USB 3.0 Reader?

sdipirro wrote in post #10076867
And that's what I have. I left out the "Pro" when I posted my reply.

Left out the "Pro" and added the "IV".

sdipirro wrote in post #10076867
I definitely see a speed difference between Firewire 800 and USB 2.0.

How would you qualify the difference from your practical experience? Did your computer come with a Firewire port (a Mac perhaps?) or did you specifically buy it for downloading CF cards?

Well, it's a little embarrassing. I had the new pro udma card, but it was taking forever to upload stuff from my existing USB 2.0 card reader. I did some research and ordered the Lexor Firewire card reader, not realizing it was Firewire 800 and the port on my computer was the older 6-pin 1394 Firewire 400. I bought a converter cable, but that didn't work. I returned the card reader for another, and it still didn't work with the converter cable. Then I decided to order a Firewire 800 PCI card, only to discover that I had no available PCI slots and just one PCI Express slot. So I returned the PCI card and ordered a PCI express card, and finally I got it to work...and, yes, all this to just upload faster from my CF cards. It's faster but probably not worth the effort I went through. But once in the thick of it, I was determined just to get the damn thing to work! Some folks have measured the speed difference and said they get about 2x the USB 2.0 readers. I haven't measured it, but it feels about like that in my experience.

And, yes, I meant "Lexar" and not "Lexor!"

sdipirro wrote in post #10079223
Well, it's a little embarrassing. I had the new pro udma card, but it was taking forever to upload stuff from my existing USB 2.0 card reader. I did some research and ordered the Lexor Firewire card reader, not realizing it was Firewire 800 and the port on my computer was the older 6-pin 1394 Firewire 400. I bought a converter cable, but that didn't work. I returned the card reader for another, and it still didn't work with the converter cable.

I imagine that it wouldn't. If only a cable could turn a slower protocol into a faster one.

sdipirro wrote in post #10079223
It's faster but probably not worth the effort I went through. But once in the thick of it, I was determined just to get the damn thing to work! Some folks have measured the speed difference and said they get about 2x the USB 2.0 readers. I haven't measured it, but it feels about like that in my experience.

That's pretty much in line with the specs (480 Mb/s for USB 2.0 vs. 800 Mb/s for Firewire 800). But in spite of achieving almost double the speed of USB 2.0, you're still saying that it's not worth the effort?

It wasn't necessarily worth the effort that I put in, with all the miscues. I should have done more homework up front and ordered the right stuff from the start. In the end, it's nice having the extra speed after a day-long shoot and CF card full of pictures to upload.

I see what you mean. Well, all's well that ends well.