SanDisk ImageMate is the fastest way to transfer digital data to/from your PC. ImageMate sits on your desk and acts like a removable disk drive, treating the memory card like a diskette. Drag and drop files from the card to your hard disk drive and back. ImageMate simply connects to your printer port with a printer pass through connector to keep your printer online.Take the memory card from the camera, insert it into the ImageMate and copy your favorite pictures onto your PC in seconds. Data transfer speeds are at least 20 times faster than serial port connectivity - great for large and numerous images. Since the camera does not have to connect to the PC for downloads, it saves battery power. SanDisk ImageMate also allows to transfer data from your Handheld/Palm PC to your desktop PC and vice versa.
This handy device lets you quickly and easily transfer images between CompactFlash cards and your PC. Devices that use CompactFlash cards (digital cameras, MP3 players, PDAs) nearly always include a transfer cable, but these often use the PC's serial port, which is much slower than the parallel port. To avoid tying up your parallel port, the drive uses a pass-through connector, which allows the drive to share the port with a parallel printer.
1 Crash City!
This device causes my computer to display the dreaded azure tableau morte when I try to use it. I'm taking it back tomorrow.
2 Are you stuck on Windows NT too?
As you may have learned the hard way, Windows NT does not support USB regardless of whether your computer has it or not. Not one single store in my local area (Orange County, CA) carries a parallel port compact flash card reader (they've all joined the 21st century with USB). I bought the Scan Disc model and love it. In fact, I just purchased two more for my coworkers that are constantly bugging me to use the compact flash card reader to retrieve their photos. From other reviews I can see that the Scan Disc is superior to the Kodak model. I have no complaints; it's easy to hook-up and it works just fine. If you're aware of what a compact flash card reader is then there's probably no need to tell you how much easier it is to use vs. the archaic software that comes with most cameras. Although, the software does give you thumbnail image views making digging up old photos much easier.
3 Windows 95 Customers Beware!
If you have Windows 95, do NOT purchase this item. Despite what they say, this card reader is NOT compatible with Windows 95 and will cause the system to crash repeatedly. I spent hours installing, uninstalling and re-installing both the hardware and the software -- to no avail. Besides the Windows 95 problem, the parallel cable included with the card reader also caused my printer to malfunction -- the reason according to my printer: the cable "does not support bi-directional communication". This whole experience was one big nightmare....the only bright spot is that Amazon's return procedure is much less painless than I expected -- I am returning the SanDisk Imagemate Card Reader today!
4 worked for me - NT 4.0 on Toshiba Tecra 8100 laptop
I recently received a wonderful gift of a Kodak DX3500 digital camera, with the Loading Dock that connects it to a PC. My initial elation evaporated as I discovered that the Dock-to-PC connection requires a USB connection. The Toshiba Tecra 8100 laptop I'm using has a USB port, but it's taped over because NT 4.0 doesn't support USB (Win2000 and 98 do). I turned to look for a device that would read the camera's CompactFlash card, but didn't need USB to connect. After some scouring of the web (including a comical dead end involving "tech" reps who couldn't provide answers to compatibility questions beyond reading from the company same web page I was already looking at, and a more technical rep who informed me that the item was no longer available from the mfr. and agreed that it probably should be removed from that e-tailer's web page), I found the SanDisk ImageMate External Parallel CF Card Reader. This device provided what I needed: a CompactFlash card reader with a non-USB connection to a machine running NT 4.0.
The setup was painless. The ImageMate plugs into the parallel port, with a passthrough connection for the printer. Power is drawn from a passthrough connection to the PS/2, into which the mouse cable connector fits.
The ImageMate software makes the device appear as a mapped drive. You can read, write, and delete picture files on this drive. A provided software utility swaps out the ImageMate (to let you safely removed the picture card).
We installed the Kodak Loading Dock on a Win98 USB machine, and it works just great. But transfer on the ImageMate is almost as fast and easy.
I've been verbose in this review for the sake of others running the web search I did. You've probably come to the only right place. (I didn't find any other easily acceptable connection devices.)
5 Easy Install, Easy Use!
It took all of 5 minutes to set up this great tool. Within 10 minutes I had retrieved my compactflash card from my digital camera and had used the card reader to import the images to adobe for manipulation and storage. A great product! (I purchased the item because my laptops USB port had failed and i needed an alternate means of getting the images from my compact flash card into my imaging programs; this product worked great!)
6 Easy to install and very useful
I bought this card reader because my computer is older and I was unable to use a serial port or USB connection with my new digital camera. As stated in other reviews, the directions are skimpy. However, the installation was quick (maybe 10 minutes start to finish) and I experienced no problems whatsoever in getting it to work. I do not have a printer so I don't know if the printer connection would create additional problems. The download time to get the images off the card is very fast and I am thrilled with this device.
7 Great functionality and simple install
A while ago I got a Nikon 990 digital camera which came with a USB cable. I had a NT machine and the USB port didn't work. So I ordered the serial cable from Nikon but they were in no hurry to make them (I waited for 3 months) so I looked for alternatives. This ImageMate CF reader was it.
