FASTMEMORYMAN

[sirhc55]

Fastmemoryman is an eBay seller of CF cards et al. Registered in the USofA.

I decided that as I’m a fairly tight bastard (ask Glen - my peer ) I would indulge this trait by buying an 8Gb CF card from this seller.

At $31.95 for an OEM (Samsung) high speed card and $12 postage it was a no brainer for a cheapskate.

So I paid my money and kept my fingers crossed Although the item was listed as being in Australia I half expected to receive a package from HK.

Seven days later my package arrived - from GERMANY. . .

Put the CF in my D300, formatted and fired away.

End result, fast card and so far no problems.

Do I recommend Fastmemoryman? Yes.

[Alpha_7]

Chris what brand of card is it ? Or does it appear to be ? That is a bloody good price!

[Marvin]

Wow, that is a great price!

[sirhc55]

Chris what brand of card is it ? Or does it appear to be ? That is a bloody good price!

Here’s the original link Craig

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280212739015

[Glen]

 PSD's seem redundant after that price

[Alpha_7]

PSD's seem redundant after that price

I contest they still have their place, that said with a 3" screen on a D300, image review is becoming a moot point.

[gstark]

PSD's seem redundant after that price

I contest they still have their place

I would challenge that.

Given the weight, size, and limited functionality, if you're traveling with a laptop, a PSD starts from a standpoint of being redundant and goes downhill from there.

Actually, and on second thoughts, you are correct: they do have a place. But that's a lot of money to pay for a paperweight.

[phillipb]

Hi Chris, I just bought some memory for my laptop from them. Just like you I got the parcel from Germany. Unfortunately it was not the one I was supposed to get, they offered exchange or refund but I would have to send back to the US and they would refund a maximum of US$10 for postage. Lucky it was ok for my son's laptop so I decided to keep it.

[dawesy]

if you're traveling with a laptop

That's a pretty large if. In the absence of a laptop a PSD has a number of advantages over 20+ CF cards.

[gstark]

if you're traveling with a laptop

That's a pretty large if.

I don't accept that. I've been using laptops for about 20 years now, and these days they're as cheap as chips. You can get one for not too much more than the cost of a PSD, so cost, clearly, is not going to be the issue.

At the very outside, use something like an ASUS eee (PP450), add an external HDD (320GB will cost about $100), and you're there, with way more functionality than any PSD can even hope to give you. But even a proper laptop can be had for just an extra hundred or so.

Thus, cost is not the issue.

So what is?

[dawesy]

Power, weight, desire to not have to deal with a computer anywhere near me on a holiday, desire to not buy another computer to do the job of a PSD...

[gstark]

Power, weight, desire to not have to deal with a computer anywhere near me on a holiday, desire to not buy another computer to do the job of a PSD...

The only one of those that is valid is a desire to not have a computer nearby when on holiday. That I can accept, but that is an issue of personal choice, and irrelevant to this discussion.

Power is not an issue: most laptops will have more power available between charges (longer usable life) than any PSD.

Weight: given that most of the weight in a PC comes from the exact same component that gives a PSD its weight, that's a rather spurious argument. Further, look at something like the Lenovo X300. Way lighter than any PSD, with way more functionality. No PSDs come with SSD memory to my knowledge, and thus they are actually now falling into an even bigger hole, because they cannot even claim any minimal weight advantage.

Job??? ROTFLAMO!

What, precisely, is the actual job that a PSD does? Remember that the purpose of the PSD is to try to replace the PC - not the other way around, as you seem to be suggesting - but it's a job in which it, IMHO, fails miserably, because its functionality is so heavily compromised by its very design parameters. It starts off severely crippled, and just goes downhill from there.

[DVEous]

... Obsolete ...

[Glen]

Adam, Chris is a tinny guy like that, seems to be able to pull a bargain out of a sows ear. Seems he was lucky and did that here.

[sirhc55]

Getting back on topic...

Do I recommend Fastmemoryman? Yes.

More fool you.
I purchased some DDR RAM from this con-artist back in February.
To cut a long boring story short, I have won a dispute I raised with PayPal after I hit a brick wall with this scammer.

I am not alone, in fact this guy has pissed off enough to have a discussion forum dedicated to him.
http://www.ev4.org/wordpress/2007/04/23/more-people-screwed-by-fastmemoryman/

Aside from a conflicting item description, my item was listed as being in Australia - half of the appeal of bidding on his auction.
The item WASN'T in Australia, and instead of taking several days to get here, it took several weeks.

