Microtech USB CameraMate
Flash Card Reader/Writer

The MicroTech USB CameraMate flash card reader/writer is a small device that connects to any USB-enabled Windows 98/98SE, ME or 2000 PC or Macintosh computer. The USB CameraMate was the first card reader available with a CompactFlash Type II slot to accomodate the new IBM Microdrives without the need of the PCMCIA adapter. It also has a SmartMedia slot and accepts either 3.3v or 5v cards. Here's the CF Type II slot in action with the IBM Microdrive -- the data throughput is about a megabyte per second or faster. See the chart below. The SmartMedia slot reads any size SM card (both 3.3v and 5v) and the data transfer rate is almost as fast as with CF cards. MicroTech DPCM-USB Features: Provides transfer rates of up to 1.2MB/sec. Dedicated CompactFlash and SmartMedia slots SmartMedia supports 3.3v and 5v cards up to 128MB Compatible with all existing CompactFlash cards (3.5mm) Support for new CFII digital film format (5mm) Mechanical CompactFlash ejector Spring-loaded SmartMedia ejector Hot-swappable USB connector (plug into either hub or port on computer) Easy to install (no need to open or go inside your computer) USB 1.1 compliant For Mac OS 8.5 or Windows 98 1 meter cable length Now includes fun software for photo correction, web site creation, and multimedia slide show presentation from Photo FX and ixla: Photo FX - PhotoFolio 2.0 (for Mac OS) ixla-Digital Camera Suite SE (for PC) ixla-Web Easy Trial Version (for PC) Includes CD-ROM for quick installation 1 year comprehensive warranty Lifetime toll free technical support Installation Typical of USB devices and Windows 98, the installation was totally plug and play. Windows detected the new device when it was plugged in and prompted for the driver CD. The drivers were loaded and the system was rebooted. Two new drive letter assignments showed up in My Computer which means the upper and lower card slots can be used simultaneously. The USB CameraMate is powered directly from the USB bus so no other cable is necessary other than the supplied USB cable. In case of power problems there is an external DC power jack on the back of the card reader. Steve's Unofficial Test Results What I did was copy a specified amount of "mixed" data (JPGs, EXEs and some CAB files) both to and from the storage devices listed. Inbetween transfers I ran a large program (PhotoShop 4.0) to clear out the cache and my timings included how long the busy light stayed lit on the USB CameraMate card reader. Each transfer was repeated twice, the amount of time was added together and then divided by two to get the average transfer time listed below. Transfer of 70MB of mixed data Simple Tech 128MB CF Type I 2:00 Delkin 128MB CF Type I 1:56 SanDisk 80MB CF Type I 2:14 Lexar 8x 80MB CF Type I 1:11 Lexar 8x 80MB JumpSHOT CF Type I 1:19 IBM Microdrive 340MB Type II 1:05 Transfer of 30MB of mixed data MicroTech 32MB SmartMedia 1:32 Delkin 32MB SmartMedia 1:33 MicroTech CameraMate Windows 98/98SE/2000/ME/XP Mac OS 8.5 or newer drivers here! Steve's Digi-Rating I give the MicroTech USB CameraMate a 5 out of 5 digicams! This small but very fast USB card reader/writer will meet the needs of today's digital camera user with CompactFlash, SmartMedia or the newest CF Type II cards or hard drives. The device driver installation completed without problem and the data transfer rate is extremely fast.

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