Comments for iPod Device

Comment on Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit (MC531ZM/A) by MiRSD

MiRSD — Mon, 23 May 2011 06:19:04 +0000

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

Good accessory, but only because it's the only option., June 18, 2010

MiRSD -

This review is from: Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit (MC531ZM/A) (Electronics)

The first thing that came to mind with the iPad was "perfect photo device!" so a big selling point of it was the ability to download my photos to the iPad on-location, edit them and upload them - something I usually can't do while out taking photos or on vacation.

In order to do that, you need the iPad Camera Kit (a currently very-hard-to-find item (I waited 4 weeks to receive mine as all the local stores sold out instantly after receiving shipments).

Right off the bat, I love that they give you 2 adapters (1 for SD cards, 1 for USB). I had no use for the SD adapter as all my cameras are compact flash. I would have happily bought a separate CF card reader if one were available, but no luck on that. If your camera uses something other than SD, you need to "tether" it to the iPad (meaning you plug the USB piece from the camera kit into the iPads dock port, plug your USB cable from your camera into your camera and the other end into the USB piece on the iPad). Not the most convenient method, especially when on-the-go, but its workable.

Plugging in my camera (a Canon 40D), the previews started to appear on the iPad. It took 36 seconds to load the first 35 previews (this is using a short USB cable and a high speed CF card (30MB/Sec). A big downside here is that you cant view the photos larger than a thumbnail without importing them, going to your photo albums, finding the folder it went to and then scrolling to find it. Importing photos (10MP RAW Files) took 6 seconds each. After importing you get the option to "Keep" or "Delete" them from the camera - this is a bit scary as if you're click-happy on the popup, you can end up deleting the photos from your camera (not a huge deal as theyre on the iPad, but definitely a bit of a scare). You can either select individual photos or choose to import everything from the card.

Imported photos go into a new folder in you Photos app - "All Imported" - it also creates a secondary folder: "Last Import" - I would have really liked a way to create a specific folder for each import rather than lumping it all into 1 folder.

The USB adapter is a bit picky as far as what it will accept, I hear some USB Card Readers will work with it (eliminating the need to tether your camera), but it's all a matter of trial and error. USB Keyboards work (again, not all - ones with USB ports on them will not work). You can also not import video files if you have something like a Flip HD camera. This was disappointing as the iPad would make a GREAT video playback screen (especially 720p video like the flip) - especially compared to the 1" screen most of these cameras have.

A big plus to apple for including RAW support on imports (instead of just JPEG).

With the many photo editing apps out there, you can easily take some photos on your camera, import them into the iPad, edit them however you'd like and upload them your photo sharing sites from just about anywhere. For that, it's worth it. It has all sorts of problems (no CF, requires tethering, slow import, no video, etc..) but it's the only option you have, and for that I have to recommend it.

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Comments (5)

Comment on Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit (MC531ZM/A) by Crocuta

Crocuta — Mon, 23 May 2011 06:08:00 +0000

302 of 308 people found the following review helpful:

Ignore any review dated before December 2010, December 31, 2010

Crocuta (Virginia, USA) -

This review is from: Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit (MC531ZM/A) (Electronics)

This WAS an excellent product. Now, for many of us, it's worthless. In May, I took it with my iPad to the Amazon jungle in Peru and was able to read the CF card from my Canon DSLR using a small CF card reader. It was brilliant. I could review my day's photos and decide where to shoot the next day based on whether or not I was happy with my results.

Then came the updated iOS 4.2 operating system for the iPad right at the beginning of December, and now this kit cannot read a CF card using an external reader. This is because Apple reduced the power to the port that this plugs into specifically to prevent people from plugging useful things into the USB connector. That's why I say to ignore any review before that time. Earlier reviews are talking about a product that actually works as designed. Only reviews after that tell you what it can do if you buy it now.

Still, this might work for some people, depending on your needs. Here's where you stand.

1. You only have SD cards in your cameras. You're probably fine. The SD dongle still reads most of those.

2. You have CF cards and need to read them with an external reader. You are completely out of luck unless you use a powered USB hub. At that point, you're carrying so much junk around, you may as well just take your laptop, and you must be near an electrical outlet for it to work at all.

3. You have CF cards and can attach a USB cable directly to your camera. This is a crap shoot. Some cameras work and some don't. You can either borrow a CCK from someone to see if it works with yours or you can just buy it and hope.

Some may wonder if my one-star is a little too harsh, given that this device still works in some situations. Normally, I would agree, but there's another point at work here. This isn't about a device that never had the capacity to do something you might want it to do. For that you knock it down a star or two. This is a device that worked perfectly when it was released and that the manufacturer has intentionally crippled. Both the iPad and this kit are capable of working, but Apple has removed that functionality in software. When a company breaks their own product on purpose, I think that deserves one star.

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Comments (8)

Comment on iPad from Lenovo Offers MUCH more than Apple’s by aoshima6566

aoshima6566 — Mon, 23 May 2011 04:41:37 +0000

Tablet PCs are nothing new. The problem with them is that they were under powered and over priced. Seems to be the problem with this one as well, but I will say technology is faster and cheaper. I did not like how the he pulled the tablet computer out from the camera’s view to flip the screen around. Bit misleading…

Comment on iPad from Lenovo Offers MUCH more than Apple’s by Reegareth

Reegareth — Mon, 23 May 2011 04:38:00 +0000

I’ed buy this over an I Pad any day. Hardware keyboard is the seller for me + full blown windows 7? That means I don’t have to use all the shitty mobile apps or even the revised for the ipad versions of apps and I can do everything like my normal pc.

Comment on iPad from Lenovo Offers MUCH more than Apple’s by Jazzie646

Jazzie646 — Mon, 23 May 2011 04:05:37 +0000

IDC, IM STILL GETTING THE IPAD 2!

Comment on iPad from Lenovo Offers MUCH more than Apple’s by ratchetandclankf

ratchetandclankf — Mon, 23 May 2011 03:44:31 +0000

I’m thinking about getting an HP Touchsmart!

Comment on iPad from Lenovo Offers MUCH more than Apple’s by iVilliain

iVilliain — Mon, 23 May 2011 02:57:14 +0000

it looks terrible

Comment on iPad from Lenovo Offers MUCH more than Apple’s by ALaMOTOx45

ALaMOTOx45 — Mon, 23 May 2011 02:29:22 +0000

the screen is bound to snap off for many people

Comment on iPad from Lenovo Offers MUCH more than Apple’s by anthonyrossbach

anthonyrossbach — Mon, 23 May 2011 01:58:25 +0000

Ya that is crap. Not even close to the iPad. And how do you you have the tittle named iPad from Lenovo?? ITS NOT A IPAD!!!

Comment on iPad from Lenovo Offers MUCH more than Apple’s by mellanese

mellanese — Mon, 23 May 2011 01:17:29 +0000

I think the S10 3t and the iPad appeals to two different markets. I know someone who has an iPad and its great for what it does. But for me the S10 3t does what I want a computer to do. The iPad is more limited to browsing and lightweight usage while the S10 is a more well rounded product. To each his or her own but for my money and how I wanted to used the computer, (with usb ports, a card reader and a convertible tablet, the S10 won hands down for me.