Google fastmemoryman.
Once you discount the eBay hits for his items, about the only thing left are the disguntled comments about this schiester.

BUYER BEWARE

This may well be true, but I did receive the item and it does work. Now for the figures, in a 12 month period 158,150 positives, 3,213 neutral and 2,536 negatives. Like any voting system I weighed the figures and went with the positives.

So, we have 2,536 scams and 158,150 non-scams. And yes, I have read some of the comments on EV4 but have you read the forums on Dell, Sony, Gefen, Ford, Panasonic ad nauseam.

One last point, there are numerous scammers on Ebay as there are idiotic and moronic purchasers so it works both ways

[stubbsy]

What, precisely, is the actual job that a PSD does? Remember that the purpose of the PSD is to try to replace the PC - not the other way around, as you seem to be suggesting - but it's a job in which it, IMHO, fails miserably, because its functionality is so heavily compromised by its very design parameters. It starts off severely crippled, and just goes downhill from there.

Gary

I'm with Dawesy on this. I'd rather have a PSD any day. Your starting assumption "that the purpose of the PSD is to try to replace the PC" isn't necessarily the case. For me a PSD is a replacement for the tiny screen on the back of my camera and a data backup for my images - no more no less. In that regard it's as good as if not better than a PC. From a very quick search a driveless Vosonic 8360 (with a nice big 3.6 inch color TFT LCD) costs $341 delivered incl GST. Taking your price for the Asus eee as $450 with no drive the psd is $109 cheaper (so the Asus would cost me 30% more to buy). Throw in the fact I don't need to worry about adding software that can display my NEFs or import my card data and the PSD becomes a no brainer. It's an all in one preview and backup solution in a small form factor. If I needed a PC on the road I'd accept your argument. My view is a PSD makes sense for some (Dawesy and me for example ) while a PC makes sense for others. That view seems to be supported by the marketplace too. If everyone (or even a significant majority) thought a PC was a realistic, affordable substitute for PSDs then we wouldn't have the diverse range of PSDs for sale since no one would buy them.

Chris - apologies for the thread hijack

[wendellt]

theres still one good reason to use a psd

somehow i dont trust lugging around a number of 8gig cards they are small you can loose them in a flurry, well i can anyway

so i trust my epson p2000 it downloads while im on the fly, and its bigger so it's harder to loose

a laptop can do the same if it has a internal cf card reader but it is a much bigger machine to lug around

only prob with psd's is that they are slow at copying cards and the power doesnt last as long as i want

anyway great find chris

i just spent heaps on a transcend 266x card and i thought it was cheap but apparently not

[photohiker]

Horses for courses.

A trip with luggage, I'll tale the lappy everytime.

A Hike in the bush, I'll take enough CF cards and batteries to tide me over. If there is opportunity to store stuff somewhere for my return, I'll hide the eee and a good size HD in my luggage. I'd rather save the weight in the backpack than cart around either a PSD or Laptop- they're both going to weigh more and have battery problems if they get any use in the bush.

My 2c

Michael

[dawesy]

Power, weight, desire to not have to deal with a computer anywhere near me on a holiday, desire to not buy another computer to do the job of a PSD...

The only one of those that is valid is a desire to not have a computer nearby when on holiday. That I can accept, but that is an issue of personal choice, and irrelevant to this discussion.

This discussion is entirely about personal choice. The point is that PSDs have a place. Where you choose a laptop, others choose a PSD. That may come down to different requirements, however to suggest that your requirements are the only valid ones is, to be diplomatic, wrong.

Power is not an issue: most laptops will have more power available between charges (longer usable life) than any PSD.

So? It still runs out of power.

I am yet to find a laptop that runs on AA batteries, which I can get anywhere, nor am I yet to find one that comes bundled with a 12V charger. In fact many laptop chargers output at above 12V, meaning an inverter is going to be required for me to run it from a 12V source. Let's add some $ to that Laptop proposition.

Weight: given that most of the weight in a PC comes from the exact same component that gives a PSD its weight, that's a rather spurious argument. Further, look at something like the Lenovo X300. Way lighter than any PSD, with way more functionality. No PSDs come with SSD memory to my knowledge, and thus they are actually now falling into an even bigger hole, because they cannot even claim any minimal weight advantage.

