SanDisk 4 GB Extreme IV CF Card with FireWire Reader Bundle

List Price: $309.99 Discount Price: $139.00

Features:

• Complete system offering improved workflow efficiency for the professional photographer
• Includes two extended firewire cables
• Comes with 4 GB Extreme IV CF Card
• Includes data recovery software
• Reader features read and write performance of 40 MB/sec with ESP technology

Customer Reviews:

Beware could be problematic with PCs, works well on Macs [Posted on 2008-02-13]
Sandisk say compatable with PC(including Vista) and Mac. I have both at home, worked flawlessly with the MAC, extremely fast. My Dell PC does not recognize it. I also bought a firewire card for my Vaio laptop, same story, Vaio does not recognize it. Took it to Circuit City, their tech support tried it on 3 different PCs on the floor, did not work.

Extremely Fast. Love it. [Posted on 2008-03-02]
Before I bought the card reader, I used to plug my Canon Xti directly to my computer using the USB cord that came with it. Transfering a full 2GB of RAW images took about 40 minutes. Yes, this was a problem since while your images are being transfered, you can't use your camera. So I decided to buy this firewire reader and upgrade my card to the 4GB extreme IV. I just came back from a full day of shooting and just dumped 434 RAW images on my computer in just 3 minutes. Thats 3.8 GB in 3 minutes! This is amazing since it used to take what felt like forever. I am very pleased with this reader and card. Five Stars.

Fast fast fast [Posted on 2008-04-24]
I use this on my mac, and the speed is amazing! I am using the Firewire 800 connection. It has been very reliable, and blazingly fast. Even with a 4 gig card. I have seen no better!

Beware Dell Laptop Users -- XP [Posted on 2008-05-09]
Updated Entry: 5/14/08
this reader will not work with PCs/LAPTOP that has the 4pin connector.
4 pin is the really small 1394 port and is not powered. the reader will not be recognized by Windows. If you don't have 6 pin or 9 pin ports don't buy it, use USB 2.0 instead. you will get the same speed results.
Thanks



If you use a Windows PC with Firewire 4 PIN which is the small connector, you need to purchase an additional cable. the item description on Amazon did not "enumerate" the PINs and when you wait for it and receive it, you're a bit disappointed for not being able to use the reader. you can purchase a cable 1394b 9pin to 1394 4 pin from Fry's for $8.00

so Have not used the reader for 2 days now because of this!!! stupid design from Sandisk
ps: wanted to change my star rating from 3 to 1 but you can't edit that.

Getting FireWire on Laptop. [Posted on 2008-06-26]
PARTS, and PATCHES.

Belkin F5U513 PCMCIA/CardBus-to-FireWire Notebook External Powered Adapter
Belkin AC adapter requirements:
Voltage: 12V DC
Current: 1.6 Amps, can be rounded up to 2 Amps
Plug Size: OD=3.8mm ID=1.3mm. OD=Outer Diameter, ID=Inner Diameter
Plug Polarity: Center positive
Adapter available at LCDPayless, email them specs. Many Universal Adapters have OD=5.5, ID=2.5.

Speed Concerns:
SanDisk Extreme IV CF 40MByte/sec <=> FireWire-400 50MByte/sec, FireWire-800 100MBytes/sec <=> PCMCIA CardBus Type-II Burst Mode 133MByte/S

Note** 8 Bits = 1 Byte

Slow Firewire transfers
SYMPTOMS
After you update your computer to Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), the performance of your 1394a or 1394b FireWire devices may be greatly decreased. A digital camera that uses S400 speed is an example of such a device.


CAUSE
This problem occurs if you connect a 1394a or 1394b FireWire device to a 1394b port. This problem occurs because Windows XP SP2 changes 1394b ports to S100 speed when you upgrade.

FIX
KB885222 or SP3

The San Disk Extreme IV bundle offered exceptionally high card-to-computer transfer rates, and now photographers are able to take advantage of the incredible write speeds these cards offer with the D300, and Nikon D3 that support the higher transfer rates of UDMA-enabled Compact Flash cards.

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