DavidAhrendts
Member
So the P2 Store "used" prices are dropping into the "steal" category, so I'm a proud new owner of the 60gig P2 Store box which, if nothing else, I thought, would make a fine card reader and give me a better method with my new Mac Pro 8-core than my old stand-by Duel adaptor into the MacBook Pro into an external hard drive method. So the P2 Store arrives in perfect condition for early 2006 when we lived in the world of PowerMacs or Intel Macs and Windows 2000 and only 8gig P2 cards. OK, we can deal.
So, off to the Panasonic support site to find the latest drivers, manuals, etc. Several hours of trial and error later, I think the P2 Store will finally work -- sort of.
1) The manual is really obtuse, and the Japanese to English translation difficulties are acute. For instance, in the P2Store Manager, there is a status indicator to tell you the status of your USB connection. Panny uses the word "State" instead of status (and I can get over that), but you are either in "State: Connecting" or "State: Disconnected" -- I swear I waited for minutes for "Connecting" (active) to become "Connected" (passive/completed/hooked up). But I opine. If one is connecting, one is connected.
2) It appears in the latest software update "VSI4516.VDT" for OS 10.5 does not cause the P2 Store to register as an independent device in Finder. I assumed it would show up as an external hard drive -- it does not. The P2 Store displays a USB light if connected, on your Mac, you see nothing.
3) It appears you have two Mac choices with the current P2 store software: read the P2 card directly or read the P2 Store hard drive.
4) It appears they will update again for Snow Leopard 10.6, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
May I have a little wisdom from anyone who has used the P2 Store for some time, or is this about state of the art for the device. Hey, it is at the very least, a good card reader for less than the cost of the cheapest PC (Ebay), and I don't want to do Windows. Many thanks.
David A.
So, off to the Panasonic support site to find the latest drivers, manuals, etc. Several hours of trial and error later, I think the P2 Store will finally work -- sort of.
1) The manual is really obtuse, and the Japanese to English translation difficulties are acute. For instance, in the P2Store Manager, there is a status indicator to tell you the status of your USB connection. Panny uses the word "State" instead of status (and I can get over that), but you are either in "State: Connecting" or "State: Disconnected" -- I swear I waited for minutes for "Connecting" (active) to become "Connected" (passive/completed/hooked up). But I opine. If one is connecting, one is connected.
2) It appears in the latest software update "VSI4516.VDT" for OS 10.5 does not cause the P2 Store to register as an independent device in Finder. I assumed it would show up as an external hard drive -- it does not. The P2 Store displays a USB light if connected, on your Mac, you see nothing.
3) It appears you have two Mac choices with the current P2 store software: read the P2 card directly or read the P2 Store hard drive.
4) It appears they will update again for Snow Leopard 10.6, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
May I have a little wisdom from anyone who has used the P2 Store for some time, or is this about state of the art for the device. Hey, it is at the very least, a good card reader for less than the cost of the cheapest PC (Ebay), and I don't want to do Windows. Many thanks.
David A.