Sure I can get a tiny light laptop, then hang an external USB drive off it... wait, isn't that just a PSD with no power, card reader or screen? What the hell do I want the laptop for then? To take a decent amount of storage I'm going to end up carrying more weight and needing more room with a laptop of any size. This may not affect your travel, but your means of travel is not the only one available.

Job??? ROTFLAMO!
What, precisely, is the actual job that a PSD does? Remember that the purpose of the PSD is to try to replace the PC - not the other way around, as you seem to be suggesting - but it's a job in which it, IMHO, fails miserably, because its functionality is so heavily compromised by its very design parameters. It starts off severely crippled, and just goes downhill from there.

No. Not even close.

It's job is not to replace a PC. If I wanted a PC, I'd take a laptop and deal with all the issues that presents. I don't. I want off line storage. To house my photos so I can erase my card and keep shooting. It's a simple job, which is why a simple device is all that is required. Why carry more components, that are more fragile, with more power requirements, when I can carry a simple, small box that does all I need? Why have another laptop sitting in my house that I don't even use as a computer?

[methd]

theres still one good reason to use a psd

... i dont trust lugging around a number of 8gig cards they are small you can loose them in a flurry, well i can anyway

so i trust my epson p2000 it downloads ...

That's a very different way of looking at it. Flash memory is a LOT more stable than HDD, that I'm sure of. So storing in flash is a lot more safer than on any storage device with a built in HDD.

[robert]

Flash memory is a LOT more stable than HDD, that I'm sure of. So storing in flash is a lot more safer than on any storage device with a built in HDD.

It seems this is also the case with Ipods- quote from Wiki

"A 2005 survey conducted on the MacInTouch website found that the iPod had an average failure rate of 13.7%. It concluded that some models were more durable than others.[52] In particular, failure rates for iPods employing hard drives was usually above 20% while those with flash memory had a failure rate below 10%, indicating poor hard drive durability"

off topic but interesting for anyone looking for portable storage

Robert

[ATJ]

What sort of raw processing do the PSDs do? i.e. is it ACR level (i.e. crap) or do you get to see the images as they really are as with ViewNX or CaptureNX?

[Alpha_7]

What sort of raw processing do the PSDs do? i.e. is it ACR level (i.e. crap) or do you get to see the images as they really are as with ViewNX or CaptureNX?

A lot of them just show the embedded jpeg, but it depends on the PSD.

[netsniper]

Hiya guys I have read this post with some interest and while there are some of you who think that Fastmemoryman may be the cats whiskers? just be very careful as ther are a lot of people out there who have lost their money you only have to google his name to see that or look at this site......http://fastmemoryman-emartbuy.tripod.com/

Just be careful chaps

Netsniper

[Shoot]

Yeah, I bought a few cards of this guy.
They came, eventually. 7 weeks overdue, and after a few messages to him ( through ebay ). What concerned me most of all about this seller was not the fact it took forever, but that when I asked questions I got a computer style generic reply to every one of my inquiries as to what the status was. After 7 weeks and the same 'we have no control over postal delays' type computer style reply to every one of my messages I pretty much said that if I got another generated message and no customer service I was going to Ebay to lodge a complaint. The cards arrived a few days later.

[RDW]

Hi Guys,

My two bob's worth on all of the above!

On Topic: Fastmemoryman. I've had three transactions with this trader over a couple of years. 1st. was 8Gb 150 x Samsung CF card supplied ex USA about 1 week. 2nd. was 16Gb 150 x Samsung CF card supplied ex US about 10 days. 3rd. was 8Gb 280 x Samsung CF card supplied ex Germany about 15 days. All cards are working superbly. Would I buy from this supplier again -- Yes. Would I recommend him for CF Cards -- Yes. Would I buy computer memory online -- No -- too many variables in specs.

Secondary Topic: PSD's v laptop. Horses for courses folk. All the options have their place, pros and cons. When buying anything related to electronics, the only thing you can really be sure about is that it will be superceded in specification, value and functionality very very quickly therefore rendering debate like this one as futile. Each of us tend to buy what we deem to suit our personal needs and budget restrictions at any given time. Debating or justifying our decision or preference is futile because even our own decisions and choices become irrelavent as more options become available. How long is the piece of string? That depends on whose piece of string it is!!!