Striaght out of the box, I was able to hook it up to my machine, install it and download pictures from my camera (5 mins install with reboot). The manual instructions were weak (had a couple of pages) but I just installed the software on the CD and presto another virtual drive appeared on my computer. The removable drive icon showed up on the NT explorer and I was able to just copy/cut the picture files from the card. It was great. Three months of waiting and I was finally able to get my pictures downloaded. I am still waiting for my cable to do the firmware update though. If only getting the serial cable from Nikon was this easy.
8 Does the job, problems only minor
I needed this device in order to reformat and test a CF card that had gone bad. It works (but I really did need a new card).
After reading about other reviewers' installation problems I was dreading what I'd face, but the problems I had weren't that serious. I didn't have to upgrade Windows (I have early 98). Right after installation the printer wouldn't respond, but selecting first a different printer, then the original one again, cured that. The drivers sound a tone (beep-boop or boop-beep) when the card is inserted or removed; if I start up the computer without a card inserted, sometimes the system gets neurotic and cries (continuous bee-ee-ee-ee-eep) until I insert a card as a "pacifier". Other than that, it works fine -- just like having one more disk drive.
9 I had to upgrade to Windows ME for this thing to work
The only thing that fixed the constant crashing when I tried loading the software for this CF reader was to load Windows ME. It fixed the problem, whatever it was - too bad I had to spend more money to make it work. SanDisk needs to rethink the installation software they ship with it. Once I got it working, it's as easy as using a floppy. I've been moving files in and out of my CF card without any problem. I recommend this ONLY if you're willing to upgrade Windows - otherwise, don't bother because it just won't work.
10 Easy Installation-Not
I consider myself technically savy but installing this piece of hardware has been a nightmare. I have had this for a week and it is still not up and running. As another reviewer has already noted the drivers seem to cause a "fatal exception error" in Windows 98. You have to dig through the Read Me file to find out that you must stop nearly all processes in the task bar to even install the software. Once that hurdle was overcome my computer still did not recognize the device. At the guidance of tech support I am learning all about the Device Manager settings, getting to go into BIOS and play with ECP+EPP, match IO port numbers between BIOS and the Device Manager and so much more. And it still is not working. If this does not sound like fun to you don't buy this product. And did I mention you have to wait 1/2 hour to get through to tech support even at 6am in the morning???????
11 Three days of frustration
Too bad there is not a rating of less than 1. If you want a rating for three days of absolute frustration give it a million. The installed program caused fatal exceptions and locked up the system. It kept sending garbage to the printer and even deleted the printer driver. I tried all the troubleshooting suggestions to no avail. I even paid a technician to help me out -- just in case I didn't know what I was doing. After two hours of "clicking away" he gave up. What more can I say?
12 Get the parallel version if ...
Everyone who is using Win95(pre-USB-patched) or simply ran out of IRQ (my PC) should pick this one up. I am runing Win98 on my Pentium II and thinking USB should be no problem, right? Wrong! I had just simply ran out of IRQ with my soundcard, network card, SCSI card ...etc. As long as you have a "not too old" PC which supports EPP/ECP printer port, this small device should make you happy. It is simple to setup (2 mins) and has small footprint. Best part is - it is actually quite fast!
13 confusing
I orderd the parallel image mate with little or no understanding of the world of digital imaging. I knew I needed a parallel port connection being my computer does not handle USB. I also needed a drive that handled "smart cards". One of the existing reviewers mentions he received the model"SDDR-08". So I went to the Sandisk sight to find that this is exactly the model I needed. The problem is it isn't what you get. The model I received used the "flashcard" only. Please notice that as of today the description of this item does not give a model number or the type of card it can process. The moral of the story is "if it doesn't say what it does , call first".
14 Good Product
Works with NT and 98 with supplied software. The directions are scarce, but not really needed.
The transfer speeds with Kingston CF cards are excellent.
Overall a good product
15 SanDisk with USB - smooth with digital cameras
I got the USB ImageMate and I am impressed. Installation was easy - I was downloading pictures within five minutes. I had used the serial connection to download from the camera and was dismayed by the slowness. I just downloaded about three megabytes of pix in 15 seconds. Drag and drop - poof! Done.
16 Revised opinion from previously disgruntled reviewer......
In fairness to the manufacturer, I must report that I have finally received the proper power cord from Sandisk. The unit now operates as promised. Better late than never.
17 Keep you fingers crossed after ordering.....
Sorry if this sounds very negative, but......
(One star given only because there was no option for zero stars)
I ordered a Sandisk Imagemate SDDR-08 for SmartMedia on February 7th and received it on the 14th. The package was factory sealed and shrinkwrapped. Upon checking the contents versus the packing list, I realized that the (2) power cord adaptors that should have come with my unit were NOT included. I was disappointed, but figured I could wait a couple more days for SanDisk to get me squared away via priority shipping. A gentleman by the name of Vishnu in their customer technical service department was very helpful and assured me that they would get me squared away pronto. Today is February 29th and I still have not received the power cord. After much back and forth, one overnite shipment of the wrong adaptor, etc., I am still waiting. If you want to buy one of these things, I suggest buying it at a brick-and-mortar store so that you can check the box for all pertinent materials. The only thing worse than not having a piece of new equipment is buying it, waiting for it and then not being able to use it. This has been a big bummer. Try another brand.
18 21st century, here I am
Sandisk is by far the best flash memory disk maker out there. I couldn't be happier with the things I've bought from the company; they're basically inventing the future of audio and visual entertainment.
