Flashe Reviews

Don't pay more than $2 per megabyte for Compact Flash. That's the sweet point. If you don't find it for $2/MB then keep shopping. This is NOT the best price.

I have had no problems with the Delkin card. I purchased a Sandisk card and found that my camera would not recognize it. The Delkin card dropped in without any compatability problems. The lifetime warranty is also very attractive. This is also the best price overall that I have found.

I've checked out quite a few places on-line, looking for a 16mb CompactFlash memory card for my new digital camera. I saw the CEO of Amazon.com talking on a television show about the recent launch of the Electronics section here. So I stopped by and found this price to be the lowest!

This usb compact flash adapter only works with Type I compact flash cards - something that is sort of strange, considering the enormous slot into which you are expected to insert your compact flash Type I cards.

In fact, the slot is so large that it is difficult to insert cards accurately. Rather, you find yourself jiggling it around while trying to insert it, hoping you don't damage the card or the usb adapter.

Do yourself a favor and buy a higher quality product.

I carry it every where I go especially when I have my camera and I am on a photo shoot, I use it instead of hooking my camera up to my laptop.

I purchased this item to work with my Canon Powershot A70 camera. It works great. I plug it into my Mac, WinXP, or WinME machine, and it works perfectly. I use it with a 512 meg card, and have no problems. Love it!

Placed an order on July 1st and was told I was going to receive it on the 14th (latest). So far no player.

Emailed Amazon and JetAudio and both companies bounced me back and forth claiming the other had the responsibility for shipping it. The money was charged but no one seems to want to give me a confirmation that it was indeed sent. All I'm asking is the Tracking #. Is it REALLY that hard to email me that?

I was told to wait for 20 days, which will probably pass and then find out it was NEVER SHIPPED at all. Then I have to wade through all the paper work and wait ANOTHER 60 days to get a refund.

Yes, Amazon I know you're just a third party but you have responsibility to these customers too.

**** Take my advice and order it directly from JetAudio's website. The people at DigitalRiver, who handles the orders, at least know what they are talking about. ****

The only consolidation is that this will be my last experience with Amazon.

Although the iAudio4 is very small, it has all the features you may ever want in a flash player. Mp3 playback is highly customizable and there is also an FM tuner, a line-in input for recording, an integrated microphone for voice recording and a dynamic set of backlight (124 colors in total). The device can also be used as portable data storage device (just like a USB Stick). Other features the player has: There is a hold button, a loop function and with a future Firmware upgrade the player will also support time synced lyrics.

The iAudio comes with plenty of accessories to get you started. The player's carrying case looks very well made (it looks so cute because of its size). The included Cresyn ear buds provide good sound, although you may want to upgrade them to get the most out of the player - the included armband is very useful for active people. JetAudio has also provided two plastic covers that you can stick on to protect the players screen. A line-in cable is a nice addition, since it is useful to record from sources such as LPs or cassettes.

The sound quality is terrific, even when the available "jetEffects" aren't used. The equalizer is highly customizable and sound enhancements such as BBE Mach3Bass make you think: "How did I manage to survive without my iAudio and it's awesome sound?". The radio tuner has a good reception, and an adequate set of features (such as range selection and presets), unluckily the equalizer and effects can't be used along with the radio. You can also record your favourite radio song to mp3s directly from the player.

Voice recording is my opinion one of the best features of the player. The built-in microphone is of very good quality, making it great for lectures. There's a handy silence detection feature that is useful to save space, or to make recordings such as interviews easier to listen to. The line-in recording has a similar feature that creates a new track whenever a silence is found.

A lyric display function is in development. It can be checked out using the Korean version of the firmware (which is luckily in English), and will soon appear for the rest of the world. The process of obtain lyrics is simple: You use a provided program to look in a database of synced lyrics that you can add to a song. When you upload the file to the player and play it, lyrics will automatically appear on screen in almost perfect sync. This is great especially for non-English speakers (now I can fully understand what those Eminem songs are all about).

Firmware upgrades appear constantly, especially when bugs are found by users. Support seems efficient, although slow in answering. Repair policies are excellent; you get free repairs during the warranty period when the unit is defective. There is a one year warranty on the main body and 6 months on the included accessories.

The iAudio4 is like many of those things in life: You will never comprehend how you managed to live without it after listening to it.

I recently purchased this product from Amazon website. And boy! I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available. There are hundreds, looking similar, with almost similar features and each claiming to out-perform each other. I spent two whole days reading through all the reviews on Amazon and all mp3 player sites worth their salt. It was difficult, you bet..but I could zero in on just two mp3 players after a thorough research and careful study.

-Muro MR-100 sold by Suntecint.com

-Jet Audio's newest offering iAudio 4

After a long deliberation and argument with self, I decided on this one..While Muro provides exceptional build quality, the most exciting FM broadcasting feature and a rechargeable battery, I chose this one because of iAudio's reputation and the sheer features this incredibly tiny instrument has got.

Another reason why I prefered this one is the battery. I didn't think a rechargeable battery does any help. You could be on a long trip and could run out of charge. But this one takes AAA batteries and you could get them just anywhere.

