PCMCIA and mac laptops

Moog

Moog

Well-known member
Hi Guys,
I could use a little help.

Until recently, I have always been able to offload my P2 cards in the field to a PC laptop.
Thing is, my girlfriend has just swapped it for a mac laptop. (fair enough - it IS hers, and macs are nicer :happy:) so now i need to find a way our of this hole.

Thing is, it's an older laptop, so dosen't have an express card slot.

Does anyone know of some kind of firewire (or usb 2.0) device or adapter that will enable me to hook up my P2 cards to this mac.

cheers
Moog
 
I believe the only alternative to Express 34 and the PCMCIA slot is Panasonic's fire wire card reader. Unfortunately the price of admission is steep- $1500.00 USD -ish. Ouch.
 
youch - That's what I was hoping to avoid... It'd be cheaper to buy a crappy lappy! All seems a bit silly really.

I can't understand why theres no kind of adapter when P2 seems pretty much designed to dovetail so nicely with Macs.

Anyone else heard of any handy little products?

cheers for replying Hotchkiss

:)
 
Moog said:
That's what I was hoping to avoid... It'd be cheaper to buy a crappy lappy!
Click to expand...
Yes, it would. And better, too.

I can't understand why theres no kind of adapter when P2 seems pretty much designed to dovetail so nicely with Macs.
Click to expand...
There is an adapter, the duel-systems adapter for expresscard. For an earlier powerbook no adapter is needed, they have the PCMCIA slots.
 
Hi Barry,
This laptop ain't got nuthin but firewire / Usb or ethernet. Nary a PCMCIA or Express card slot in sight. I had seen duel systems thang around, but sadly, it's not alot of use to me.
 
Sounds like either a 12 inch PowerBook or a MacBook.

In which case it's a firewire mode transfer and not much else.
 
Aye - sounds about right David.

I guess I'll poke around for an old cheap PC laptop.

cheers guys
 
Ah, one of the older slotless Macs. Well, in that case it's not going to be of much use to you. You could offload from your camera through firewire, but that's about it. You could use a P2 Store as a slot reader as well.

Probably much better off looking for a Christmas sale on a $399 windows laptop with the slot.
 
yeah - looks that way dosen't it.
This P2 lark is great, but it sure can be a pain in the hole ;)

thanks for all the replies folks
 
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Hi Barry,

Big fan of your book and Boot Camp DVDs, both are appropriately worn out by much use.

Being the fervent Mac man I've always been, I just impulsively ordered a basic MacBook (not Pro) online from Apple store, thinking I could download P2 via the Duel Systems adapter, but... you know where this is going. I conveniently managed to discover AFTER I placed the order that the MB doesn't have an Express card slot.

What was Apple thinking? What was I thinking??

Someone, please tell me-- all things being equal, should I keep the MB (I don't have a laptop of any sort but have 3 desktop Macs, all I've ever had), download P2 in field via Firewire (tying up the HVX, but I've been doing that all along by lugging my iMac into the field, believe it or not.)

The whole reason I went for the MB was to avoid using the HVX as a FW device, but looks like I'm back to square one. So, bottom line, assuming I can even cancel the MB order (made 2 hrs ago), is it worth the savings, i.e., $1300 incl. tax for the MB, versus $500- $600 for a PC laptop, presumably with a PCM slot or Express card slot (which would require me to buy the Duel Adapter, bumping the price up another $120ish).

Thanks!
Steve
 
Why would you spend a lot of money to get a product that won't do the basic job you got it for?

I say cancel the order and either get an MBP with the duel adapter (if you really want a Mac) or get a Windows PCMCIA laptop for $500 or $600 or whatever for field offloading. But get something that does the job you need done.
 
why...? emotional, knee-jerk devotion to the Mac that spans parts of 3 decades!
Thanks for the reality check. I canceled the order and will pick up a PC laptop this weekend.
 
Obviously, Apple isn't responsible here. The MacBook is basically a consumer laptop and its specs are pretty well spelled out. The MBP is the professional line and includes an EC/34 slot.

No consumer Apple laptop has ever had an additional slot, including the 12-inch Powerbook.

If you edit in FCP, stay with the MBP. Why get a cheap PC when the duel adapter works in both Tiger and Leopard AND you get a second editing seat.
 
Good advice, David, point well taken. I just can't justify the extra bucks for a MBP right now, and since my primary motivation was to find a cost alternative to a P2 Store...
I already have a screaming fast MacPro dual 3Ghz set up that handles all my FCP work effortlessly, and I have an iMac as well that I use for administrative tasks.

So... I bought a basic Toshiba laptop with an Express card and also purchased the Duel Adpater. I previously had no laptop of any kind, so now I have a P2 downloading device that's also a word processor and email device. Total cost: about $700.

Canceled the order of the MacBook: $1300. Any ideas of what to do with the $600 difference? :)

When I have the cash I will almost certainly spring for a MPB down the line. But thanks for your input, I value it and enjoy reading your posts on this forum.

Steve
 
Well, you can always consider Panasonic's own P2 card reader that has USB and Firewire, and five P2 Slots!

Price? Er... About 2000 USD? :)
 
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