Flashe Reviews

I am sure this is a good product, but the one I brought did not work properly. It could read and write Compact Flash and Smart Media cards, but when I inserted a Memory Stick or a Secure Digital card I was always prompted to insert a disc in the drive. That is, it did not recognize the latter formats.

This must be a sample defect, but it was disappointing and I returned the drive.

I bought this card reader as a replacement for another one, which is no longer compatible with windows xp. This card reader is extremely easy to set up. With xp, all you need to do is plug it in. With windows 98, you just need to install the drivers and then plug it in. Setup takes mayber five minutes. I have only a few complaints. For some reason, it creates a new directory for each slot, four in all. It is kind of odd, and it takes a while to figure out which new drive name goes with each slot. Another thing which worries me is the piece of plastic seperating the slots for SD cards and memory stick cards from the smart media card slot is extremely thin. I keep worrying im going to break it off. Another oddity of this drive is its two part usb cord. A small, two inch long cord comes off of the drive. It then plugs into a longer usb cord. While i can see the advantages of this system since the small piece folds up into the reader, it is just a bit weird. Other than these gripes, it is a very solid piece of equipment, which performs exactly as specified.

I've been using Lexar Media products for years.

I bought SmartMedia memory and a little diskette PC interface years ago from Lexar directly. I used it reliably for 4 years to transfer pictures from my digital camera to my PC via the diskette reader.

Six months ago I bought the RW017 to upload photos from my Secure Digital Cards and upload/download data/pictures to my Clie memory stick. This small green USB-connected unit is a charm.

The cable is very secure and has a very usefull connector just outside the reader box. Smart design!

The included software install created multiple drives on my PC for each media type it supports. This is a bit strange but has caused me no problems other than when I go to copy data from one of the reader drives I have to hunt down the list of "removable drives" in Windows Explorer to find the one that has my memory in it. No big deal.

I've used with my Compaq notebook [Win XP Home] as well as my Gateway desktop [Win 2000 Pro] with no problems.

3 weeks ago, I contacted Maglite for a replacement switch for my 4-D flashlight, in which the switch failed. The customer service rep asked me for my serial number, which I gave her and she assured me that I could get a replacement switch. I gave her my name and address and she said that a shipment had just gone out, and it would be in the next shipment. That was fine with me. Days turned into weeks. Still no part. More days went by. STILL no part in the mail.

Hmmmm. Is this how long time customers are treated? I previous owned a variety of their flashlights, from an AAA Solitaire to a 5-D flashlight, at least 5 in total. My dad has purchased in the neighborhood of 15 or more himself, starting in about '86 when someone else turned him onto Maglites.

Customer support is as important to me as the product itself. Has customer support become a casualty of a tough economy?

This long-time customer will have to look at alternatives the next time he's buying a flashlight.

Mag Instrument S6D016 Black 6D Cell MagLite Flashlight. Over the years, I just needed and "HAD TO HAVE" that bigger flashlight! It's a guy thing. This is the one light that lots of law enforcement carried. It was effective as a flashlight and as a tool if the use of force needed to be escalated in subduing a BG (Bad Guy) - Orders given with confidence and with commanding voice, physical force including night stick or Mag Light, side arm, shot gun).
There is a lot going on within the technology of flashlights recently. LED, Lithium batteries, focus bezels, etc. The Mag has fallen from grace a bit technologically, but is still a great flashlight for police / emt INCLUDING looking for and if need be using the light defensively as a weapon on criminals, cockroaches / terrorists or signalling for a chopper pick up. The Mag Instrument S6D016 Black 6D Cell MagLite Flashlight is very durable and they are proven reliable. But even the police and emt and military are switching over to more tecnologically advanced products and techniques to go along with the new equipment.. They have to. Their lives and the lives of others depend on the best equipment available. And for a long time that was Mag Light.
Don't get me wrong. I've depended on Mag lites of all sizes for years. But head to head , theSurefire brands have quickly surpassed Mag lite in every important aspect of flashlights - usable light power, smaller size and lighter weight.
TheMag Instrument S6D016 Black 6D Cell MagLite Flashlight is a good value and I have several in the house and the larger trunks of some of my vehicles. But they're being replaced by Surefires as they wear out.

