From CF Card to Laptop.. Fast

Westernart1

I need any ideas that would help me down load Compact Flash Card info to my lap top fast. Right now I am using a multi card reader(lexar) through a USB port. I do have a 4pin Firewire port but don't know anything about using it. Any ideas on a card reader also.
Thanks

Apolooza

Westernart1 wrote:

I need any ideas that would help me down load Compact Flash Card info to my lap top fast. Right now I am using a multi card reader(lexar) through a USB port. I do have a 4pin Firewire port but don't know anything about using it. Any ideas on a card reader also.
Thanks

Does your computer have an Express Card slot? I have a CF adapter for it and it's very fast.

colourbox

Westernart1 wrote:

I need any ideas that would help me down load Compact Flash Card info to my lap top fast. Right now I am using a multi card reader(lexar) through a USB port. I do have a 4pin Firewire port but don't know anything about using it. Any ideas on a card reader also.
Thanks

I use the old FireWire 400 version of this FireWire 800 reader

and I assume the cable you would need to hook it up to your 4 pin would cost you $4
(I assume there is a 9-pin FireWire 800 point on the thing)

Way Off Piste

Firewire and fast card

Westernart1 wrote:

I need any ideas that would help me down load Compact Flash Card info to my lap top fast. Right now I am using a multi card reader(lexar) through a USB port. I do have a 4pin Firewire port but don't know anything about using it. Any ideas on a card reader also.
Thanks

Your download speed will definitely increase with a Firewire card reader. You will see at least a 25% performance upgrade over USB 2.0. The other factor that you need to keep in mind is your card speed. You could have the fattest pipeline into your computer but if you have a card with a slow read/write speed, it will be a slow loading process.

I recently upgraded my cards to the SanDisk Extreme IV and wow....look out.

Hope this helps.

Westernart1

Firewire and fast card
Thanks for the info and I will be going to look at the Firewire and a faster CF card. I know that anything would be better than what I got. It was showing two hours to upload from the 8GB card to my laptop, not good.
Thanks again.

colourbox

Westernart1 wrote:

Thanks for the info and I will be going to look at the Firewire and a faster CF card. I know that anything would be better than what I got. It was showing two hours to upload from the 8GB card to my laptop, not good.
Thanks again.

I only have 2-year-old 4GB cards but I can tell you that with my FireWire 400 reader a card is emptied out in just a few minutes.

Just a few possible things to look out for. Check your computer's specs because it may have a FireWire 400 bus, which is fine, if that's the case you can plug FireWire 800 devices into it but they will only run at 400 speed which is still actually faster than USB 2.0 in real-world throughput. Also, I'm not sure how much power a 4-pin port supplies as I thought you needed at least 6 pins to have power to a device - many PCs have 4-pin ports assuming that a self-powered video camera will be connected.

I don't really know if there will be a problem, just maybe something to ask around about. Since I use Macs I don't think about those issues because all FireWire ports on them are at least 6 pins fully powered.

David_S85

I'm moving this thread to Digital Darkroom.

Art Scott

Westernart1 wrote:

Thanks for the info and I will be going to look at the Firewire and a faster CF card. I know that anything would be better than what I got. It was showing two hours to upload from the 8GB card to my laptop, not good.
Thanks again.

Holy Moly.....I use an no name card reader (actually looks like a thumb drive with a cf slot in the side) and I can down load a full 8gb n less than 12 minutes and that is thru a usb hub on a 6 ft usb cable.......I can't image taking even 30 minute to download a card of 8gb........

Something else to consider and Tiger Direct and OutLetPC {towards the very bottom of the page is the sata ones}both carry them and that is an internal Card reader ....most are sata like the newer Harddrives......I have read good things about them and I am considering one as I have a empty 5 1/4" drive bay..............

Addonics SATA options.....they also have IDE Digidrives but the sata would be faster.....

ADDONICS DUAL CF ......This is pretty cool but also one of the most expensive at $79 and $4.5 for mount bracket....

EDIT: lost track of this being a laptop.....think I also saw some that were 2.5" form factor.......and several as PCMI adapters also.........is you laptop so old it doesn't have built in card reader?

Jane B.

Art Scott wrote:

Holy Moly.....I use an no name card reader (actually looks like a thumb drive with a cf slot in the side) and I can down load a full 8gb n less than 12 minutes and that is thru a usb hub on a 6 ft usb cable.......I can't image taking even 30 minute to download a card of 8gb........

EDIT: lost track of this being a laptop.....think I also saw some that were 2.5" form factor.......and several as PCMI adapters also.........is you laptop so old it doesn't have built in card reader?

Depends on what is "old" to you. I, for one, have a Thinkpad from March of 2007 that has NO card reader slots.

I DO have a Type II PC Card slot, and a ExpressCard slot (one on top of the other). I am using the PC Card slot for an adapter for additional USB connections and it makes the ExpressCard slot above it inexcessable. I have a PC Card reader for compact flash cards but use an external USB reader.

The OP particularly mentioned compact flash. I have seen MANY ads for laptops that have readers built in BUT NOT for compact flash.

Jane B.

Newsy

One emerging technology to keep in mind is USB3.0. It will blow away Firewire800.

There are already USB3.0 external hard drives being introduced so I would expect accessories like Express Cards to follow shortly. If your laptop has the slot, I'd wait.

Right now, I think there is something wrong with your system that is takes so long. I just downloaded 3GB in about 2 minutes or so via camera over USB2.0.

.

BradfordBenn

Just remember that all these transfer rates are still at the mercy of the CF (or whatever media) data rate itself. Just because the protocol spec says it is capable of speeds up to X mb/sec doesn't mean that the card can be read that fast as the card may not support it.

timk519

Westernart1 wrote:

I know that anything would be better than what I got. It was showing two hours to upload from the 8GB card to my laptop, not good. [\quote] two hours is nuts - I've transferred fair amounts of data off my 50D to my laptop much faster than that via a USB connection.