compact flash to PC card adapter at DVinfo.net

Min Lee · May 14th, 2009, 07:33 AM

I'm using 1.5 GHz Powerbook G4 with a Delkin PC card adapter. It took about an hour to offload about 5.5GB to an external hard drive with FW800 compared to half an hour offloading it with the camera connected via USB. Does this seem ridiculously slow? I rather not go with a external card reader unless there's a drastic difference. Are there alternative PC card adapters that are faster?

Stan Kern · May 14th, 2009, 09:04 AM

not sure about notebooks but on my pc amd 4400 and a avteck card reader its like a hard drive transfer within minutes

Ryan Mueller · May 14th, 2009, 04:43 PM

Something definitely doesn't sound right with what you have going on there. It takes me about 25 min. to transfer about 25 gigs. My setup is a little different than yours though: Card Reader, Macbook Pro, eSATA external, and 30MB/s Sandisk 32gb Extreme III. I think that a big portion of it may be the CF card that you're using? I have a cheaper 8 gig and I'm pretty sure that I remember it being much slower.

Min Lee · May 14th, 2009, 08:04 PM

I used a Lexar 8GB 133x. Also have a transcend 16GB 133x but didn't test that one yet. Speed is actually not that important but it just strikes me as kinda odd that the pc card slot is two times slower than USB. Just wondering if I got a bad pc card adapter or are all pc card adapters going to be equally slow.

Michael Walter · May 14th, 2009, 10:34 PM

I use the same Transcend 133x card, but I use a FW800 card reader by Lexar. I was able to transfer about 10GB in 12 minutes. It has another FW800 port on the back so you can daisy-chain the hard drive to it. It would be worth a try to buy this and see if your transfers speed up. If not, you can just return it. An hour is a ridiculous time to wait in my opinion.

Ben Curtis · May 15th, 2009, 08:09 AM

You don't say *which* Delkin adapter you have, they make different ones - if it's one of the Cardbus adapters (as opposed to the slower "PC Card" adapters) then have you checked you have the latest drivers from Delkin installed? You do need drivers installed for these cardbus adapters.

The best/fastest cardbus reader in my mind is the "Delkin Cardbus 32 UDMA CF adapter". See my brief review here:

http://www.snappertalk.com/index.php...ma-cf-adapter/

Wayne Avanson · May 15th, 2009, 03:23 PM

Michael

Does the Laxar take its poser from the Firewire or need and external power source?

Just wondered, I'm using an old USB card reader and it take forever to transfer to the Mac

Cheers

Avey

Nigel Barker · May 15th, 2009, 10:38 PM

The Lexar Firewire 800 reader is self-powered & mega-fast. It's easily quicker than any USB device that I have tried. Note that there is a Lexar Firewire 400 reader too which presumably isn't as fast.

May 14th, 2009, 07:33 AM	#1
Min Lee Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 200	compact flash to PC card adapter I'm using 1.5 GHz Powerbook G4 with a Delkin PC card adapter. It took about an hour to offload about 5.5GB to an external hard drive with FW800 compared to half an hour offloading it with the camera connected via USB. Does this seem ridiculously slow? I rather not go with a external card reader unless there's a drastic difference. Are there alternative PC card adapters that are faster?

May 14th, 2009, 09:04 AM	#2
Stan Kern Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 40	card reader not sure about notebooks but on my pc amd 4400 and a avteck card reader its like a hard drive transfer within minutes

May 14th, 2009, 04:43 PM	#3
Ryan Mueller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Highlands Ranch, CO Posts: 336	Something definitely doesn't sound right with what you have going on there. It takes me about 25 min. to transfer about 25 gigs. My setup is a little different than yours though: Card Reader, Macbook Pro, eSATA external, and 30MB/s Sandisk 32gb Extreme III. I think that a big portion of it may be the CF card that you're using? I have a cheaper 8 gig and I'm pretty sure that I remember it being much slower.

May 14th, 2009, 08:04 PM	#4
Min Lee Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 200	I used a Lexar 8GB 133x. Also have a transcend 16GB 133x but didn't test that one yet. Speed is actually not that important but it just strikes me as kinda odd that the pc card slot is two times slower than USB. Just wondering if I got a bad pc card adapter or are all pc card adapters going to be equally slow.

May 14th, 2009, 10:34 PM	#5
Michael Walter New Boot Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 8	I use the same Transcend 133x card, but I use a FW800 card reader by Lexar. I was able to transfer about 10GB in 12 minutes. It has another FW800 port on the back so you can daisy-chain the hard drive to it. It would be worth a try to buy this and see if your transfers speed up. If not, you can just return it. An hour is a ridiculous time to wait in my opinion.

May 15th, 2009, 08:09 AM	#6
Ben Curtis Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Cairo, Egypt Posts: 26	You don't say which Delkin adapter you have, they make different ones - if it's one of the Cardbus adapters (as opposed to the slower "PC Card" adapters) then have you checked you have the latest drivers from Delkin installed? You do need drivers installed for these cardbus adapters. The best/fastest cardbus reader in my mind is the "Delkin Cardbus 32 UDMA CF adapter". See my brief review here: http://www.snappertalk.com/index.php...ma-cf-adapter/

May 15th, 2009, 03:23 PM	#7
Wayne Avanson Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Lancashire UK Posts: 496	Michael Does the Laxar take its poser from the Firewire or need and external power source? Just wondered, I'm using an old USB card reader and it take forever to transfer to the Mac Cheers Avey

May 15th, 2009, 10:38 PM	#8
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	The Lexar Firewire 800 reader is self-powered & mega-fast. It's easily quicker than any USB device that I have tried. Note that there is a Lexar Firewire 400 reader too which presumably isn't as fast.