures.

[Morden]

I have a PCMCIA slot in my laptop and I did not know if USB 1.1 was faster, or the PCMCIA slot for downloading pictures.
On my IBM ThinkPad laptop, the PCMCIA slot is not as fast as a USB 1.1 card reader, though there isn't much difference.

[Jim_T]

I've never measured the difference, but I can't really see any speed advantage between them.

I leave my USB reader on the main computer and use the PCMCIA slot on the laptop..

I find the PCMCIA adapter is much smaller and because it has no wires and plugs, it's easier to carry when I'm on the road.. It fits nicely in my camera bag.

[tpinchback]

I like the card slot better too, just because I can leave it in my laptop and not have to worry about annoying wires. Just curious how much speed (if any) I lost by doing it this way.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Two part answer

1. The PCM-CIA slot ahs the potential to be some 133X (or more) faster than a USB 1 port. (which is much faster than any CF card could ever keep up with)

2. The only PCM-CIA CF card readers that take adavatage f the PCM-CIA slots speed are called "Card-Bus"


The standard CF adapters which can be found for as little as $8.00 or should at least match the speed of USB1... the new Cardbus adapters will out pace any card yet designed,. btu cost about $45.00 or so.

Defineately get an $8.00 one if nothing else and speed be damned. No cable, nothing extra to carry,. just leave it in the laptop slot,. after all,. the point of a laptop is to be portable.

Here's one for $10.00

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=1&sumit=Go&description=20 %2D171%2D042&searchdepa=1

[CyberDyneSystems]

A 32 bit Card bus adapter for extreme speed :)

http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/product_info.php?cPath=23_78&products_id=389

Note your laptop has to have 32bit Card bus PCM-CIA slots. Otherwise you will get standard 16 speeds.

[Jesper]

I don't know if PCMCIA is faster than USB 2.0 or Firewire - it's certainly faster than USB 1.1.

PCMCIA, USB 2.0 and Firewire are all MUCH faster than the read and write speed of the fastest CF cards. The speed will be limited by the CF card, not the interface.

[evilenglishman]

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[sjprg]

I don't remember the PCMCIA specs but I can run external SCSI hard drives with it. I would say it is probably in the 10Mhz range so your CF card would have to be in the naborhood of 1000X to overrun it.

[dtrayers]

I was using a Dazzle brand PCMCIA reader in an IMB Thinkpad, and then upgraded to a Delkin Cardbus32 reader. I did a little testing comparing the two with three different cards and posted the results in this thread:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=20331

I found that the speed depends on the card and also if it's reading or writing. Typically, in our applications we're reading.

Here's the summary:

http://home.comcast.net/~dtrayers/photos/CFSpeeds.jpg