<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: My experience installing reader on a laptop
Review: First, I have nearly 40 years experience in computer hardware and software, so I'm not a neophyte. Yet I had an incredibly bad time installing this product. After installation under Windows SE, I constantly got the "blue screen of death," a fatal error that caused crashes during boot. Success (of a sort) came when technical support from Datafab told me to power the device from the mouse port, not the keyboard port as the instructions say. There is no mention in the directions about using the mouse port. (My laptop doesn't have a keyboard port.) The hookup is an unbelievable kludge: wires everywhere. Now that it works, the "blue screen of death" still appears during every boot, but it can be bypassed by pressing any key. Datafab admits this is caused by a conflict between their reader driver software and some other (unknown) program during boot.Turns out there is a far better and simpler solution for a laptop: use a Picture Card Adapter that slides into a PCMCIA slot on the side of the laptop. Simply slip the CompactFlash card into the Adapter and the Adapter into the slot. ...
Rating:
Summary: My experience installing reader on a laptop
Review: First, I have nearly 40 years experience in computer hardware and software, so I'm not a neophyte. Yet I had an incredibly bad time installing this product. After installation under Windows SE, I constantly got the "blue screen of death," a fatal error that caused crashes during boot. Success (of a sort) came when technical support from Datafab told me to power the device from the mouse port, not the keyboard port as the instructions say. There is no mention in the directions about using the mouse port. (My laptop doesn't have a keyboard port.) The hookup is an unbelievable kludge: wires everywhere. Now that it works, the "blue screen of death" still appears during every boot, but it can be bypassed by pressing any key. Datafab admits this is caused by a conflict between their reader driver software and some other (unknown) program during boot. Turns out there is a far better and simpler solution for a laptop: use a Picture Card Adapter that slides into a PCMCIA slot on the side of the laptop. Simply slip the CompactFlash card into the Adapter and the Adapter into the slot. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Does not read standard flash cards!
Review: For the money, it looked too good to be true. It was. This reader seems to read some odd-sized flash card, but you can't determine that fact from its user manual or installation guide. The documentation is completely silent on how to use the device, or what type of flash card it's supposed to read. What is certain is that no matter which way you try to insert a standard digital camera flash card (as in my Fuji MX-600), it either won't fit in the slot, or the card makes no apparent connection with this reader. And because the manual doesn't tell you how to insert flash cards, it dawns on you slowly that nothing works. xyzzy = nothing happens. So if you have standard flash cards, don't buy this device. If you can determine what kind of flash card it endeavors to read, and you have them, then this device might be a great deal.
Rating:
Summary: Does not read standard flash cards!
Review: For the money, it looked too good to be true. It was. This reader seems to read some odd-sized flash card, but you can't determine that fact from its user manual or installation guide. The documentation is completely silent on how to use the device, or what type of flash card it's supposed to read. What is certain is that no matter which way you try to insert a standard digital camera flash card (as in my Fuji MX-600), it either won't fit in the slot, or the card makes no apparent connection with this reader. And because the manual doesn't tell you how to insert flash cards, it dawns on you slowly that nothing works. xyzzy = nothing happens. So if you have standard flash cards, don't buy this device. If you can determine what kind of flash card it endeavors to read, and you have them, then this device might be a great deal.
Rating: 
Summary: Very useful and inexpensive.
Review: I bought the Datafab reader for my new Nikon Coolpix 950 (I highly recommend if you are an SLR photographer). The reader has worked flawlessly for two months now. It does cause one of my HP printers to feed an extra page now and then, though, which doesn't irritate me the way it seems to irritate some. It fits into my camera bag so I can hook up to anyone's computer for a download. Speed seems instantaneous, never more than a few seconds. I run Windows 98SE and a variety of photo software programs. Even if you're a beginning photographer or novice computer user, this unit is a no-brainer, it registers on your computer as another drive, installation is easy and quick. The only flaw is the software for handling images, useable but you'll want to get photo imaging software anyway to manipulate and print images. I think it's a a solid unit and the price is great.
Rating:
Summary: Datafab Compact Flash (CF) Card Reader Review
Review: I bought this product for reading my digital pictures off the CF cards from my Canon A5 Zoom camera. The unit works well, and was a quick install. The install disc is very helpful and user-friendly, and the reader has not failed me yet. When I upgraded my computer to Windows2000, I downloaded the new driver from the manufacturer's website and this reader was Win2000 compatible in a flash- no pun intended! While USB devices are slightly faster, I would recommend this device to anyone who doesn't have a free USB port available!
Rating:
Summary: Datafab Compact Flash (CF) Card Reader Review
Review: I bought this product for reading my digital pictures off the CF cards from my Canon A5 Zoom camera. The unit works well, and was a quick install. The install disc is very helpful and user-friendly, and the reader has not failed me yet. When I upgraded my computer to Windows2000, I downloaded the new driver from the manufacturer's website and this reader was Win2000 compatible in a flash- no pun intended! While USB devices are slightly faster, I would recommend this device to anyone who doesn't have a free USB port available!
Rating:
Summary: Going USB...
Review: I have this unit and it worked fine until I bought a new faster PC. I reinstalled it on the new machine and I had lots of problems with sharing the parallel port with my HP OfficeJet. I tried to update the driver from DATAFAB's web site but that was a complete nightmare including a failed install that left the uninstall disabled. Another annoyance was on booting the PC, I would get an extraneous page printed on the printer. Also, the status light on the unit that before would turn green when the flash card was inserted, now always stays red. I have decided to buy a USB flash card reader.
Rating:
Summary: missrepresented product
Review: I purchased what I thought was a Kodak product when I purchased with my new Kodak DC3400 digital camera, a Kodak Compact Flash Card Reader for Digital Cameras, what I recieved was a Datafab Compact Flash Card Reader for Digital Cameras. This product would work with my windows 98 but every time I booted up the PC I wouuld get "The blue screen from hell" to quote another reviewers description of a similar product. I have since done more reasearch on the compact flash card reader products and sent back my Datafab unit and ordered another comparable unit that had at least better reviews. Buyer beware...
Rating: 
Summary: USB all the way stop using serial its to slow
Review: USB transfers data much faster then the old serial ports. I gave the product a 3 because it failed to traanfer my data off of my Smartmedia fast enough. I took 7 high quality pictures and it took my media reader 34minutes to decode and unzip the pictures. By the way I have a Olympus D460Z (highly recommended! ) I think I am personally going to go buy a USB Smartmeadia reader/writer and save time and have fun taking all the pictures I want to take.
<< 1 >>
| 
