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sigamy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 7, 2003
1,401
187
NJ USA
I'm looking to download pics into my iMac faster. I don't have a card reader and right now I'm still hooking the camera up to the computer to download.

My iMac does not have USB 2.0 so I'm looking for either Firewire or USB 1.1. My current camera uses Smart Media cards.

So, any recommendations on Firewire card readers? Minimum is Smart Media, and I'd like a multi-card if possible. I'd like cost to be under $50.

Also, is it worth looking into USB 1.1? Will speeds be any faster than just using my camera as I do now?

Thanks.
 
the card is really the limiting factor, especially using an older flash memory technology like smart media
i'm assuming that you connect your camera via usb1.1 in that case having a memory card reader via usb1.1 will not be any faster, a FW one might speed up transfers but not a whole lot

sigamy said:
I'm looking to download pics into my iMac faster. I don't have a card reader and right now I'm still hooking the camera up to the computer to download.

My iMac does not have USB 2.0 so I'm looking for either Firewire or USB 1.1. My current camera uses Smart Media cards.

So, any recommendations on Firewire card readers? Minimum is Smart Media, and I'd like a multi-card if possible. I'd like cost to be under $50.

Also, is it worth looking into USB 1.1? Will speeds be any faster than just using my camera as I do now?

Thanks.
 
I was using a SimpleTech USB 1.1 reader for my SmartMedia cards and it worked well but not quickly. You can find USB 2.0 card readers but I think that you probably won't find any (inexpensive) FireWire card reader for SmartMedia. Even the USB 2.0 based card readers are somewhat expensive ($40) in contrast to USB 1.1 versions ($20).

Need any SmartMedia cards? I have several since I switched cameras last month.
 
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