Thanks Optimist, and I agree entirely. I am an HP fan, run loads of their lasers at work, my kids get through huge amounts of ink when I'm not looking :-(

I find it so wasteful to have to replace inkjet printers when one tiny component fails, which always happens eventually, sooner usually than later..

Just have to bite the bullet I suppose :-)

Edit. Looked at the Kodak website and it will cope with plain paper as well.

I was deterred from buying a Canon WiFi link to feed pictures from my camera to my laptop - because they are out of stock in the UK.

They are not cheap jobbies and I now realise that I can get a mini computer for the same price and hard wire it to the camera.

I have decided this meets my needs.

However, the forum on Expansys has a post recommending increasing the memory to at least 2 gig. I rang Expansys to ask how this is done and they said I simply by an appropriate SD memory card.

Would this work? And should I simply go to 2 gig or buy something larger?

I never realised that you could map the memory on a card so that it was used by the operating system.

TP

TP

I'm not sure that you can map the memory from an SD card to the RAM, but I suppose you could create a swap file on it. In any case, the unit you are looking at has 400MHz DDR2 RAM which is many times faster than an SD RAM card which will therefore make little difference. The only way to do it is extend the DDR RAM if that is possible.

As nice as that unit is, I,m not sure that I understand what you want it for. If you want a portable media centre combined with a computer then you should really be looking at Vista Home Premium or Ultimate. If you want a media player, look at Archos and others. If you just want something to connect to your camera then any 400+ laptop should do.

Edit

As regards max RAM, 2GB (fast) is plenty for XP and 4GB for Vista. Above those figures, I'm told, you are into diminishing returns.

"As nice as that unit is, I,m not sure that I understand what you want it for. "

I am doing more and more photography where I work with what is best described as an art director. Showing them what we have shot with the LCD on the back of the camera does not identify those weaknesses that differentiate a good from a bad picture.

I have an Asus laptop and have been taking that to the shoots. One can tether the camera to the laptop USB and I have software that produces the image on the computer screen. However, as you know, USB cables are only reliable up to a certain length and often that length is not enough to enable one to put the Asus somewhere safe.

Canon do a WiFi link but it is the thick end of 800. A real con, but nobody has bothered to come up with a less expensive bit of kit.

I came to the conclusion that if I was shelling out 800 I might be better off spending it on a much smaller and portable laptop that could even be hung off the camera tripod. It would then double up as a travel computer and I would have a much more packable device than my Asus. I could also use it as a back-up storeage for photos on my travels.

I was avoiding Vista as I thought it was pretty processor hungry - which means more battery useage, etc.

One device I spotted this morning was this.

What appealed here was that it also worked in a form of PDA mode. What is annoying with any full fledged XP machine is the length of time it takes to boot up. Not exactly easy to have a quick look at one's mailbox before boarding a plane, etc.

I am not looking for a media centre. I'd use a PDA if the screen was a bit larger and if it would run the right software to show a photograph in enough detail to spot that something annoying was not in the frame.

TP

TP

I think I understand. Your camera only has a USB connection, no ethernet or firewire. What drivers are availible? Can you get one for Linux devices?

TP

Check out some of the items here. I think some of them should do the trick.

Op,

It's the Canon 5d and that uses USB. My earlier 1Ds was firewire, but Canon seem to have moved to USB now.

There is very little software around in the photographic world that operates under Linux.

This is what I use to display the images on the laptop. No sign of any interest in Linux I regret.

TP

Opt,

Thanks for that pointer to the USB extenders. I'll look around the site.


Clearly the big danger is people tripping over wires and pulling either the camera or the laptop to the floor. But with enough wire the chance is reduced.

EDIT.

OK. Looked at the site. Do you think that it matters that the camera is expecting USB2 and these are USB1?


TP

TP

It looks a nice setup. Another way would be to get a really small/cheap laptop running Win XP Pro. Load the camera software on that, and fix the lid so you can close it without switching off. You could then use Remote Desktop over WiFi to control the computer. Essentially you would be doing with the cheap laptop the same as Cannons USB to WiFi but half the price. Alternatively, you could use a micro desktop PC with no screen or keyboard. Tis would be more robust.

If you use this method, you will have to modify the registry to allow 24 bit colour over Remote Desktop but that is easy to do.

TP

I wouldn't reccommend the USB1 kit but the first item is USB2 and the you can use 4 off the second item to give you a 20 metre cable.

Edit In theory, you could conect the frst item the USB over IP server to a wireless base station and you have yourself the Cannon unit for 120. Setup could be interesting but worth a try.

Opt,

I'm going to have to go off line in a mo'.

I'll need to re-read what you have suggested but I really would prefer some WiFi solution so that I can put my Asus somewhere safe and not have cable anywhere anyone can trip over it.

I presume that means getting the contact with the camera using USB to something almost dumb that can be hung on the tripod or my belt and then using that device to transmit by WiFi to my Asus on safe and solid table, maybe 20 feet/yards away.

Let's see what we can come up with - but maybe not this evening if you don't mind.

TP

TP

The USB over IP server to a wireless base station would be completely dumb and your Asus laptop would do all of the work. If you decided to put a small computer next to you camera, then that wold do all of the proessing with your Asus providing the screen, keyboard and mouse over WiFi.

Have a good evening.

someone said about SD card for mem,
i just got a couple of THESE for my dig camera,i can now take 700 photos at 7m,
looks good value and fast taking shots,

There is nothing wrong with SD RAM for cameras, the ones that you have bought are amongst the best but they have a transfer rate of 20MB/Sec The DDR2-400 memory that is in the device TP was looking at has a max transfer rate of 3.2GB/sec - 160 times faster.

Even the 20GB claim seems fast, that implies a continuous shooting rate of around 4 pics a second with your camera and transfering the entire contents of the card to your computer in under 2 minutes.

Can anyone help with this...?

I have a 120GB SATA hard disk which I can see in the control panel > system > devices list. The problem is that I cannot see it in Windows Explorer so can't copy any data to it. What do I need to do?

VM,

I'm not one of the experts around here. But until they surface I suggest that you look for ways of 'mapping' the drive.

Don't worry. The others will know the fix.

TP

VM

Try this: http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/hard-drive-support/28409-windows-explorer-can-not-see-external-hdd.html

Optimist,

Back on line. Can we carry on the conversation, please.

Do you want to point me to a URL for the sort of kit you are suggesting.

EDIT. Ah now I realise you were suggesting the top item in that list as part of the kit. Isn't it mains powered?

And then we need to add on a WiFi transmitter I guess. And that would also need to be battery powered.

Ready to investigate when you are.

TP

VM

On XP Start Button - Control Panel - Administrative tools - Computer Management. Then click on Disk management.

Control panel has to be in Classic View for the above to work but there are several alternative ways to get there. You must be logged in with Administrator rights.

Be careful.

TP

Battery power is more of a problem. You could get a uninteruptable power supply and bolt everything to a board but that will be getting bulky and heavy.

The more I think of it, your best bet is a cheap laptop. Best to get a 2nd hand one with WiFi, USB2 and XP Pro. If you fix it so that it will run with the lid closed then it should not get in the way, will be fairly sturdy and battery life should be better because the screen would cut off. It will essentially do what the Cannon WiFi link will do but should do it better because all the processing will be done close to the camera.

The only problem that I can see is if your camera software requires a better display driver than remote desktop can provide. That is easy to check, set your laptop to allow remote desktop, log into it from another computer and see if it will run.