ImageMate sits on your desk and acts like a removable disk drive, treating your memory card like a diskette. Drag and drop files from the card to your hard disk drive and back. ImageMate simply connects to your USB port.Take the memory card from the camera, insert it into the ImageMate and copy your favorite pictures onto your computer in seconds. Data transfer speeds are faster than serial port connectivity - great for large and numerous images. Since the camera does not have to connect to the computer for downloads, it saves battery power. ImageMate also allows transferring data from your handheld computer to your desktop computer and vice versa.
The SanDisk ImageMate CompactFlash reader acts like a removable disk drive, treating your CompactFlash memory card like a diskette. Remove the memory card from your camera, insert it into the ImageMate, and copy files to your computer quickly and easy. You can drag and drop files from the card to your hard disk drive and back, and with fast data transfer speeds of up to 600 KBps you can copy pictures from your digital camera to your computer in seconds. Easy to install with its USB interface, the ImageMate uses the power supply from your computer, thus requiring no AC adapter. Plus, by not having to connect your portable device to your computer for downloads, you'll extend the battery life of your device.
The ImageMate comes with a one-year limited warranty.
1 Better than your printer's reader
After about four & a half years it died.
But if you're considering a reader, get a reader! I bought this for a friend, who had no reader, now she has to use her printer (which is W A Y too sloooooooooow). I recommend anything from sandisk, the cards are still going after 4,000 photos & bazillions of transferred files (And we never lost a file--see Lexar reco). Multi readers/writers are out in abundance now, so look at them. Make sure it writes to the card, not just read it!
2 I've had it for two years and still working.
Very very good product. Two years and still working like new.
3 I've had it for two years and still working.
Very very good product. Two years and still working like new.
4 Nice & Easy
If you're tired of all the software that comes with your camera, then this is just the product you want. It hooks up like a drive and is so easy to use. Just push the compact flash card in, and all your pictures are easily viewable like a drive/floppy drive.
5 THIS THING IS SO NICE
I use this device to download photos from my digital camera. My digital camera's connection uses a serial connection, and is so slow. I bought this, and it is literally instantaneous to download pictures. I have had no trouble with it, it is simple to use and easily transportable, I take it with me when I travel so that I can download onto my laptop, if you're tired of waiting for your pictures to download, get this, it's a cheap alternative!
6 Fantastic
This reader works flawlessly on my compact flash cards. (32,64& 128)
Easy to install, easy to use and much faster than using the camera's
USB cable itself. Seeing the flashcard as a drive and using Windows
drag and drop functions is a beautiful thing.
7 Essential? No. Pretty darn nice to have? Absolutely.
When you get tired of using the 'default' method of transferring photos or MP3s from your digital camera or player to your computer, it's time to get this neat little peripheral. I have a Kodak DC4800 camera and pictures take FOREVER to transfer from my camera to my hard drive. Plus, I had to physically plug in my camera to the computer. No more.
I picked up this nifty guy and it sits right on top of my monitor. It easily snapped in to my USB port and getting set up (installing the software) was a piece of cake. I've got Windows 98. Before I knew it, I was inserting my 128MB CompactFlash card, uploading my pictures, and emailing to friends and family. Deleting them from your CompactFlash card is so much easier and faster than doing it on your camera too. You can use Windows Explorer or My Computer to manipulate files from your CompactFlash card just as you normally would with your hard drive. All in all, it may not be essential, but it certainly wouldn't be a bad thing to have either.
8 Fast and easy photo downloads
Using the Imagemate I'm able to quickly download photos from a CompactFlash card to my PC. The software shipped with the Imagemate was easy to install. It works well with both Win98 and Windows 2000. I find that using the Imagemate is much more convenient than connecting and disconnecting the camera each time I retrieve my photos. The software shipped with my camera (Canon S20) is able to interface directly with the Imagemate. The low price makes the Imagemate all the more attractive.
9 Big conflicts with Adaptec CD writer
I've installed just about everything on my computer. This is the single most difficult piece of equipment I've ever attempted to install. The driver conflicts with the Adaptec Easy CD. Sandisk knows this, and after spending 15 minutes on their site, they give you instructions on where to download the patches. But the patches don't work. The compact flash reader shows up, then disappears.
I installed a SmartMedia reader by SimpleTech and it went flawlessly. Sandisk should be ashamed of themselves for delivering a product with such buggy, awful drivers.
