Solutions for P2 card reader

Green Hornet

Green Hornet

Veteran
I am looking for soltions for reading P2 cards.
I would like a simple P2 (pcmcia, cardbus 32 ) reader that is either USB2 or some version of firewire.

It seems that it has to be firewire or better to maintain the transfer.
That must be why I can only find rear mounted pci interfaced solutions.

What else is there?
 
Other than pci cards and the pricey Panasonic P2 five card reader... It doesn't look like there are many, if any, other options right now. I think nobody is making them because there's no need... It's a laptop feature and anything you can get in a pcmcia card you can get cheaper for a tower anyway... This is really the first time it's been used for something other than hardware expansion.

I'm not certain as I don't have a camera in my hands yet but I remember Barry saying you could just use the camera itself as a reader.
 
Remember Guys, that the P2 card is a PCI peripheral device. It has to plug into a PCI bus (CARDBUS is a PCI extension). There is no way to extend it inexpensively and it has to plug into a PCI bus on your computer.

The P2 Drive is actually a full, dedicated computer with 5 CARDBUS (PCI) slots. This is the reason for the price. A standard PCMCIA reader or extender will not work. It HAS to be CARDBUS.

This limits the inexpensive options to a PCI CARDBUS adapter card. Unfortunately it will only be accessible from the BACK of the PC and cannot be inexpensively extended to the front.

As we mentioned before, we have been testing a number of cards and chose one with a chip-set optimized for the P2 cards. Speed optimized Firmware is now finished as well and the cards will be available shortly.

This is absolutely and by far the fastest way to transfer data from the P2 card to your PC, although not very convenient.

Best Regards,

David Linetsky
President
Specialized Communications Corp.
20940 Twin Springs Drive
Smithsburg, MD 21783-1510 USA
800-359-1858
301-790-0103
Fax: 301-790-0173
davidl@spec-comm.com
www.spec-comm.com

************************************************************************
Now taking Pre-Orders on the Panasonic AG-HVX200 HD Camcorder.
Reserve today, and receive FREE Shipping and a FREE cleaning for your new camera.
Visit http://www.spec-comm.com/hvx200.php for details!
 
Spec-Comm said:
As we mentioned before, we have been testing a number of cards and chose one with a chip-set optimized for the P2 cards. Speed optimized Firmware is now finished as well and the cards will be available shortly.!
Click to expand...

David.

If this includes the MacPro as well, great news.
 
PC buses are like plumbing, you start with the really big pipes at the center and expand outward with smaller pipes (or you can think about the reverse for sewage, if it better suits your mood). While in some cases it may be possible to mix pipe sizes, no manufacturer does it because it would make underperforming parts that aren't very popular.

The front-side bus is the biggest, holding almost everything. PC Card slots (more than 1000 Mbps) are really big pipes, just like the PCI bus. Firewire and USB are smaller (480-800Mbps). Of course (on paper, anyway) a P2 card (640 Mbps) won't saturate a firewire bus, but the problem is that the pipes are not designed to be set up backwards.
 
This company has found a way to extend it to the front of the PC and it works. And it's only a 100 bucks.

http://www.amtron.com/reader/p2card_reader.htm

I have just purchased this and it works. I have it running on my PC w/XP. I can offload my P2 cards from the front of my PC now.

I have not done extensive testing, as i have only offloaded a few cards, but so far it works fine. It offloads just as fast as my PCMCIA slot in my laptop.

Spec-Comm said:
This limits the inexpensive options to a PCI CARDBUS adapter card. Unfortunately it will only be accessible from the BACK of the PC and cannot be inexpensively extended to the front.

Best Regards,

David Linetsky
President
Specialized Communications Corp.
20940 Twin Springs Drive
Smithsburg, MD 21783-1510 USA
800-359-1858
301-790-0103
Fax: 301-790-0173
davidl@spec-comm.com
www.spec-comm.com

************************************************************************
Now taking Pre-Orders on the Panasonic AG-HVX200 HD Camcorder.
Reserve today, and receive FREE Shipping and a FREE cleaning for your new camera.
Visit http://www.spec-comm.com/hvx200.php for details!
Click to expand...
 
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