And if you are concerned about batteries eating away into your purse, you could always buy rechargeable AAA batteries.

So my verdict: This is THE best available today. No doubt.

To all those people who are not that tech savvy, here is my list of suggestions, to the point, practical.

1. Don't buy one with a proprietory rechargeable battery. Buy one with AA or AAA batteries.

2. If you have little extra bucks, settle for 256 mb. You may never want to upgrade the memory coz 60 songs may be just enough for you, no matter where you go. On the other hand, after a year, a 128 mb player could give you sleepless nights.

3. If you really need a player that doubles up as a flash drive to store and move your files, buy one with a USB plug attached to the player. Othewise, you might never carry the USB cable with the player (who would??) and can't use it when you need it most.

4. Buy one with a line-in feature that records from other sources. This might look like a trivial feature, but think for a moment! That feature gives you the power to record sound from almost everything..everything with a headphone jack.

Good luck guys!

While this is a very functional card, it is not as fast as one might wish for. When I purchased the 192 Meg. card from Kodak, there was no way to determin its speed. As I said, I have "smaller" though faster cards. It does it's job, though not as fast as others

This card works fine, but here is the bitter truth.

The core of all the cards (known in technical terms as the "controller") are made by only a few DRAM manufacturers. Those handful of DRAM manufacturers then sell the "controllers" to the major flash card manufacturers (i.e. SanDisk, Kodak, Olympus, and Viking). The flash card manufacturers then simply throw some plastic casings on the controllers, slap on a label, and ship the cards. As long as the flash card manufacturer is reputable, has a good warranty, and has been around for over 5 years; you will be just fine.

What I am trying to get at? I simply want to make it clear that you should not buy a card based solely on the fact it is made by Kodak. Check the pricing against the other major manufacturers (i.e. SanDisk, Viking, etc.) and then make your decision.

This a great way to get lots of picturs. I think for how much they charge its worth it. This card can hold 200 4 star pitchers.

Better option to buy Lexar Media 256 MB USB 12X High-Speed CompactFlash Card (CF256-12-251). This new card is 12X v/s 4X and also cheaper !! Why buy a slower card and also pay more ?

This was a great CF card at the time. I had found a rebate for it, so the final price ended up being only $... So at the time, it was very cheap and very high capacity CF card. I use it mainly in my PDA, a Toshiba e740. It works like a charm, from the moment I put it in until now it has always worked perfectly. I only had one mishap with it since I bought it. When taking it out, I managed to drop it into a glass of Coke. After drying it out, it did not work at all. I then called Lexar, and they were gracious enough to replace the card no question asked. Wow, great service! I on a regular basis stream mp3's and movies off of this card and have never noticed a speed problem. The only main complaint I have about it is, when ever I try to copy large content on to the card, it takes a while. But just go watch some TV, by the next commercial; an 180meg file would have already been copied.

All in all, I have been very satisfied with it, and would recommend it. But try to wait for a rebate if you can, because they show up all the time.

I had bought the 64 mg Lexar compact flash at Best Buy along with my Kodak DC3400 camera. The price was way more than for this. (but then CF are cheaper now) With the 64 MG, there has always been problems with errors when downloading pictures. My thought of buying Lexar again wasn't high on the list but the price and rebate looked too good to pass up. After using it for a week with hundreds of pics taken, I am concluding that it is wonderful! My camera gets 415 pictures to the best pic mode. It is so wonderful to just use one card during an outing.

For the price of this flash, I would consider alternatives such as a Sunpak PZ5000 which offer many advanced features for a smaller price tag. Also the batteries that this unit requires tend to be costly versus commonly used AA cells. The "pro" flash, SB80DX is a great product but more than double the price of the PZ5000! I wish Nikon would keep up with its competitors in the amateur photographer market.

I have been using this flash unit for about two months, and the results are quite good. I have not yet changed the batteries, but I would advise keeping a spare battery or two in your bag as a precaution.

The recycle time is quite good > I can get about 2 frames with flash in about 3 seconds; I have just bought an accessory (Sto-Fen filter) to soften the shadows.

Also, you generally get the best results when it is set to
D-TTL.

As far as cost goes, Nikon's policy is somewhat limiting; if use of a non-Nikon accessory (Flash, lens, cable, etc.) results in damage, then the warranty is void. Kind of restrictive, no?
So, for the price you get a good flash, but testing it against a competitor is somewhat risky.

Using this flash with my Nikon 5700 coolpix camera. Though only TTL and manual mode are available, it meet my expectation. Recharge time is excellent. It is a bit heavy and the CR123 batteries can be expensive. Overall strongly recommend this product.

...P>- Has issues with Windows 98, even with downloaded drivers from PNY's website. Windows 98 would "lose" the drive, i.e., not recognize/detect it after a period of usage. Tried the reader with other Windows 98 machines: got the same problems.

- Works perfectly with Windows XP. Installed quickly. No drivers necessary. True Plug and Play bliss.

- Functional, but ugly. ...P>Anyway, just a caveat emptor to Windows 98 users: you may want to look at another vendor for your CompactFlash needs.

