USB2 faster than PCMCIA? at DVinfo.net

Peter Jefferson · September 27th, 2006, 11:02 PM

i dont mean to crossprocess (if thats what im doing.. )but this was a concern for me, as i was thinking about the HVX.

I have noticed that PCMCIA CF adapter runs about 2 times slower than a USB2 adapter

has anyone tested the transfer speeds of USB2 <straight from cam to PC> vs PCMCIA???

Barry Green · September 28th, 2006, 05:53 AM

PCMCIA has a bus speed of 133 megabytes per second. USB2 is limited to a max of 60 megabytes per second.

Transferring to a laptop via either PCMCIA or USB2, you'll find that the hard disk speed is the limiting factor more than the transfer protocol is, but PCMCIA transfers do seem faster. I've gotten a 4gb card to transfer in about 3 minutes through PCMCIA, about 4 minutes USB.

But that's not where PCMCIA shines; it's when you transfer to two separate drives at the same time. If I copy from the internal slot to the laptop internal drive, and also to an external drive simultaneously, it does so with nearly no slowdown; it takes about 3:20 to copy to both drives at once. That wouldn't happen with USB.

Peter Jefferson · September 28th, 2006, 09:19 PM

thanx for tha Barry
Food for thought

My lappy also has an express card slot which is apparently 5-10 times faster than standard PCMCIA

the thing i noticed (with CF at least) is the 2gb took no less than 10 minutes to transfer across.. and MUCH longer for writing... for USB2, it was a third of that time.. thing is, the cards are rated for 12mb/s transfer

No i dont know if it was the adapter i use using (more than likely it was) but USB2 jsut seemed faster

Obviously P2 is a differnt story altogether, but i was slightly concerned about the PCMCIA bus vs the USB2 bus speeds

thanks for clearing that up though, much appreciated!

September 27th, 2006, 11:02 PM	#1
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	USB2 faster than PCMCIA? i dont mean to crossprocess (if thats what im doing.. )but this was a concern for me, as i was thinking about the HVX. I have noticed that PCMCIA CF adapter runs about 2 times slower than a USB2 adapter has anyone tested the transfer speeds of USB2 <straight from cam to PC> vs PCMCIA???

September 28th, 2006, 05:53 AM	#2
Barry Green Barry Wan Kenobi Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,863	PCMCIA has a bus speed of 133 megabytes per second. USB2 is limited to a max of 60 megabytes per second. Transferring to a laptop via either PCMCIA or USB2, you'll find that the hard disk speed is the limiting factor more than the transfer protocol is, but PCMCIA transfers do seem faster. I've gotten a 4gb card to transfer in about 3 minutes through PCMCIA, about 4 minutes USB. But that's not where PCMCIA shines; it's when you transfer to two separate drives at the same time. If I copy from the internal slot to the laptop internal drive, and also to an external drive simultaneously, it does so with nearly no slowdown; it takes about 3:20 to copy to both drives at once. That wouldn't happen with USB.

September 28th, 2006, 09:19 PM	#3
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	thanx for tha Barry Food for thought My lappy also has an express card slot which is apparently 5-10 times faster than standard PCMCIA the thing i noticed (with CF at least) is the 2gb took no less than 10 minutes to transfer across.. and MUCH longer for writing... for USB2, it was a third of that time.. thing is, the cards are rated for 12mb/s transfer No i dont know if it was the adapter i use using (more than likely it was) but USB2 jsut seemed faster Obviously P2 is a differnt story altogether, but i was slightly concerned about the PCMCIA bus vs the USB2 bus speeds thanks for clearing that up though, much appreciated!