g4 Powerbook Compatability...

[OlWiseRedEye]

Hey guys,

I am thinking of getting a Powerbook 15" or 17" with the PCMCIA slot on it for in feild transfer. Some are going for $500-$600 now and that seems like a lot better of an idea then paying $1200+ for a P2 Store or $2000+ for the new Macbooks with the duel systems adapter. I just want to re-confirm what I believe to be true... The P2 card works with that slot and xfers the files fine correct? I am assuming that it will be slower then the P2 store, but then again, I can wait a few more minutes for $700+ lol. Can someone who uses this method just please confirm this before i purchase one...Thanks! Also, what is the average xfer speed for an 8GB?

:Drogar-Thinking(DBG

[CinemaElectronika]

I am 100% fine with my Powerbook G4 15" 1.5Ghz with 2Gb RAM and Final Cut Studio. Transfer via PCMCIA + P2 Genie is about 8 minutes per 8 GB Card.
Each card is donwloaded to the Internal 80Gb HDD and to a Portable High-Speed 7200rpm 80Gb G-Drive Mini via FW800 (bus powered) for backup.
Some times I have done direct HD capture via FW400 on Final Cut Pro... no problem!
I do have a LaCie FW800 PC Card for those needs which adds 2 FW800/1 FW400 ports to my laptop.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck.

[n8ture]

Works fine with my 1.67GHz 17" G4 as well.
Most people don;t have this issue but I can only offload 3 4Gig cards and then the computer will either lock up or the card will fail to mount.

So now after the third card, I automatically restart the computer and I'm good for three more cards. :)

Like I said most people don't have that problem but a couple of us do. When Leopard comes out, I want to make a disk image of my drive, wipe it clean and install Leopard and see if that makes any difference.

[ozduc]

Works fine with my 1.67GHz 17" G4 as well.
Most people don;t have this issue but I can only offload 3 4Gig cards and then the computer will either lock up or the card will fail to mount.

So now after the third card, I automatically restart the computer and I'm good for three more cards. :)

Like I said most people don't have that problem but a couple of us do. When Leopard comes out, I want to make a disk image of my drive, wipe it clean and install Leopard and see if that makes any difference.

I was experiencing this as well Kevin. It seemed that every card took longer to mount than the last and the computer would lock up. Then one day I got distracted doing something else and then all of a sudden the card mounted. So now I just wait, sometimes up to 1 1/2-2 minutes and the card will eventually mount.

[doccutter]

I have the same problem on my powerbook 15" 1.5, it locks after maybe the 5th card, each card leading up to that point taking longer to mount.

[n8ture]

I've left mine for 30 minutes or so after the third card and no dice. Either it fails to mount and everything still runs fine or it locks up the computer.

Every now and then I get four cards in a row to mount but usually it's three.

It follows the same pattern. First card mounts right away. Each successive card takes longer to mount.

[Saugidaug]

I use a G4 1.5 Ghz , 2 Gb RAM, w/FCP Studio 5.1.4. I use P2 Genie, it works but I would like a better program. Just completed a feature shooting, and we off loaded lots of 8 Gb cards to computer/drives. Sometimes it takes a while (5 min +) for a card to mount. But I have NEVER lost /corrupted any footage. I repeat, NEVER. I have had to re-do a card because it would not play in Final Cut, but the 2nd time always worked. Try inserting the card and wait for it to mount. THEN open P2 Genie. I have found this to be an effective method.

[OlWiseRedEye]

Ok, to add to the question...Would the Older Titanium version of the Powerbook g4's also work? I believe it has a pcmcia slot as well and you can get those quite cheap.

[mico]

I have a 15" G4 titanium 800mhz with panther that has no problem with P2 cards. No restarts neccessary. I use it just like a P2 store if carrying the laptop isn't an issue. But its not fast enough to watch the footage.