I purchased the PNY USB Compact Flash Card Reader at Best Buy... After installing it on my Windows 98 system, the card reader behaved erratically, crashing the system or making the drive disappear from the system (in other words, Windows 98 suddenly can't detect it anymore). Even downloading updated drivers from PNY's website did not work.

To be consistent, I tried the reader with two other Windows 98 machines and got the same problems. Interestingly enough, it works very well with Windows XP systems (no drivers are needed for installation - true Plug and Play at last!).

The transfer rate of the reader is the standard USB 1.1 rate: about 1.5 Megabits per second, slightly faster than a zip drive, since the card reader and media have no moving mechanical parts.

Side note: I was about to give up on getting any flash media and readers whatsoever since I use Windows 98 a lot. However, I have used two other flash products (Sandisk's 128 MB Cruzer using SecureDigital media and JungSoft's 128MB solid-state drive) with no problems on both Windows 98 and XP.

So, caveat emptor: if you're using Windows 98, you may want to look for a reader from a different vendor. If you're using XP (I have not tested the product with Windows ME) and don't mind USB 1.1 transfer rates, the PNY USB reader is an inexpensive solution.

P.S. I gave the product three stars because given the smooth designs of other available products (SanDisk's Cruzer comes to mind), the reader looks an oversized, uninspiring lump of flattened coal (Uh, PNY, hello? Other companies have already done the market research for you: people like silver.) A CompactFlash card is not that large; PNY should have designed a more compact (intended word use) reader that won't burst the seams of my shirt pocket.

Though you need the drivers on the enclosed CD if you have Windows 98, for other operating systems this self-installs when you attach it to a USB port and shows up as a removable drive. Then you can copy files from your CF card at USB speeds. An extension USB cord is included if necessary, but if you have easily accessible USB ports you can just plug it in directly. It's the next best thing to having a built-in CF card reader.

This thing is a piece of junk. Who need 8 mb. You can fit like 2 songs with 8mb. Don't get this please. I beg you.

As the previous reviewer noted, 8 meg isn't enough to be useful in an MP3 player. However, the format was designed to be used WITH DIGITAL CAMERAS, not with MP3 players. On my 1.3 megapixel digital camera, an 8 mb card holds around 25 pictures -- just like a roll of film. If you have an older digital camera (Phillips ESP80, Ricoh RDC-4300, Fuji DX-7, and a bunch of others), 8 MB is the biggest card you can use (the cameras won't recognize bigger cards), so this card is an appropriate choice. If your camera's at least 2 years old, check your manual to see the biggest card you can use. If you have a newer camera, however, the $$ per meg is much more attractive with a 16 or 32 meg card.

I title this review tongue in cheek. I agree that not much can be done with 8mb's these days, UNLESS one has a piece of equipment that can only accomodate an 8mb card. And yes I have such a piece of equipment. When I purchased my digital camera, 8mb was it...a year later Olympus offered to upgrade my camera's hardware to accomodate a 16mb card but at a substantial price that I am not willing to pay. I bought my camera because of the glass optics. It once was top of the line and it still continues to take good pictures. So for me finding an 8mb card is worth 5 stars. If I had a brand new MP3 player then I would not even consider an 8mb card. But I don't so I did...

I have a Kodak DC3400. It only has 8MB memory so I could only take about 11 pictures. Now I can take about 40. It is great!

This card works fine, but here is the bitter truth.

The core of all the cards (known in technical terms as the "controller") are made by only a few DRAM manufacturers. Those handful of DRAM manufacturers then sell the "controllers" to the major flash card manufacturers (i.e. SanDisk, Kodak, Olympus, and Viking). The flash card manufacturers then simply throw some plastic casings on the controllers, slap on a label, and ship the cards. As long as the flash card manufacturer is reputable, has a good warranty, and has been around for over 5 years; you will be just fine.

What I am trying to get at? I simply want to make it clear that you should not buy a card based solely on the fact it is made by Kodak. Check the pricing against the other major manufacturers (i.e. SanDisk, Viking, etc.) and then make your decision.

I purchased this card after going through several downloads of my 8mg card for my DC3400. This has been an excellent card that has given me no problems!

It's even taken a spill or two and it's still working without any glitches. If you need quality and durability with high quality downloads then this card is for you!

Several Major Problems
1.The smart media card tends to drop inside the device- there is nothing to hold it in place.
2. Tended to scratch the media card.
3. Failed to read the card about half the time

I had the same problem with the card dropping inside however it really isn't a major problem. The enclosure slot is a bit too large and the card can slide in above the tracks that hold the card in place. If it was an expensive unit, I'd be disappointed with this flaw but I bought it specifically because it was cheap. It works and I'm happy with it.

I teach digital photography and use this reader regularly. It's the only one I've used that consistantly works well with no problems in Windows XP.

This is the reader I ALWAYS recommend to mu students! It's simple, light and does not get in the way.

As to not reading the card every time (Previous reviewer's comment) I'd guess he had a bad memory card. I've used a dozen or more of these readers and have not had a single problem with any of them.