Firewire CF Card Reader

[mrbillf]

Hi All,

Just came across one of these http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Sandisk-FireWire-1394-CF-Card-Reader-40MB-Sec-0651_W0QQitemZ230160210577QQihZ013QQcategoryZ18872QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem and I was wondering if any of you boys & girls out there have one and could give us a valid comment on them with your experience. I'm thinking about getting one...

Regards
Bill

[Antsl]

Hi Bill,
I scored one of these card readers a few months and they are really good but to get the best benefit from them you really need to be using this with Sandisk Extreme IV cards..... thats when they really do download fast. My other Sandisk Extreme III cards download rather slow by comparison! Sorry, cant quote exact figures!
Ants

[big pix]

I have one of these and it is quite fast........ got it from d-d Photographics for $99......

[Mr Darcy]

I bought one only to discover I couldn't use it with my laptop.
The laptop has a 4 pin "Firewire" connection. The device needs either at full 6pin firewire connection, or ,to get its full potential, a Firewire 800 port.

Pam now uses it on her Mac. Speed on Extreme III cards seems similar to USB2.0, but as I am comparing Apples and Oranges, it is not a fair test. For that matter I have never actually timed it. Just a gut feel "this is acceptable" rating.

[mrbillf]

Thanks Ants, Yeah I have 1 Extreme IV 4gb card and a couple of 2GB III's.

Also Big Pix thankyou, I forgot about them I'll check them out as well, cos I can drop in person to pick up.

Mr Darcy, Good point. I will be using it on my iMac which I'm pretty sure it has 2 firewire 400 ports. Cool.

Thanks all, as always a mountain of information. Cheers,

Bill

[Onyx]

Rob Galbraith's flash cards test database has some figures if you're mathematically minded. As said, they're only optimal when combined with Extreme IV cards, or as other new cards come to market that support UDMA mode transfers.

I nearly picked one up myself, just for the sheer luxury of having one, when I was in the US (they go for around $US50 there). But I already have 3 USB card readers, 2 of which I hardly use - so I thought against it. If you're wanting the speed, they're certainly the way to go.