John Row

You could use this thing as a baseball bat and it would still shine bright and strong EVERYTIME. Hands down the best flashlite, period.

Ok, if you are interested in this product, I'll assume that you already own a Rio, so I guess I can't try to talk you out of that.

GOOD - Small, easy to carry around, cheap compared to OTHER flash memory manufacturers.

BAD - Expensive compared to CD-R, MD, etc.

UGLY - Bad memory clusters will cause skips over time.

Basically, if you have a Rio, and need more memory, this is the stuff to buy. Don't try and find Camera flash cards, and figure out how to use them in your Rio. That would not only be a nuscence, but also would end up costing you more. If you don't own a Rio, and are considering buying one, take a look at my reviews of the PMP300 and the PMP500.

- E-Mail me at nairos@home.com if you have any questions -

Even though the 16mb disk adds more memory i would personaly try the 32mb disk for optmum expansion

This mp3 player is the ultimate in portable music players. The only thing bad about it is that there is only 32MB on memory in it. Also the flash memory cards are not that easy to get ahold of from where I'm at. And I believe that this item should be shipped anywhere in North America, not just the U.S!

The CF Exp. Pack Plus is pretty much impossible to find in stores, and quite hard to find it available online at the MSRP (Most sellers know this item is in high demand so they sell it MORE than 99.99, the MSRP). I suggest if you find it at a price bellow a hundred dollars, just buy it!

Why buy it? This product is probably the BEST CF expansion pack out there no questions asked. First of all, I owned a regular Compaq CF expansion pack before.. nothing spectacular. This CF expansion pack however, does a lot more. The main thing of course is the battery. The battery doubles the regular life of the ipaq, which is important since the ipaq battery doesnt really last long. You can also take out the battery and use another battery or an extended battery if you wish to have more power. Secondly, one of my gripes with the old regular CF expansion pack was that it didnt protect the screen of my iPaq, like the Compaq Cover Pack that I also owned. And likewise, the Cover Pack I had didn't have a CF expansion slot. Well, the CF Exp. Pack Plus nails both problems. Not only does it include a CF expansion slot, it is also a Cover Pack. It looks and protects EXACTLY the same as the Cover Pack. There is a small grey plastic door that covers the screen. Basically, the CF Expansion pack plus is just a Cover Pack with a CF expansion slot and a very slim battery pack that doubles the battery life. All this...everything you wanted and needed.. in one sleeve. It might be "a little heavier" but it doesn't bother me a bit. I don't like the ipaq feel so light that it feels like im holding a naked ipaq, and I dont like the ipaq feeling so heavy that it feels like im holding a dumbbell... this one is just perfect, with everything on, it feels like your holding a gameboy. Perfect if you ask me. Oh and by the way, there is also an ejection mechanism to eject out ure CF memory card.. no more pulling out the CF card from the slot, just push the lil trigger and pop comes out the card.

Any problems with it so far? Nope, works perfect. My only problem is that Compaq didnt release this sooner.

For those that use their Ipaq alot, I highly recommend this expansion sleeve. The price may seem a little high, but it has well been worth it to have the extra battery time. I have not had any problems with it at all. I originally was looking for just a CF sleeve when I purchased this. I have had it for about a month now and with some of the software and add ons that I have I am glad to have the extra battery time. The external battery charges extremely fast. The weight was the only thing that I had to get used to, but after a while you won't notice it much.

My only complaint about my iPaq 3765 was it's short battery life (compares with my previous Palm devices). The Compact Flash Card Expansion Pack Plus is the perfect solution. It comes with a battery to boost the time my iPaq can be used, and by adding an inexpensive Compact Flash card, you get more memory too! My iPaq now has the same amount of RAM as my desktop!

It fits great and feels solid. I totally recommend this item!

