USB 1.0 to Firewire reader.

[martcol]

I have just moved from a USB 1.0 to Firewire card reader and the difference is amazing. I got a little round pot thingy from Sandisk and it plugs in to my lap top (via a hub) with other things. I can even access Raw images as though it were an additional drive using C1.

My old USB reader (cheapo) used to hog the whole of my 1GB of Ram when downloading from a 512MB card. I couldn't even play Free Cell!

I wish I had done this a year ago!

Martin

[gkas]

A USB 2.0 card reader is also the same speed as FireWire, and they're only about $10 from Fry's or mail order. All the FireWire cards I looked at were $40+. Good, but pricey.

[karusel]

I second that. 8) Firewire is an excellent choice, minus the cost.

[CyberDyneSystems]

A USB 2.0 card reader is also the same speed as FireWire, and they're only about $10 from Fry's or mail order. All the FireWire cards I looked at were $40+. Good, but pricey.

Yes... but part of the advantage of Firewire that Martcol is writing about is it's inherent lack of a need to rely on system resources to operate.. IE CPU cycles and RAM...

Firewire.. (like SCSI) has it's own robust controller that makes it far LESS taxing to a system use.. (and more expensive to produce)

[martcol]

I'm not knowledgable about computers and was reluctant to go towards Firewire. Also I use a laptop that's a year old so adding cards to that is not easy (possible?) The difference in price between a Firewire reader and USB 1.0 is about 3 times but we're only talking under £40.00 for the FW reader. The improvement to my quality of life is enormous! My reluctance to use FW was mostly about benefits of date transfer speed but that is only part of the story. So, I used to think what difference does it make if a photo downloads in 10 seconds or 15 (or whatever)? But the othere benefits are as if not more, important.

Martcol

[Laziferous]

Also I use a laptop that's a year old so adding cards to that is not easy (possible?).

Martcol
The good thing about a laptop, is just being able to plug a card into the PCMCIA slot. You don't need to open anything. I have a USB 2.0/Firewire adapter for my laptop. It was about $40 US. Works out nicely since I have an old IBM Thinkpad 600. It only had 2 USB 1.1 ports and the inability for an internal CD-RW. I got an external that runs through the USB 2.0 port, so now my ancient laptop, can burn a disc at 52x... not to mention accomodate any card reader I wish to plug into it. Of course, that's redundant, since I also have a PCMCIA compact flash reader :shock: