Alot of USB Type II Compact Flash card readers. But these will not work with a P2 card, as I understand it.

I can't seem to find a USB Type II Card reader, or preferably a firewire Type II Card Reader.

It has to be 32-bit from what I've read, and it appears to be the most efficient way to download a p2 card to laptop or desktop without a PC Card slot.

Also, quite a bit cheaper than what Panasonic sells.

Anybody seen one?

I'm also looking for one since my 12" Powerbook doesn't have a PC slot. :(

Unless I've misread the specs from Panasonic, the P2 card was designed to slide into a PCMCIA slot on any laptop, PC or Mac. I don't remember if it requires an adapter to connect to the PCMCIA slot, but that's what it's supposed to do. No CF card reader will fit a P2 card, which is about double the width of a CF card.

There are however, several PCMCIA adapters that allow you to connect to PCMCIA devices using either a Firewire or USB interface. Check around with companies like Belkin, SIIG, Adaptec and others to see who is currently in production of these adapters.

You also have the ability to go direct from the camera via firewire to either a laptop or bare drive and simply transfer files. That eliminates the need to use the PCMCIA interface altogether and makes the camera system very, very versatile.

Unless I've misread the specs from Panasonic, the P2 card was designed to slide into a PCMCIA slot on any laptop, PC or Mac. I don't remember if it requires an adapter to connect to the PCMCIA slot,
No adapter necessary. A P2 card is a CardBus 32 PCMCIA card and will plug into the PCMCIA slot on any laptop directly.

You also have the ability to go direct from the camera via firewire to either a laptop or bare drive and simply transfer files. That eliminates the need to use the PCMCIA interface altogether and makes the camera system very, very versatile.
There's also a USB 2.0 port for that as well. Firewire for transferring files to the Mac or offloading to hard disks; USB 2.0 for transferring files to the PC. In that circumstance the camera itself would act like an external USB or firewire PCMCIA card reader.

There are however, several PCMCIA adapters that allow you to connect to PCMCIA devices using either a Firewire or USB interface. Check around with companies like Belkin, SIIG, Adaptec and others to see who is currently in production of these adapters.

Thanks Robert for your comments. But there aren't any.

I've looked.

If you have a link for a 32-bit USB or firewire PC Card reader, not compactflash, I 'd be happy to agree with you

You might try "Ask the Experts" in the Quick Links menu at http://www.pcmcia.org/

Hmm, looks like this association has a meeting in Austin at the end of the month... maybe I can attend it.

What about this one: http://www.psism.com/psiu2a-5.htm

USB 2.0, for PC or Mac, but the notes say it will not "support SRAM and linear flash memory cards." Don't know how that applies to P2. Didn't say whether it was 16-bit or 32-bit. Speed is 480mbps. Unit price is $85.

What about this one: http://www.psism.com/psiu2a-5.htm

USB 2.0, for PC or Mac, but the notes say it will not "support SRAM and linear flash memory cards." Don't know how that applies to P2. Didn't say whether it was 16-bit or 32-bit. Speed is 480mbps. Unit price is $85.

It may work, or it may not... I guess we need to know if P2 cards are implemented as standard PCMCIA storage devices (in which case a reader like this should work just fine) or if they are implemented as an extended PCMCIA functional device. If the latter is the case, then a card reader like this will not work and we will need a PCMCIA adapter that supports full PCMCIA functionality (as in you could put WiFi adapters, USB/Firewire adapters, sound cards, etc.. into it if needed).

I'm guessing that P2 is implemented as a standard PCMCIA storage device. My only basis for this is that (IIRC) the 5-slot P2 Drive from Panny which MSRP's for an outlandish $1400 or some nonsense has a USB2/Firewire(800?) connection.

I'd buy the Panny unit if they would change the MSRP to < $350.

See also this thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=55945

Where Jarred points out this reader: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=55945 in which apparantly the USB version is not Mac compatible but should work fine with a PC.

In the short research I've done, it appears that the 32-bit readers can only be rear-mounted in a desktop PC, not front-mounted. So far I haven't noticed if external PC card readers are limited to 16-bit.

The drive isn't a 32-bit drive.

Checked with the supplier.

He suggests a rear mount PCI card.

Looks like USB/firewire is out except for Pany's reasonably priced solution