I bought a 256MB USBDrive from this vendor and although this page clearly names and shows shows a high quality USBDrive the vendor is actually shipping an Aigo unit. A flimsy low cost unit not at all comparableable to a USBDrive

This device is really great. Ideal for taking files along on the road. The only slight handycap is: one should always have the driver CD as well, or the computer you want to use must have internet access to download the drivers. Installation is a breeze. Once it has been installed on a computer it will always work. Really great to move large files easily and quickly.

I have only run into problems with a notebook with Firewire detachable CDRom drive. JMTek seems to assign a 'reserved' drive letter to the device in this case, and the USB drive appears to be malfunctioning, with the self test advising to reformat. However, when used with the CDRom drive attached it works without problems.
The only other advice: Don't unplug while writing to it...

Nice tool for road warriors.

This thing is sweet.
Forget about Floppies & Zip Disks.
A+

This review is really about a better alternative to the Photon-II - the Inova Microlight. I purchased the Inova at CompUSA after doing some quick research on the net. The Inova is just as small as the Photon-II and in my opinion is a better design.

1) the case is screw-less; no micro screw-driver required for a battery change.
2) the Inova's small slide switch is easier to operate
3) the Inova's LED is recessed into the case and not exposed
4) the Inova's quick-clip is easier to attach than a split-ring.

All this at a price that is 2/3's the price of the Photo-II. (icing on the cake).

As a Scout Leader, I have searched for the handiest light source available. The Photon II, although pricey (I got mine cheaper) comes awful close to perfect. It's small, much brighter than you'd expect, and you can take it anywhere.
It is especially effective inside the tent---I tied mine to the loop at the top and it filled the tent with enough light for conversation. It makes a great reading light, if you don't mind holding it in your mouth, and it is especially helpful late at night when nature calls.
Good feature is the snap on/off switch--so you don't have to keep applying pressure to the switch.
Bad feature is also the snap on/off switch. If you put it in your pocket on a keychain, sometimes it gets switched on and that runs down the batteries.
A powerful flashlight is the tool of choice for nighttime trail walking, but in a pinch you could use this little guy.
It also comes in handy around the house or in the car---anywhere you need a dependable source of light.

These lights are simply the greatest -- very bright, long battery life, extremely small, and virtually unbreakable. I keep one on my keychain, one at home and one at the office. They are cheap enough to have a few. This brand is also the best in terms of build quality. I've compared the CompUSA ones, but these are the only ones used by NASA. . .

I purchased this camera in August of 98, and moved overseas. In January '99, my eighty-one year old father was riding on the back of an elephant in Thailand. When I went to take a shot of this once in a lifetime event, the camera lens froze in the out position and would not take a picture. A moment lost forever! Attempts to get the camera fixed overseas were futile, as they would not honor a US warranty. I sent several emails to Olympus asking some direction but received no response.

Also, soon after we purchased this model, my husband and I stood side by side taking the same picture with this and a Samsung comparable model, both on automatic, and found the resulting pictures to have no noticeable difference. Due to the lack of email response by Olympus, I would hesitate to buy another, as this one was money down the drain.

This is the best pocket camera I have ever owned. It is easy to use and takes great pictures. Just slide back the lens cover and it's ready to shoot. Almost idiot-proof!

I am an advanced photographer, worked at it professionally, and posess 8 high-end cameras with boxes of lenses, accessories, etc.

I decided to try the Olympus as a "vacation camera" rather than hauling around camera cases stuffed with equipment. This jewel fits in a shirt pocket.

We headed for the Pacific Northwest. As a test, I decided to leave all the settings on the camera in the default full automatic mode in order to test its capability in dealing with varying photographic situations.

I was amazed. It handled backlight, sidelight, frontlight, full sun, overcast, fog, scenics, closeups, portraits, and anything else I could dream up and produced excellent prints of them all.

Don't worry about tiny buttons; you will rarely use them. The important ones are full size buttons.

I used only Kodak 800 MAX film with Kodak Premium processing, and could not be more pleased. The Olympus is the best "point and shoot" camera I have used.