I want to throw this product against the wall repeatedly, that's how mad I am.
10 It works on my Mac through a USB hub
In an earlier review I rated it "4" because I thought that I had to connect directly to a USB port rather than through a hub, but it works fine through my Macally USB hub. I love it and rate it 5 out of 5!
11 Works well with my Mac Cube
It certainly downloads the images quickly. I do wish that I could run it through my USB hub instead of having to connect it directly to my Cube. Nice product for the price, though.
12 Well built and sturdy
I just got this. It works great. My only trouble was the driver CD did not work. Looking at the CD closely it was surely defective. But I was able to download the drivers from the net with no problems. Would have been 5 stars if I got a good CD.
13 A Great Value
This product is simple to install, simple to use and works seamlessly. And the price is very good.
There is some anxiety when you plug in the CF card and see the reader light blink on then off. You're always taught to turn off the power before plugging things in... I often wonder if that will ever cause an error in my card. But so far...everything works fine.
An interesting thing about this product is that you can use it as a removable drive for the computer. Its great to have that much portable storage in such a small package.
14 Imagemeate USB stops working
After having this item installed and working on my computer for several months, one day the icon for it has disappeared. I tried to re-install it unsucessfully for several hours. I followed the sandisk technical support instructions for the problem identified as EZ-USB EEPROM missing (ezusb.sys)
It was impossible for me to reinstall it sucessfully.
15 Really is Plug and Play
This is the first Flash Card Reader I have owned that is really Plug and Play. No software is required to use this with Windows XP or Mac OS X. It ensures you can walk up to a friend's computer (or on your new computer) and access your pictures with no nasy software installation.
16 Works like a charm
If you have a Iomega Zip drive, this baby functions in the exact way, except this one plugs into your USB port, while the Zip hooks up by SCSI.
17 Works like a charm
If you have a Iomega Zip drive, this baby functions in the exact way, except this one plugs into your USB port, while the Zip hooks up by SCSI.
18 Works like a charm
If you have a Iomega Zip drive, this baby functions in the exact way, except this one plugs into your USB port, while the Zip hooks up by SCSI.
19 A must-have if your digital camera only supports serial
I bought this for my Nikon 800 in Feb, since the serial connection is too sloooow and consuming battery. It is very fast and reliable. I just got my new P4 with windowns ME. I have no problem w/ just ME built-in USB disk support driver(I didn't bother to install the driver comes with the reader).
20 This is a good product!
The SanDisk card reader is a good product for any Mac user with a USB connection. At first, I had experience some problems with the reader (I had deleted images from the card, but it was not freeing up memory), but after I downloaded and installed the latest drivers from SanDisk, all my problems went away. The ease of use of this product was quite simply astounding. When you place a card in the reader, it will appear on your desktop (assuming you use a Mac) as any floppy disc or CD would. From there, you can copy the files to your hard drive by just dragging and dropping them into any folder on your computer. When you've done that, just drag the files from the card to the trash and empty it. Voila! You have just cleared the space off the card! It really is simplicity in motion. I highly recommend this easy to use product.
21 Well worth it
It's compact, it's inexpensive and it works just great with my iMac (running OS 9.1). What's not to like? Well, one thing really: there's nothing to physically prevent one from removing a Compact Flash card from the reader at the "wrong time." On a Macintosh, for example, you must be careful to drag the CF card's icon to the Trash or "Eject" it before manually removing the card. (I assume a similar procedure is necessary in Windows.) Forget to do so and you could trash the card, so this device is NOT for the absent minded and probably not a good choice for computer novices. Aside from that though, I highly recommend the Imagemate.
22 Problems with Windows ME
I've been trying for days to get the drive to work with my PIII-800 Windows ME machine. It's highly unstable, even after completely disabling (stop from loading) the Adaptec CD Write application. The drive is recognized less than 25% of the time, and constantly spits out error messages about removing the drive. Also, I can only copy a couple small <50k files - anything larger brings on the blue screen of death and a corrupt file on the CF card.
23 Haven't gotten to try it yet!
I got the Imagemate, and followed their instructions for installing the software, and the disk reader. However, it then gave me fatal exception errors, and eventually locked up my system. I contacted their tech support, and did get a response. Apparently there is a conflict with other software on my system. So, at this point I am not too happy with it. I have limited time and limited computer skills--this was not a case of plug and play!
