GUIDE TO FLASH MEMORY CARD READERS

Pro Series Compactflash Readers Firewire 800

Manufacturer : LEXAR MEDIA INC
In Stock : 20

List Price:	$100.80
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Features

FireWire 800 interface for high-speed file transfer
Innovative, stackable design for concurrent downloads
Reads both UDMA CompactFlash (CF) and standard CF cards
Activity LED and card eject button

Product Description

Lexar offers high-performance Professional UDMA readers designed to help professional photographers and advanced photo enthusiasts maximize their post-production workflow speed. Lexar Professional UDMA Readers are ideal for use with high-speed cards, and provide incredibly fast download speeds when paired with a UDMA card - so you can maximize your workflow and minimize your post-production time.The Lexar Professional UDMA FireWire 800 Reader is a high-performance reader with a stackable design that allows for concurrent downloads from multiple cards. Fully compatible with both UDMA CompactFlash (CF) and standard CF memory cards, the reader provides versatility and the ability to leverage blazing-fast UDMA CF card speeds.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating of 4.00 out of 11 reviews

Rating :
Excellent product, and boy is it FAST! - Frank E. Trinkle, Oct 20, 2008

I bought this at Amazon to mate up with my new Lexar Pro UDMA 8GB CF card. The reviews here were mixed, so I had a wee bit of trepidation about spending over $60 for a simple reader. I am happy to say that my misgivings were unjustified. This is a great product.

The unit itself IS a little cheap looking, but it works as advertised, and is the fastest reader I've ever seen! My first test, downloading 2.9GB of RAW and JPEG pictures just taken with my new Canon 50D, wouldn't even allow me to go get a cup of coffee before finishing! My old USB method would have allowed me not only to get a cup, but to finish it before that amount of data completed its download.

Impressive that Lexar INCLUDES not one, but two Firewire 800 cables with the unit. One is bout 36 inches; the other is a six-inch shorty.

Others who commented about the card release button feeling "sticky" are somewhat correct. It DOES feel a little tight, but I suspect that those who have had a problem with it are probably being a bit aggressive.

I am always very careful with CF cards due to their pin structure, and I don't think that this unit will have a problem if you handle it with care while only pushing the eject button slowly, and only as much as needed to get the card out far enough to retrieve.

A final note that I was lucky to have purchased the Lexar 8GB UDMA PRO card at B&H while it still had a $80 rebate offer. It's now expired, but I suspect that UDMA card prices will fall soon, and that makes this reader an absolute MUST if you're loading up with pics or video.

VERY happy with this purchase! Five stars.

Rating :
FW800 CF reader - J. Carr, Oct 04, 2008

Transfers about 3 RAW files a second. Very fast. It does feel sort of cheap, but so far is working fine.

Rating :
Fast reader but flawed FireWire 800 Implementation - Felddy, Oct 02, 2008

The reader is indeed fast. But...

One of the features that I was interested in was the pass thru FireWire 800 port for daisy chaining of devices. Unfortunately if the reader is in a chain with other FireWire 800 devices it will not operate. It may also prevent other devices in the chain from operating properly. This is unfortunate as many machines only have one 800 port, and FireWire 800 hubs are expensive. Below is the reply that I received from Lexar about the issue.

-- Lexar Technical Support --
Thank you for contacting us. The FireWire 800 reader is designed to daisy chain with other of the FireWire 800 readers. You can daisy chain up to 4 of the readers together. They are not designed to work daisy chained with other devices like external hard drives. Best suggestion I can give for a case like yours is you would want to purchase a powered FireWire 800 hub to connect the 2 different devices to your system.

Rating :
Pro Series CF Reader A Must - Sy Kaplan, Sep 16, 2008

This is the fasted reader I have ever seen. Clears a full 8gb CF card in minutes. A must for any professional where time is of the essence.

Rating :
lexar firewire 800 reader - C. Rudlin, Sep 13, 2008

Amazing how much faster the transfer compared to USB!
This makes using a 8GB card practical (provided, of course, that the card is USDM or 300x or faster).
Highly recommended.

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