I bought this adapter because of concerns over how long it took to download directly fromt the camera. So far, I have been able to successfully download through the adapter once out of 5+ tries. Rereading the instructions, hasn't helped, and Olympus has been less than helpful in getting it to work as advertised. You are probably better off with a direct card reader.

It works as advertised, and if you want a quick way to downloadyour work, this will do the job. The trouble is getting it startworking! Took awhile to get everything installed correctly and then I had to keep popping the floppy out and back into the drive so the software would be reminded to look for the presence of the special floppy! Probably does this to save the battery, but it is irritating. I have a 450Mhz Pent III, I hook the camera in direct and have no problems. I could have done without this pricey accessory, but I may be glad when I am trying to save stuff on my clunky old company issued laptop.

I recently purchased an Olympus digital camera and took the suggestion from one of the reviews and purchased a floppy adapter. I'm very happy with it! It makes downloading pictures much easier, and can also be used as a general purpose, large floppy disk. In fact, I use it much more to transfer files between PCs than as a camera accessory.

My recommendation is to buy one, but NOT this one! Again from one of the Olympus reviews, I found the real manufacturer of these adapters--a company called SmartDisk. You get the same thing for $20 less, plus if you use SmartMedia cards, you get an 8MB card included free (at least as of 2/20 stated as a "Limited Time Offer"). I suggest you check it out!

I took about 10 shots with my canon digital rebel, uploaded to my laptop and it was fine. Put it back into the camera and it wouldn't read it. Nor did my card reader. Sent it back for a amazon replacement, but they refunded me instead. Maybe its because it's...more expensive now...

I own a Canon 10D with a Sandisk ultra 512 and a lexar 512 12x.

The lexar is just slow basicly i would say go for the fast ultra 2.
But the lexar works fine only it takes time.

The 12x is the slowest you can use AND be satisfied in 6MP mode. You can get four frames out @3fps before you have to wait for the buffer to write to memory in the RAW+JPEG mode. Otherwise you can shoot @ just under 1fps until the memory is full. In JPEG Fine and JPEG Normal you get 11 and 16 shots off, respectively, before this ram slows you down to just above 1fps. In JPEG Basic mode I quit at 49 shots out @3fps but never filled the buffer. Therefore, if you typically are shooting less than 1 frame per second in 6MP mode this ram will never let you down and it will handle the occasional sporting event.

3 weeks ago, I contacted Maglite for a replacement switch for my 4-D flashlight, in which the switch failed. The customer service rep asked me for my serial number, which I gave her and she assured me that I could get a replacement switch. I gave her my name and address and she said that a shipment had just gone out, and it would be in the next shipment. That was fine with me. Days turned into weeks. Still no part. More days went by. STILL no part in the mail.

Hmmmm. Is this how long time customers are treated? I previous owned a variety of their flashlights, from an AAA Solitaire to a 5-D flashlight, at least 5 in total. My dad has purchased in the neighborhood of 15 or more himself, starting in about '86 when someone else turned him onto Maglites.

Customer support is as important to me as the product itself. Has customer support become a casualty of a tough economy?

This long-time customer will have to look at alternatives the next time he's buying a flashlight.

Positives:
* built like a tank
* reliable
* Well designed switch

Negatives:

* extremely poor beam quality (full of holes and rings, yellow-brown beam color)
* old technology (doesn't use a Luxeon star LED bulb)
* Very little usable sidespill

Overall: For a $20'ish light, its fine for the average person that is satisfied with a mediocre flashlight. However, the excessively poor beam quality (yellow beam that turns brown as the batteries dim, plus rings and holes in the beam) and mediocre sidespill really take lots away from this outdated flashlight.

What else can I add to the growing great reviews for this product?

All I can say is that this is one of the best flash lights I have ever used. I like it so much that I bought two of these: one for work and one for my car.

I work the night shift. I use the work one often. It is bright and very solid. The size is just about right. It is not too big like its larger brothers, but just big enough to feel secure while holding it.

A great value! If you are looking to buy a flashlight, look no further. This is the perfect one for the home consumer.