24 So far, so good - Easy Installation, works great
I was a little leary about getting it after reading about one reviewer's problems in Win 2K (SP2). I'm running the same, and even messed up the installation by not following the albeit minimal directions. I plugged it in before installing the SanDisk drivers for it. After reading the directions, I installed the San Disk drivers, rebooted, and it's been working fine since. My only advice would be to ignore the default unplug/eject hardware tray icon, and use the ImageMate one exclusively. And the price was right!
25 A bit sluggish...
I like the idea of not having to keep sticking a USB cable in and out of my expensive camera, but the Compact Flash external reader was a bit slow in recognizing the card being inserted. I had to reset the computer a couple of times in order for it to work, and for some reason, the card never quite clicks in all the way. On a lighter note, I'd rather jam a card in there than to jam a cable into a very delicate cable jack in my camera. I've already ruined one camera already through the serial cable cracking the jack with a jerky movement. I'd rather if the USB connection remained intact within the camera, thank you very much. :)
26 This is all you need!
I have been into 35mm photography for over 30 years and have a variety of very good equipment. As a software developer, it was inevitable that I go digital. The most frustrating part to me was the slow process of uploading images to my hard drive. I shopped a lot before buying this unit. The set up was simple and fast(I use Win 2000 Prof.). The device works perfectly and is even faster than my C: drive. Don't waste your money on a more expensive device, this is all you will need.
27 Good product easy to use
I bought this reader to transfer files from my S300 to my computer. With WinME all i had to do was plug the device into the USB port. The system detected it and i was transfering files in not time. The transfer speed is pretty good. I would recommend if you are using Adobe CD creator to use the patch, so that the reader won't interfere with your CD burning abilities....just go ... to find the patch.
28 Windows 2000 installation NOT painless
I have been pulling my hair out trying to install SDDR-31-01 under Win2K (SP2). The only thing that worked was to install the device using MS's generic driver. The instructions booklet is minimally helpful, with no troubleshooting info whatsoever. The sandisk website was not much better in helping with the installation. It's now apparently working, with the sandisk icon in the system tray and the device has been assigned a drive letter. The Windows 2000 installation is pitifully inadequate.
29 User Beware!
Singularly, the worse and most unreliable computer product I've ever experienced! All I can say is that I followed installation directions for the SanDisk Compactflash Reader, and what happened next was a computer nightmare -- my computer went into an uncontrollable cycle of loading Windows 98 then restarting. What I had to do was reload Windows and all my programs -- an eight hour ordeal.
30 A must for CompactFlash users
I loved to use my digital camera, but the built in serial port transfer was slow and sometimes did not work at all. I just received this unit yesterday and it is a breeze to set up and operate. The speed is unbeleivable, it is faster than reading from my hard drive. I am a true computer geek, and this is the best accessory that I have bought in years. I shopped around and Amazon has the best price on this item, especially with the free shipping. Don't waste your money on a more expensive device - buy this one.
31 Neat! Easy to use and install
For under $25 I don't think you can find a better accessory for your digital camera. It will save you time, battery life and hassle of plugging in all those cords. It's about the third of the size of a mouse and will sit anywhere there is a flat surface (on top of your monitor, etc.). I read reviews of difficulties of setting these up. It couldn't be any easier!!! Recommend highly
32 Couldn't work better or install easier
This might have been the easiest installation I've ever done. Plus, the device works flawlessly with Win98.
33 simple, easy to use.
I bought the Imagemate to use with my RCA Lyra player. The Lyra came with a parallel port reader that wouldn't work on my new WinME pc. The Imagemate software was easy to install and the card reader is fast and simple to operate. Pop a card in and drag and drop files. The Imagemate dosn't work with the standard Lyra Realjukebox software, but it does work with windows media player.
34 sandisk compact flash reader rocks
This is the easiest setup you will ever do on a piece of hardware. (at least in win 2k)
Just plug it in and your done. Shows up as a disk drive. Put in a flash card and take files off, or put stuff on. Nice looking too. Very small and compact unlike other similar products which are big and "boxy". Ive had 3 different brands of card readers, and this one is by far the ulitmate!
