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Card reader for digital camera
- Thread starter Mala
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Kodak card reader here. Works nice. Not to pricey, 30 USD or something... can read 3 kinds of formats.
What drivers?
I simply plug the card reader into the keyboard USB port and stick a card in it.
I've never had to install any software; it just works.
I simply plug the card reader into the keyboard USB port and stick a card in it.
I've never had to install any software; it just works.
Ok kids. Here's what I got.
Thanks to you guys I was able to resolve the problem of not being able to read or xfer my data from my camera via it's Microdrive or even using my Minolta Dimage 7HI as a reader. What a major drag! There was no way to get images into my computer!
I thought until I read your comments that all card readers were created equal. Apparently not. Who knows what evil firmware lurks below these wondrous little input devices. Your comments made me think that this must be a hardware or firmware problem with the various card reader/writers and not a bug in the Mac OS. I had planned on calling Apple.
Regarding Panther OS 10.3.2, which I use. It appeared that only card readers that are USB 2.0 or Firewire will work and only reliable when installed directly to the Mac, not to a hub. That's not true since the Lexar tried below was a USB 2.0 and did not work.
I've tried various models. The 2 that I've found that work are the SanDisk ULTRA IMAGE MATE FIREWIRE READER model # SDDR80 and the SanDisk IMAGE-MATE 6 IN 1 CARD READER/WRITER #SDDR-86. SanDisk also has a 8 in 1 model that's harder to find for the same price of $42 US.
I transferred 800 megs from my IBM Micro-drive to my Dual 2 Gig G5 with the SanDisk firewire mentioned above in 4:04 which equates to 3.27mb/sec.
The USB 2 model mentioned above was slower at 5:34 equating to 2.4 mb/sec.
If you could get a USB 1.1 model to work the 800 meg xfer would take 29 minutes so why even bother with them.
Micro Center sells the Firewire Yo Yo style Firewire drive for $70 but you can get it directly from SanDisk online for $50.
The beautifully designed 2.0 USB 6 or 8 in l costs only $42 at Micro-center and $40 direct on line.
The rocket speed of the firewire model was really tempting but it only reads CF cards and Micro-drives. It also is so light and unrobust that it flops around and will never lay flat because the firewire cord is way heavier than the reader itself. This sort of thing drives me to tears. (No pun intended) It looks like a hocky puck so why not have it as heavy so it will stay put.
I decided to go with the USB 2.0 model that has the smartest desktop dock design that converts smartly into a mobile unit as well. You'll marvel at this thoughtful design as they've been working on it since USB 2.0 hit the ground I suppose.
I'll wait until they reach the same level of design and sophistication with a Firewire version whenever. I won't pay for the latest and greatest this time only to be trumped in months with a new design that should have been in the first place. Ok. Enough of that.
FYI. The card readers I tried that did not work with Panther are the following. All are USB 1.1 except the Lexar and some of them even said "Built for OS 10".
Macally USB 6 in 1 Mac White model # MCR-6U (near as I can tell) $40
Smart Disc UNIVERSAL READER 6 IN 1 $16
SanDisk Model # SDDR-31 (The sperm on steroids model)
Lexar USB 2.0 Multi-Card Reader Model #RW018-001 (NEAR AS I CAN TELL)
I was surprised this one did not work.
That is all.
Thanks to you guys I was able to resolve the problem of not being able to read or xfer my data from my camera via it's Microdrive or even using my Minolta Dimage 7HI as a reader. What a major drag! There was no way to get images into my computer!
I thought until I read your comments that all card readers were created equal. Apparently not. Who knows what evil firmware lurks below these wondrous little input devices. Your comments made me think that this must be a hardware or firmware problem with the various card reader/writers and not a bug in the Mac OS. I had planned on calling Apple.
Regarding Panther OS 10.3.2, which I use. It appeared that only card readers that are USB 2.0 or Firewire will work and only reliable when installed directly to the Mac, not to a hub. That's not true since the Lexar tried below was a USB 2.0 and did not work.
I've tried various models. The 2 that I've found that work are the SanDisk ULTRA IMAGE MATE FIREWIRE READER model # SDDR80 and the SanDisk IMAGE-MATE 6 IN 1 CARD READER/WRITER #SDDR-86. SanDisk also has a 8 in 1 model that's harder to find for the same price of $42 US.
I transferred 800 megs from my IBM Micro-drive to my Dual 2 Gig G5 with the SanDisk firewire mentioned above in 4:04 which equates to 3.27mb/sec.
The USB 2 model mentioned above was slower at 5:34 equating to 2.4 mb/sec.
If you could get a USB 1.1 model to work the 800 meg xfer would take 29 minutes so why even bother with them.
Micro Center sells the Firewire Yo Yo style Firewire drive for $70 but you can get it directly from SanDisk online for $50.
The beautifully designed 2.0 USB 6 or 8 in l costs only $42 at Micro-center and $40 direct on line.
The rocket speed of the firewire model was really tempting but it only reads CF cards and Micro-drives. It also is so light and unrobust that it flops around and will never lay flat because the firewire cord is way heavier than the reader itself. This sort of thing drives me to tears. (No pun intended) It looks like a hocky puck so why not have it as heavy so it will stay put.
I decided to go with the USB 2.0 model that has the smartest desktop dock design that converts smartly into a mobile unit as well. You'll marvel at this thoughtful design as they've been working on it since USB 2.0 hit the ground I suppose.
I'll wait until they reach the same level of design and sophistication with a Firewire version whenever. I won't pay for the latest and greatest this time only to be trumped in months with a new design that should have been in the first place. Ok. Enough of that.
FYI. The card readers I tried that did not work with Panther are the following. All are USB 1.1 except the Lexar and some of them even said "Built for OS 10".
Macally USB 6 in 1 Mac White model # MCR-6U (near as I can tell) $40
Smart Disc UNIVERSAL READER 6 IN 1 $16
SanDisk Model # SDDR-31 (The sperm on steroids model)
Lexar USB 2.0 Multi-Card Reader Model #RW018-001 (NEAR AS I CAN TELL)
I was surprised this one did not work.
That is all.
LOL, you people are so freaking gullible. You just believe everything the manufacturer tells you. If Jobs had message on the Apple.com front page telling you all PCs suck ass, buy a G5 instead, would you... wait a minute, that has already happened.
I have 3 SanDisk CF readers, a USB 1.1 CF, a dual format USB 1.1 CF/SD, and a USB 2.0 CF. They ALL work under Panther WITHOUT having to install drivers.
"LOL, you are so freaking uninformed. You just assume that all similar products are identical."
I own a SDDR-09. I can confirm that it does not work in Panther. Heck, it doesn't even work properly in WinXP. This device was made back in the old days, when driverless USB was unheard of except for maybe some very simple HID devices.
I picked up a USB2 3-in-1 card reader for about US$20 and it works great. Pretty much anything you can buy these days will work fine without drivers.
*cough* I have the same sandisk reader as he, I have panther, it doesn't work. The reader requires external drives, and the drives are NOT available nor do the old drives for Jag work with Panther. Hold your tongue on matter you do not understand, you don't have our reader, so you have no room to make such blatant and offensive attacks.
That said, have a nice day
Tyler
Earendil
My sandisk 8-in-1 (model 88) does not work under panther. Computer recognizes it, but it won't mount cards. Guess "supports OS X 10.1.2+" doesn't mean all system revisions after 10.1.2. Surely this is not a hard problem for either apple or sandisk to fix.