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.
1 Easy to Use, Relatively Inexpensive
I followed the installation instructions: load the software, then plug the reader into the usb port and let Windows 98 recognize and install the item. And that's what it did - so simple! And Windows Explorer reads it just like any other drive. I agree with the previous reviewer - it is a little difficult to insert the flash card and you must take care. Maybe it doesn't take a whole minute, but it does take longer than the few seconds you would assume it should take. Other than that, it works exactly like it is supposed to.
2 A must have for Digital Camera users.
I bought one of these ImageMates right after I picked up my Nikon CoolPix 950. It was an easy installation, and has made transfer of my pictures from my camera to my computer a breeze. The newer camera's support USB. But my 950 only has a serial interface. Which thanks to my USB ImageMate I've never had to use. The compact flash card shows up as a external drive on my desktop, so I can just drag and drop the pictures right from my card to my drive. Nothing could be simpler! And when I have a full 128 Meg Card it is appreciated! The only thing that kept me from giving it 5 stars is that inserting the compact flash card can sometimes take a minute because it's not as easy to insert the card into the reader as it should be. Minor quibble over all, so if you don't have one get one! For the price you can't go wrong.
3 Great Product
I read all the previous reviews and can't imagine why this didn't work for some folks. We installed it on my daughters PC and it worked like a charm. She asked if I wanted to borrow it to try in on my Mac G3 because I was complaining about the switching necessary and the time consumed to get the pics out of my Kodak camera. We took her unit, plugged it into the USB port, installed the software in minutes and it works like a charm first crack. The software that came with the unit has two sets, one for PC's, one for Macs. I would say it's certainly worth a try, what a timesaver! I purchased a San Disk for myself now, and, fearless, \(^0^)/ I picked up a 64 meg compactflash card for my next vacation. The camera came with a recharger for the batteries, I'm all set. And kiss that serial port hookup goodbye.
4 Great product
The SanDisk USB ImageMate worked flawlessly. Pop the CD in, the driver installs, and the PC reboots. Once I plugged in the reader, it worked quickly and flawlessly. I'm planning to purchase another one to use at work.
5 Be Careful
I attempted to install this device on my HP computer. Every time I plugged in the USB cable, I received an error. When I called tech support I was informed that my Easy CD Writer software was causing a conflict with the device. When you go to the support page, you are informed of this conflict. It should be listed on the documentation that was provided. It would have saved me a great deal of time and effort. You have to download a patch file, to bad it didn't come on the installation CD.
6 Product and tech service disappointing
I tried to install the ImageMate in a new Dell PC. I followed the instructions carefully and my computer crashed as soon as I plugged the device into the USB port. This happened several times and finally corrupted my modem software.
After solving the modem problem I called SanDisk tech service. After two long periods on hold, someone said I'd get a call-back the same day. Never did. Didn't get a response from an email to their tech service people either. Stay away!
7 Easy and fast
I installed this in less than 5 minutes and I was up and running. It is a great product and very fast.
8 Too Easy to Be True
I'm still waiting for the second shoe to drop. The SanDisk Imagemate CompactFlash Reader was just too easy to install and use. Sorta reminds me of my Mac days.... I had absolutely no trouble with it. It installs easily; the CD-ROM did its little dance; Windows98 searched for and installed the hardware items. The only problem I had was believing the simplicity and SPEED of the transfer of images from CF Card to HD: screamin'! NOTE: SanDisk also makes a SmartMedia Reader; be sure to order the one that reads your specific medium. So far, no second shoe....
9 YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
THIS CARD READER IS CHEAP FOR A REASON. IT DOESN'T WORK 99% OF THE TIME. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO INSTALL AND DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE A DRIVER ON THE INSTALLATION CD. USING THE DRIVER OFF THEIR WEB SITE MADE MY COMPUTER CRASH.
10 Essential device, easy install, simple to use
Like most USB devices, this was incredibly easy to install on Win98. I just connected it to the USB port on my wife's PC and stuck in the CD when prompted. I didn't even have to reboot. Easy!
Downloading pictures using a serial cable is incredibly slow, and squanders expensive batteries. This device, which is powered by the USB cable, lets you treat your flashcards like high-capacity floppy drives. Just drag and drop your pictures from your flashcard to your hard drive using Explorer. Once you're done, erasing unwanted pictures from the flashcard is quick & easy.
This peripheral is cheap, given the time it saves and the convenience it provides. My wife loves it.
11 Fast and Simple - Down and Dirty - Once you get it working
Driver installation is terrible. Documentation did not work. Standard windows driver installation did not work. However, hunting the cd-rom (wich had the autostart file written wrong) and executing the setup.exe in Win98 folder got me up and running within two minutes.
Then... it's all smooth sailing.
SanDisk beauty is in it's simplicity. SanDisk shows up as a disk drive - no need to learn a GUI intensive propriatary program. Pull your memory out of your camera, pop it into this baby, and just drag the files over.
Not only is it easy but it's FAST too. Transferring pictures from my camera took up to 4 minutes for 7 pictures. My 1 megapixel HP200cxi saves in .jpg format at about 400k per file. Thats four minutes for 2.8 megs, or two minutes for a floppy worth of info. This device transferred everything in less than 5 seconds. It was so fast I repeated it just to be sure.
For a camera - maintaining the voltage necessary for a serial port sucks batteries - hard. Sandisk eliminates using serial port technology thats over 12 years old. Buy this device, skip the AC adapter for your camera and buy an extra set of rechargeable batteries. It'll save you 30 bucks and bail you out when you forget to rotate batteries.
Documentation claims it works on a Mac.
I give it four stars because of the driver installation. Now that you know the secret... consider it five.