35 EASY!!!!
I was extremely anxious about ordering this compactflash card reader, after reading reviews that encountered problems with their computers upon loading this software. I CAN NOT tell you how many times I've put my computer into SAFE MODE, and no idea how I've done it -- and takes me HOURS to get it back up again. Well, I put the CD in, everything went great --- I plugged the Sandisk cardreader into my USB port, and it worked GREAT!! I just got it today, and I've used it with two different compactflash cards ---- and I'm HAPPY!! I have Windows 98.
36 What a time saver!
I've had several digital cameras and have agonized over downloading the pictures onto my hard drive . . . until now. I ran across the ImageMate and thought I'd try it out. WOW! What a difference. It acts like another drive on your computer and you can retrieve pictures instantiously. In ten minutes, I had the ImageMate installed, hooked up and was printing pictures. It's great.
37 Well Worth It!
Easy installation; inserting/removing the flash card does take some getting used to; supporting documentation is not very helpful; easy to use and seems very sturdy so hopefully it will last a long time. But, for the price and it's ease of operation, it's a good deal.
38 Great product
I can't believe I downloaded pictures the standard way through my serial port for so long. This inexpensive item was so easy to install, so fast, I regret not installing it earlier.
Works great under Windows 2000.
39 SanDisk Imagemate USB Compactflash reader
I was without my usual compactflash/smartmedia reader for a little while and figured I'd get this inexpensive reader and then sell it when I got my microtech cameramate back. The Sandisk is easy to set up, I had a few glitches with my HP 700mhz system and finally uninstalled the software, plugged the thing in and followed the prompts. It worked fine. You do get what you pay for though. This is just a chunk of thick plastic on the end of a USB cable. It's got some kind of fish eye looking design on the top and a little green LED to let you know when your card is being used. The mouth of the unit is where you stick your card in and you have to be careful to line it up, it doesn't just slide in. I had to force my card the first couple of times. Getting the card out is just the reverse, yank it out. Not nearly as nice as my Microtech with it's push to eject button, but it's also half the cost. I use both CF and SM so the microtech is really the best solution for me, but if you need a cheap USB CF reader, this one is as good as any. I have had no compatibility problems and have used it with an off brand CF card and 2 name brand with no trouble.
40 Does the SanDisk CF reader work with non-SanDisk CF Cards?
I own a SanDisk Compactflash reader and am wondering if it will work equally well with CF cards made by, say, Viking and Lexar. Lexar company told me that their CF reader was not compatible with non-Lexaf CF cards. Any comments, please?
41 Reader AND Writer!
I purchased this reader when I bought my Kodak DC215, because the camera doesn't have USB connectivity. This way, I can download my pictures faster. My camera has the option of using templates on the pictures I take. This requires me to upload bitmaps to the CompactFlash Card. With this USB Reader/Writer, I am able to not only read faster from the card, but I can also write faster. I even tried uploading an EXE file at work, and I was able to download it at home. I can use it as a small Zip Drive. Plus, it worked on Windows 2000! This is a GREAT buy if you have a digital camera.
42 SWEET RELIEF!
I bought my first digital camera a year ago and loved what it produced. My one REAL GRIPE was the endless time it took to download the pictures via paralell cable. It really took all the fun out of the picture taking. I stumbled on the SanDisk reader quite by accident while cruising around and decided to give it a try. In spite of my initial problems with Adaptec, I felt I'd died and gone to heaven. I gave one to my son-in-law who was suffering from the same frustration as I'd been; and included one with the camera I gave my daughter for Christmas. All three of us are very happy with this reader and have been recommending it to others.
43 You get what you pay for
The old adage of you get what you pay for holds true with the SanDisk Imagemate. I bought it only because of it's low, low price and the fact that I had a $25.00 gift certificate. I read everyone else's review and found it to be just as described by the others. The SanDisk web page is not at all useful. With as many systems being shipped today with Windows ME installed, you'd think there would be a section covering ME problems. Nope, not a word about this thing working with ME.
The software drivers that ship with this unit are of course outdated, so after trying to get the Imagemate to run and being unable to find it on my USB system, I downloaded the new drivers and found the patch for the adaptec software conflict. I installed it again per the instructions after of course removing it from my system and it fired right up.
Once again, getting what you pay for, the construction of the imagemate is kind of cheap. The compact flash does not gently slide into the media slot, instead you have to kind of push, jiggle and hope that it goes in properly.
It seems to be working properly, I'm not getting any conflicts or inablity to read my CF. I only have 32mb cards so I can't testify how it will work with higher capacity or with a SM adapter.
