What kind of CF Card Reader to get?


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SNAG

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I'm intending to get a new CF card reader (and if possible, those 7-in-1 card readers.) I'm looking for a USB 2.0 (preferably dual FW/USB2.0 interface) reader, and my main concern is speed. A small question: Does the FW interface offer a faster speed than USB 2.0?

Just to ask, are there any differences between readers by card manufacturers (ie, Lexar, Sandisk), and those made by 3rd party manufacturers - in terms of R/W speed and reliability. I saw one at Chamoxa that offers 7-in-1 card reading, and with a FW and USB 2.0 port.
Sweet.

Can anyone recommend me a particular brand, and how much does it cost?

Thanks!
 

my 3rd USB card reader spoil liao

want to get a firewire reader for faster speed

but some PC dun have firewire port, so i need a USB reader also

SNAG, what is the brand that chamoxa is selling? the one with BOTH firewire and USB 2.0 port...

thanks
 

the chamoxa one sounds interesting... would like to find out more about it too

personally speaking, i use a USB 2.0 reader 6-in-1 on a PIII desktop and a Lexar FW CF reader on a G3 ibook. the Lexar FW on the ibook downloads faster I feel, based on recent experiences with Sandisk Extreme cards. on my PC somehow the transfer speed is inconsistent... not sure what the problem is.

rob galbraith's site also has a CF card - reader performance database. the Lexar FW should cost around $79.
 

sandisk firewire card reader! FW is much faster thn USB 2.0. FW + Ultra II or Extreme.

used on ibook and powerbook before. fastest u can get. make sure u have a 6pin FW port.
 

davsmiths said:
sandisk firewire card reader! FW is much faster thn USB 2.0. FW + Ultra II or Extreme.

used on ibook and powerbook before. fastest u can get. make sure u have a 6pin FW port.

wrong...the fastest u can get on a powerbook is 32-bit cardbus PCMCIA CF reader :p

if you think firewire is fast...wait till you try the cardbus reader...i was shocked when i see the result, the different between cardbus and firewire is huge :bigeyes:
 

You know, from what i do, specs wise, USB 2.0 is faster than firewire... I too intends to get a faster solution than my canon mp730 built in reader... I can't just sit and wait for over half and hour just to transfer a couple hundred megs to the com...

6 pin FW... how to check if it's 6 or 12? hahah had only been using my vidcam with the firewire...
 

USB2.0 specs 'seems' faster than FW because everyone measures the gross data throughput. This includes the control signals and synchronisation signals.

An analogy would be a ferrari can run faster than a bus but carries only 1 passenger at a time. The passenger being the data of your picture. And the bus/car being the control and sync signal. So which entire tour group will reach KL first? The faster ferrari or the tour bus?

FW uses less control and sync signals for every packet of data compared to USB2.0. But USB2.0 has higher data throughput.

Kinda cheat on specs here eh?

32bit card bus :thumbsup: blazing fast.. it's like having 32 ferraris running in paralell.. :bsmilie:

I use a $18 USB2.0 12-in-1 reader from sls. not bad.
 

Wai said:
my 3rd USB card reader spoil liao

want to get a firewire reader for faster speed

but some PC dun have firewire port, so i need a USB reader also

SNAG, what is the brand that chamoxa is selling? the one with BOTH firewire and USB 2.0 port...

thanks

Erm, this one I can't remember the brand... But this is to be mounted on the PC itself (in the 3 1/2" floppy bay), and the ports on the reader are just external connectors (they need to be connected to the internal FW / USB2 connectors in your PC)

Price I also can't remember. :embrass:
 

yanyewkay said:
USB2.0 specs 'seems' faster than FW because everyone measures the gross data throughput. This includes the control signals and synchronisation signals.

An analogy would be a ferrari can run faster than a bus but carries only 1 passenger at a time. The passenger being the data of your picture. And the bus/car being the control and sync signal. So which entire tour group will reach KL first? The faster ferrari or the tour bus?

FW uses less control and sync signals for every packet of data compared to USB2.0. But USB2.0 has higher data throughput.

Kinda cheat on specs here eh?

32bit card bus :thumbsup: blazing fast.. it's like having 32 ferraris running in paralell.. :bsmilie:

I use a $18 USB2.0 12-in-1 reader from sls. not bad.

Flare, to answer your question, there's no 6/12 pin Firewire port, only 4/6 pin Firewire (but I am not sure about Firewire 800). The small pin (4) are the ones that you see on your digital video cameras. The big pin (6) are the ones that you see on your PC itself.

Just a thought: Anyone has seen/used a Firewire 800 reader before?

EDIT: Just went to Rob's site, and saw the new Sandisk USB2 reader that takes advantage of CF revision 3.0 (ie, the new Extreme III series) cards. That is something worth looking out for...
 

SNAG said:
Flare, to answer your question, there's no 6/12 pin Firewire port, only 4/6 pin Firewire (but I am not sure about Firewire 800). The small pin (4) are the ones that you see on your digital video cameras. The big pin (6) are the ones that you see on your PC itself.

Just a thought: Anyone has seen/used a Firewire 800 reader before?

EDIT: Just went to Rob's site, and saw the new Sandisk USB2 reader that takes advantage of CF revision 3.0 (ie, the new Extreme III series) cards. That is something worth looking out for...

Ah my bad, so i guess i shouldn't have any problems then. Hmm, so I guess it's time for me to find a firewire card reader. :D
 

SNAG said:
Erm, this one I can't remember the brand... But this is to be mounted on the PC itself (in the 3 1/2" floppy bay), and the ports on the reader are just external connectors (they need to be connected to the internal FW / USB2 connectors in your PC)

Price I also can't remember. :embrass:

hmm...looking for something more portable :dunno:
 

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