sd card

[torontowii]

it would be alot easier to use a camera that i already have then go out,buy a driver,install the driver and then use it,just to get the driver alone would take more time then it would to just get the file on the camera and then back to my computer

 

[Bigred]

what are you talking about installing a driver?
you can buy memory card to USB adapters. You just plug the usb end in the usb port and stick the sd card in the sd slot.

 

[torontowii]

i dont have a sd slot,which is what im saying

 

[sremick]

Card readers don't need drivers. You just plug them in and they work.

You may think it's "a lot easier" to use your camera but it's not. Trust me. The $10 you spend on a card reader will be some of the best $10 you ever spend. I'm a computer consultant as well as an IT administrator and people are blown away by card readers daily... first by the fact that there's is an alternative to using whatever convoluted software came with their camera, and then secondly by how much faster and easier it is to move files back and forth with a card reader when it just comes up as another drive and that's it.

Card readers are faster and easier, plain and simple. Just buy one. The amount of time you waste doing it the long and hard way could be spent instead collecting empty soda cans and bottles to pay for it and you'd still come out ahead. Unless you consider your time to be only worth $0.01/hour.

 

[Bigred]

Ugh...
You can buy a SD card to USB port converter. You take the converter and plug it in a USB port. Viola! you're done. Now put the SD card into the other end of the converter and your computer will recognize it.

 

[sremick]

Ugh...
You can buy a SD card to USB port converter. You take the converter and plug it in a USB port. Viola! you're done. Now put the SD card into the other end of the converter and your computer will recognize it.

We're talking about the same thing. You're calling it a "converter", everyone else is calling it a "card reader".

 

[Bigred]

We're talking about the same thing. You're calling it a "converter", everyone else is calling it a "card reader".

Card reader/converter/adaptor same thing...

 

[hal2814]

it would be alot easier to use a camera that i already have then go out,buy a driver,install the driver and then use it,just to get the driver alone would take more time then it would to just get the file on the camera and then back to my computer

Well, SD card readers should just work but it depends on your OS. If you're running XP, no worries about drivers. Anything else on the PC side of the fence might require something generic as far as drivers go.

I personally only buy cameras that don't have goofy drivers to access its contents. Some cameras have a kitchen sink of crap that you have to install to access the SD card. Some just show up as drives when you plug them into your PC. If yours is the latter, then using your camera as an SD card reader is just as easy as using a dedicated card reader. If it's the former, I'd personally just buy a card reader.

 

[sremick]

Anything else on the PC side of the fence might require something generic as far as drivers go.

Well, I use FreeBSD... an OS less-popular than Windows, MacOS, or even Linux... and I can just plug in a flash drive or card-reader and it just magically "works". So that should tell you something.

I personally only buy cameras that don't have goofy drivers to access its contents. Some cameras have a kitchen sink of crap that you have to install to access the SD card.

Unfortunately, some of the best cameras don't appear as a USB mass-storage device when you connect them to your computer. As the primary purpose of a camera is to take spectacular pictures, I choose the best camera for the job, and then just get a card reader.

Some just show up as drives when you plug them into your PC. If yours is the latter, then using your camera as an SD card reader is just as easy as using a dedicated card reader.

Except that in almost all cases, using your camera as a card reader even if it supports it is many times slower than just getting a $10 card reader. Camera manufacturers don't spend an extra micro-penny on USB file transfer electronics.

 

[Bigred]

Well, SD card readers should just work but it depends on your OS. If you're running XP, no worries about drivers. Anything else on the PC side of the fence might require something generic as far as drivers go.

I personally only buy cameras that don't have goofy drivers to access its contents. Some cameras have a kitchen sink of crap that you have to install to access the SD card. Some just show up as drives when you plug them into your PC. If yours is the latter, then using your camera as an SD card reader is just as easy as using a dedicated card reader. If it's the former, I'd personally just buy a card reader.

Everyone seems to be complaining about the camera software when you really don't need it. With my cameras, I don't even install the software. I just take out the SD card and plug that in my computer. However, if you do not have a SD port, you can just not install the software for the camera, and when you plug it in, your computer should recognize it as a USB flash drive.

 

[sremick]

However, if you do not have a SD port, you can just not install the software for the camera, and when you plug it in, your computer should recognize it as a USB flash drive.

Not necessarily. Many/most cameras do not appear as a USB flash drive even when you install their funky software. They require you to go through whatever multi-step convoluted picture-transfer program they've decided to force down your throat.

 

[Bigred]

Not necessarily. Many/most cameras do not appear as a USB flash drive even when you install their funky software. They require you to go through whatever multi-step convoluted picture-transfer program they've decided to force down your throat.

Well... It's worked for every camera I've had.

 

[FRuMMaGe]

You need an USB Sd converter ,around 40$ it converts SD cards in a flash drive plug it into usb port and BOOM! instant acsess to all files and more on SD card...

40$?!?

You can get them for $5 on amazon.

 

[Bigred]

40$?!?

You can get them for $5 on amazon.

at $40 it'd better be made out of gold... lol

 

[cannon]

I bought a USB card reader for $5, that can read about 20 different cards including SD.