All in all not a bad deal for less than $25.00, just a bit of install hassle.
44 Conflicts, conflicts, conflicts
The product worked fine at first, but add some new software and BOING! After adding more software, my computer doesn't even recognize that the card reader is there! Contacted the manufacturer and they tried by sending me more software and a detailed list of instructions, but after several unsuccessful tries, I wrote the manufacturer again and their customer service person wasn't there either! Now it sits on the shelf collecting dust until I can find someone who can sort out the conflict. Everything else works. As for a reader, when it worked, it deserved a 5 star rating. But with its tendency for a conflicts problem, it was money wasted. If you buy one, be sure you have a computer repair person nearby who can sort out these problems.
45 An Inexpensive Reader with an Easily Resolved Conflict
I bought this card reader when I purchased a new Canon s100 Digital ELPH camera. I did not want to have to connect my camera to the PC every time I took photos.
If you want a very inexpensive card reader that's easy to install an use then this one is definitely the way to go. As mentioned in other reviews, there is a known confict with Adaptec EZ CD Creator Software. So, if you have EZ CD Creator you will need to install the patch BEFORE you install this reader. The patch is very easy to install and takes only a few minutes. If you're totally clueless on the PC just get someone who knows what their doing to help you out. I almost went with a different reader beacuse of the horror stories I read about the conflict. However, after reading about it further at the right technical sources I soon learned it's such an easy fix. This reader is so inexpensive I figured if I couldn't get to work I wasn't risking much. The patch is a snap so don't let that stop you.
As for performance, the file transfer is fast. The unit is very low profile and sits easily on top of your desk, pc or monitor. I did notice once in while I don't get the CF card seated just right in the reader and I get an inaccesible message. Just need to reseat it and it works like a charm.
Bottom line: This product is a great value.
46 Adaptec conflict easily solved
This little reader is great, works fine and is pretty bullet proof. I use it to download images from my IBM microdrive and it works flawlessly. I also ran into the Adaptec conflict and just downloaded the patches/installed and then everything sorted out fine. If you don't have some basic computer literacy it may be a problem, but for those of you that can download a file off a site on the net and then install it. . .no problem! ....
47 DO NOT BUY if you have Adaptec Easy-CD Creater installed
After eagerly awaiting the arrival of my imagemate and the blazingly fast transfer speeds it offered, I suffered a huge hit when I tried to install the drivers. As soon as I plugged it in and it tried to load the drivers, my system locked up. Tried again, no luck. Finally I went to their site and realised that there is some sort of problem with Adaptec and Imagemate coexisting on the same machine. After unsuccesfully trying to use their suggested fixes, and unsuccesfully trying to get through to their support staff(over an hour on hold), I sent mine back and bought another brand that has worked great. Buyer Beware!
48 It's worth every cent!
After receiving a Kodak DC3200 camera for Christmas, I bought a small memory card, filled it up with about 25 pictures, and went to transfer them via serial port. It honestly took 8-10 minutes. I have the AC adapter for the camera and I didn't mind the wait at first, but then it was unbearable. Then I purchased the SanDisk Imagemate USB reader. What a difference!
It installs as a removeable drive in Windows. Pop in the card, open up Explorer, drag and drop the pictures to whereever, and voila. There's no A/C adapter for this unit, it works off of the USB ports. It took me seconds (if that) to transfer the 25 pictures to my hard drive.
It sells for ... locally, and I got it for less than... here, shipping included. ... is definitely the place to purchase it from. If it's out of stock, get a notification via email as to when it's available. It's worth every cent.
49 Great addition to your computer
I purchased one soon after I got my Kodak digital and couldn't be happier with it. Easy to install software and easy to use reader. It acts just like a removeable disk-drive so you can just drag and drop your photo files from your compactflash card. It's that easy. It saves time and batteries also. You don't have to hook and unhook your camera all of the time. You could spend a lot more for a USB reader, but I don't think you will get one any better than the Sandisk.
50 Fast reading easy Install
This is the best device to transfer the pictures from compact flash card from your digicam to your desktop or laptop PC. Especially for digital camera that does not support USB. But if you are not use using this device, you have to plug out from your computer to ignore windows protecting error.
51 Small, fast, inexpensive, whats not to like?
Simplifies and speeds transfer of images from your digital camera's flash memory card to your computer. For less than ($), it will save your camera's batteries and your time.
