Anything wrong with using G4 Powerbook as dump station?

Mister Big

Mister Big

Well-known member
Hey guys,

I'm about to take the plunge on a P2 camera. Wondering if this card dumping workflow is naive or if my gear is woefully out of date for such use.

Here is the plan.

1. Insert P2 card into 1.6MHZ Powerbook's PCMCIA slot.

2. Drag card contents to HDD and external RAID drive (USB2 or FW). Let contents copy.

3. Reformat card in camera.

The reason for using such old gear is that I have three backup batteries for it and I already own it.

Will this work at a reasonable speed to transfer the data?

Thanks as always for the wisdom dispensed on this board.
 
Well, I use a 1Ghz Al Powerbook G4 as my dump station, and it works like a charm. I would recommend using Panasonic's P2CMS software to offload your cards, if for no other reason that the "verify" function it has.

But it should work without issue, as long as you have the necessary card drivers and software loaded.

--SM
 
Since the G4 Powerbook was the last Mac laptop to incorporate a P2 card-sized slot, and since the 1.6 GHz (1.67 to be exact) was the fastest such machine ever made, it's near-ideal as a P2 transfer device. I have one, and bought it specifically for that purpose. It works perfectly. It also runs FCP 5.1.2 beautifully as well, which is all I've used for P2 ingest so far (File/Import/Import Panasonic P2). I haven't yet tried it yet with FCP 6, but I believe it should be fine with that as well.
 
That's what I use. PB G4 1.67. I use it as a P2 transfer machine, AND TO EDIT on the road as well. Old, but still good.
 
Thanks, guys. That's a huge plus and proof that you don't always have to have the latest and greatest. Sometimes old technology is actually quite good.
 
Download the latest drivers, including the P2 Card Formatter application, and it'll make the P2 experience even better on the Mac. Always write-protect the cards before putting 'em in the Mac. And yes, the PBG4 is fast enough to edit footage on even in HD.
 
add another vote for old pb g4 for dump and basic edit machine. iv'e been running fcp5x for nearly a year (and v6 recently) on my old 1.0ghz 17" g4pb with no problems!
 
Thanks for all the wisdom you dispense, Barry. I'm a story/producer guy first, and a camera guy only when I have no money for a camera guy or don't have time to hire one. So I'm always thankful for the knowledge I find here. I'm hoping for a tapeless workflow on a project I hope to sell to one of the big cable networks, whether it be one of the HPX cameras, a HVX, or some combination of big and small. I love that there's very little measurebating and fan boyism on this site.
 
Another good dump.

Another good dump.

Add my name to the list, (1.33Ghz G4 Power PC.)
I have used this setup since I started using the HVX. I carry 2*800gig OWC FW800 drives in the field. I have the 17" powerbook and it has the FW800 slot as well, so transfers are fast.
I would recommend maxing out the RAM on the box, you can never have enough.

Mac to the Future

Gordo88
 
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