P2 with MacBook Pro possible solution from Apple

F

FleaDrummer

New member
I have been working with Apple to place an order for equipment for a feature I am working on. When I realized the MacBook Pro/P2 problem I sent them an email. Their creative team has offered 2 solutions. The first is the obvious P2 reader from Panasonic or the P2store. As a side note they themselves wondered why the 5 card reader was more then the P2 store with 60 gig harddrive.

The second option was this.
http://www.psism.com/psiu2a-5.htm
Has anyone had any luck using this or know of anyone who has. I know its been a hot topic to try to find a cheaper solution, just wondering if this would help.

As my budget isn't in place yet I don't have an HVX or the MacBook Pro to test, but if anyone is willing to take one for the team this might be the solution we are all looking for.

Let me know what you think.

Rob
FleaNation Productions
 
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I sent an email to the manufacturer who one line responsed me.

"We don't know if it will work buy one and find out." Yea right 80 bucs to see if maybe it works, I'll wait for a better solution.

Rob
FleaNation Productions Ltd.
 
I went that route -- spent $55 on the Addonics one-slot version. That was $55 (and one addonics reader) in the trash. Doesn't work.

NONE of them will work.

I'd love to be proved wrong someday, it'd be fantastic to find a cheap reader. But I've come to the conclusion (aided by Spec-Comm's excellent technical description) that a cheap USB reader is simply not possible, and that there are very good reasons that Panasonic's five-slot costs $2500.
 
Barry_Green said:
I went that route -- spent $55 on the Addonics one-slot version. That was $55 (and one addonics reader) in the trash. Doesn't work.

NONE of them will work.

I'd love to be proved wrong someday, it'd be fantastic to find a cheap reader. But I've come to the conclusion (aided by Spec-Comm's excellent technical description) that a cheap USB reader is simply not possible, and that there are very good reasons that Panasonic's five-slot costs $2500.
Click to expand...

Barry, do think Apple will add PCMCIA back to the laptop line, or at least some equivelant?
 
No, because as far as I understand it, PCMCIA is an extension of the PCI bus. ExpressCard is an extension of the PCIexpress bus. So you get one or the other, but not both. Could be totally wrong, but that's how I think it works.

But duel-technologies is producing a PCMCIA->Expresscard adapter, so it should only be an inconvenience for a short while.
 
Barry_Green said:
No, because as far as I understand it, PCMCIA is an extension of the PCI bus. ExpressCard is an extension of the PCIexpress bus. So you get one or the other, but not both. Could be totally wrong, but that's how I think it works.

But duel-technologies is producing a PCMCIA->Expresscard adapter, so it should only be an inconvenience for a short while.
Click to expand...


True about the busses. Technically Express card is faster. Shame they couldn't have made it backwards compatible. Any word on duel-technologies ETA. I really dont wanna be forced into the P2store its a bit pricey and I don't like the idea of dumping all my footage twice.
 
It seems part of the Expresscard thing is that it does not require a dedicated controller like cardbus does, so it's cheaper for the manufacturers, and motherboard makers can put expresscard in the chipset. Sux for us tho...
 
duel-technologies ETA is June, here is email from them:

Ken
Yes we are and it will be a full implementation of a 32 bit Cardbus interface. The PCMCIA to ExpressCard adaptor final design is still being refined but we are looking around mid June for product release. We are on a very aggresive timeline.


I will make sure we get you the info when we have better availability dates. The intent is that the product will be platform and card independent so that any card should work in any laptop.



Best Regards

Rob Zajac
Business Development
Duel Systems
1750 Junction Ave.
San Jose CA 95112
Office: 408-392-3420
 
Well, that is *exactly* what I wanted to hear. Now let's just find out what the estimated price is, and I think Apple will be selling a *lot* of MBP's to HVX users!
 
Barry_Green said:
Well, that is *exactly* what I wanted to hear. Now let's just find out what the estimated price is, and I think Apple will be selling a *lot* of MBP's to HVX users!
Click to expand...


What he said. Any word on a price.
 
The current P2 Mac driver is a PowerPC kext and as a result can not be loaded on the Intel based Macs which need a Universal kext. (Rosetta does not support PowerPC kext)

Having not yet used P2 cards yet, I'm unsure of when this driver is used - is it called when a P2 Store is plugged in or only when a P2 card is inserted in the older G4 Powerbooks? Or indeed is it needed when connecting the HVX over FW?

I'm sure people have been able to get P2 data onto the MacBook Pro's using one of these methods, so I'm just unclear when the driver is used/needed.

My point being that we'll need Panasonic to build a universal P2 kext for the Intel Macs if it is needed for the sort of PCMCIA to ExpressCard reader being discussed here.

Uhh, I hope some of that made a little sense :-)
--
Mark
 
this is also good news for people wanting to get a dell laptop...

i was recently put off doing this when I noticed that they swapped to the expresscard slots as well.....

but now i'm not so worried.....

not that i'll have a HVX in the next 12 months...but...hey...i'll be ready...lol
 
Uh, I've connected the HVX by FireWire to my MacBook and imported junk in FCP. Not sure I follow where the problem is. I do understand that people want to just rotate cards in and out of the camera and something on their laptop, but the interruption hasn't been a big deal from my perspective. Your requirements may vary. :)
 
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