MO: 32bit CF to PC card adapter $135

[Edmund]

Aska Cardbus 32 SpeedOver
Brand New, Full Retail Packaging

For those of you who work with a notebook computer, you will know how frustrating it is to:
- use the commonly available 16bit CF to PCcard adapter which is damn slow
- use all those external CF readers which are troublesome to carry around and are equally slow IF you do not have a USB 2 port to go with USB 2 CF readers

The Aska Cardbus 32 SpeedOver, as its name suggests, is a 32bit cardbus compatible CF to PCcard adapter. In my own unscientific tests:

6 Canon RAW files totalling 52.6mb took
44 secs on a normal 16bit CF to PCcard adapter
9 secs on the Aska Cardbus 32 Speedover
Thats almost 5 times faster!!

I bought some sets for friends and myself and have 4 sets left for sale here at S$135 each.

Please note that the Japanese company which manufactures this product does not export its products, hence there is no warranty outside of Japan. If you are concerned about warranty issues, please do not buy this product.

Having said that, this is a very handy piece of kit to own for those of you with a notebook as it is very easy to bring around with minimal fuss.

As I have mentioned earlier, there are only 4 pieces left and sales will be on a first come first served basis.

1.
2.
3.
4.

I will contact those who are successful via pm to collect from me during the next SEED.

 

[vince123123]

just wondering, does your notebook's PC card slot have to be of any certain specification before it can fully utilise this card? (just like u need to have usb 2.0 port before u can use usb2.0 devices at full speed)

 

[Edmund]

just wondering, does your notebook's PC card slot have to be of any certain specification before it can fully utilise this card? (just like u need to have usb 2.0 port before u can use usb2.0 devices at full speed)

Your notebook needs to have PC card slots that are Cardbus compatible. This should not be an issue for most, if not all current generation notebooks.

 

[Edmund]

Nobody's interested in this great little kit?

 

[Wai]

tempted.....but not sure if my old p3 notebook can make use of it....cos i just got a 16bit one for $10....but copy 70MB of file took more than a minute.....so I dun mind this 32bit version if it is <$100

look like i will give this a miss first

 

[Edmund]

tempted.....but not sure if my old p3 notebook can make use of it....cos i just got a 16bit one for $10....but copy 70MB of file took more than a minute.....so I dun mind this 32bit version if it is <$100

look like i will give this a miss first

If you want, I can let you install and try my adapter first to see if it works on your machine. Generally speaking, P3 notebooks should be quite ok.

 

[Edmund]

:gbounce: :gbounce: :gbounce:

 

[Winston]

tempted.....but not sure if my old p3 notebook can make use of it....cos i just got a 16bit one for $10....but copy 70MB of file took more than a minute.....so I dun mind this 32bit version if it is <$100

look like i will give this a miss first

For your info, if it's a P3 no problem. even if it's an old P3 450Mhz, it should probably be able to support 32bit Cardbus PCMCIA devices.

32bit Cardbus has been around for some time already.

If the laptop is a Pentium I (yes, there are still some alive and kicking) or Pentium II, then there is a higher chance of it being not compatitble.
(Unless it's a very late P2 design, like P2 400/450)

 

[Edmund]

:gbounce: :gbounce: :gbounce:

 

[Edmund]

Just did another test,

54 Canon RAW files totalling 462mb took
6 minutes 46 secs on a normal 16bit CF to PCcard adapter
1 minute 23 secs on the Aska Cardbus 32 Speedover

 

[cyrilng]

Sounds like a good product. For those with a constant NFS (need for speed) Now if only I had a notebook to use it with .

 

[Noir]

Just out of curiosity, does product work with Nixvue Digital Album (the 1st version) which uses the PCMCIA slot instead of the CF slot of their later versions?

 

[Darren]

Just out of curiosity, does product work with Nixvue Digital Album (the 1st version) which uses the PCMCIA slot instead of the CF slot of their later versions?

Quite unlikely as the tech specs only state PCMCIA and not 32-bit CardBus PCMCIA.

 

[Larry]

just noticed from the image posted - the reader takes IBM Microdrives as well?

 

[Edmund]

just noticed from the image posted - the reader takes IBM Microdrives as well?

Yes it does.

 

[Edmund]

Update: 3 pieces left

 

[vince123123]

If we were to check the specifications in the manual, would it state under PCMCIA Slot as being "32 bit Cardbus" compatible? thats the way it would be stated, if supported rite?

mine is a P3-800...but then again u never know cos i dont even have usb2 on my system

For your info, if it's a P3 no problem. even if it's an old P3 450Mhz, it should probably be able to support 32bit Cardbus PCMCIA devices.

32bit Cardbus has been around for some time already.

If the laptop is a Pentium I (yes, there are still some alive and kicking) or Pentium II, then there is a higher chance of it being not compatitble.
(Unless it's a very late P2 design, like P2 400/450)

 

[Edmund]

If we were to check the specifications in the manual, would it state under PCMCIA Slot as being "32 bit Cardbus" compatible? thats the way it would be stated, if supported rite?

It will probably say PC Card Slot. PCMCIA is the old name given for 16bit slots. But then, some manufacturers dun follow standard naming conventions. :think:

mine is a P3-800...but then again u never know cos i dont even have usb2 on my system

And neither does mine. But that hasn't stopped me from using it

 

[Winston]

If we were to check the specifications in the manual, would it state under PCMCIA Slot as being "32 bit Cardbus" compatible? thats the way it would be stated, if supported rite?

mine is a P3-800...but then again u never know cos i dont even have usb2 on my system

Er.. the 32bit Cardbus was introduced not long after the PCI bus was introduced to the PC.

The PC used to be using the older 16bit EISA and 8bit ISA bus slots (black in color) for the sound cards and other devices.
The 32bit PCI slot (white in color) was introduced as a replacement.
The older Pentium I, those 200Mhz and 233Mhz already had the PCI slots on their boards.

As for laptops, I think 32bit CardBus slots started perhaps 6-7 years back? Maybe even longer than that.

IBM's 570E (a 6 year old model (maybe longer), Pentium II) already supports it. Tested Cardbus NICs with it.

I think P3 800 shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Winston]

Just out of curiosity, does product work with Nixvue Digital Album (the 1st version) which uses the PCMCIA slot instead of the CF slot of their later versions?

My guess is that it will work but if the Nixvue DA is not 32bit CardBus compatitble then the PCMCIA Cardbus CF reader will operate like a 16bit PC Card.