Side 1:

Testen ble gjort ved å kopiere filer med blandet størrelse til forskjellige minnekort.

Minnekortene som er brukt er:

• Apacer standard 128 MB CF
• IBM Microdrive 1 GB
• Sandisk Ultra II CF 256 MB

Sandisk sitt minnekort regnes for å være det raskeste på markedet akkurat nå. Apacer sitt minnekort er et eldre "low-end"-kort.

Vi har sammenliknet ytelsen på Delkin-kortet mot et noe eldre CF-adapter fra Lexar.

Maskinen som ble brukt var en Zepto bærbar datamaskin med Pentium 4 1.6 GHz og 512 MB RAM.

Favoritter-mappen som ble kopiert opp var på bare 0.0147 MB, men besto av mange nok småfiler til at dette tok en stund å kopiere.

Vi prøvde også å kopiere over en mappe med JPEG-filer på ca. 1 MB hver, og en mappe med RAW-bilder på ca. 7 MB hver. Resultatene vi fikk er gjengitt i tabellen under, der alle tall er oppgitt i Megabyte per sekund

Sandisk Ultra II var som ventet klart raskest på de fleste testene. Noe overraskende hadde Apacer-minnekortet meget god leseytelse, og kortet kom best ut på leseytelse når vi brukte Lexars kortleser.

Ytelsen var som ventet svært dårlig på småfilene; dette skyldes imidlertid ikke svakheter med adapteret, men den latterlig dårlige filhåndteringen på dagens datamaskiner. Dette medførte at Delkin-adapteret ikke klarte seg bedre enn adapteret fra Lexar.

Da vi kopierte over større filer kom imidlertid Delkin-adapteret til sin rett. De fleste vil vel benytte adapteret som en kortleser, og det er da lese-ytelsen som er viktigst. På JPEG-filer målte vi overføringshastigheten til 11.33 MB/s, over dobbelt så bra som målingen vi fikk på Lexar sitt adapter. Merkelig nok gikk ytelsen ned på de større RAW-filene, mens Lexar-adapteret da fikk nesten like god ytelse som Delkin-kortet.

Vi testet også Sandisk-kortet med kortleseren Sandisk Imagemate 6-in-1. Den USB 2.0-baserte kortleseren fikk henholdsvis 2.15 MB/s i skrivehastighet, og 2.17 MB/s i lesehastighet. Lesehastigheten er med andre ord vesentlig bedre med et Delkin-adapter.

Konklusjon

Delkin CardBus 32 Adapter er utvilsomt et meget raskt CF-adapter, og for alt vi vet kan det være sant at det er verdens raskeste.

På en bærbar PC vil man normalt få vesentlig bedre leseytelse med et Delkin-adapter enn hvis man velger andre typer kortlesere.

Den største ulempen vi kan se med adapteret, er at man må installere drivere for å bruke produktet. Hvis man skal overføre bilder til en annen PC enn sin egen må man altså huske på å ta med driver-cden. Tradisjonelle PCMCIA kortlesere trenger ikke drivere på nyere operativsystemer.

En annen ulempe ved produktet er prisen. Vi har enda ikke sett produktet i Norge, men kortet vil trolig ligge på 500-700 kroner; betydelig mer enn konkurrerende produkter.

Delkin CardBus 32 Adapter blir derfor mest for de spesielt interesserte, og profesjonelle som ønsker å betale ekstra for å få den raskeste filoverføringen på markedet.

Norsk distributør av Delkin-produkter er Rafo Engros AS.

Mer informasjon om produktet finnes i pressemeldingen på neste side.

Side 2: Pressemelding

DELKIN INTRODUCES THE FASTEST CF ADAPTER FOR LAPTOPS

Poway CA, October 7, 2003 Delkin Devices Inc., maker of premium quality eFilm memory cards and other innovative products for camera stores worldwide, has introduced the fastest PCMCIA Adapter on the market. The eFilm PRO CardBus 32-bit PCMCIA adapter is four to six times faster than all current conventional 16-bit adapters and ushers in a new phase of adapter performance. PCMCIA adapters have long been popular for their convenient size and ease of use for quick file transfers form memory cards to laptop computers. The eFilm PRO CardBus 32 is the only adapter that achieves maximum speeds from the popular high-speed professional grade CompactFlash (CF) memory cards that are currently popular with high-end SLR digital cameras. The CardBus 32 adapter allows CF memory cards to work in the PC Card slot on most Windows based laptops and uses the high speed CardBus PCMCIA standard.

The new Delkin 32-bit CardBus adapter has the same size, shape and design as existing 16-bit adapters in common use now. However, Delkin CardBus adapters and all CardBus products worldwide have a set of gold dimples or “buttons” across the top of the leading edge, which inserts into the laptop. These buttons serve a keying function and prevent the insertion of the adapter into non-CardBus compatible laptops. CardBus slots are common on all modern laptops from manufacturers like Dell, Toshiba, Sony and many others. The CardBus 32 adapter inserts completely within its host without any external cabling and operates at a power-saving 3.3 volts, extending battery life in most configurations.

The CardBus standard, while not well known to the general computing population, has been in place since 1997, and supported by virtually all notebook vendors since 1998. CardBus is standard on virtually all modern Windows and Mac OS systems. CardBus provides higher levels of performance than the 16-bit PC Card standard, and is able to take advantage of internal bus speeds that can be four to six times faster. Tests on Delkin eFilm PRO cards and other high-speed CF cards revealed similar speed increases of four to six times that of standard 16-bit CF adapters. 100 Megabytes of JPEG photos on a Delkin PRO card were transferred to a Dell laptop with both a Delkin 16-bit adapter and the new CardBus 32 adapter. The CardBus adapter took 18 seconds (5.5MB/s) to transfer the images and the standard adapter took more than four times as long, taking one minute, 26 seconds (1.16MB/s) to transfer.

The Delkin CardBus 32 adapter has a theoretical maximum speed of 132MB/s. Speed in real world applications is determined by the speed of the CPU and flash chips within the CF card. High-speed cards like the Delkin eFilm PRO and the IBM Microdrive will operate much faster than other cards not designed to be high speed. Delkin CardBus 32 adapters also utilize a patented chip, which reduces the burden on the host CPU to 10% or less, further increasing the value of this product. The Delkin CardBus 32 adapter is currently shipping with a retail price of $59.99. The Delkin CardBus adapter is available from independent photo stores worldwide and www.Delkin.com.

Patrick Maher, chief operating officer and executive director for PCMCIA, recently said in a PCMCIA press release, "CardBus technology provides significant improvements in peripheral device performance without sacrificing ease-of-use or mobility the industry has come to expect from PC Cards." The Delkin CardBus 32 adapter is currently compatible with most Windows OS systems, and a driver CD is included with each adapter for Windows 98, 98SE, Me, 2000 and XP. Delkin expects to have Apple drivers available by January 2004, as most Apple laptops also support CardBus. For the latest information on CardBus and other PC Card products, visit the PCMCIA web site at http://www.pc-card.com. For the latest information on Delkin, CardBus 32 adapters and many other cards, accessories and digital photography in general, visit http://www.delkin.com.

Delkin Devices, Inc., based in San Diego, California, has been operating since 1986. Since that time Delkin’s eFilm digital storage products and accessories have become an industry leader in both OEM and consumer markets. eFilm memory cards are available in a wide variety of industry formats, and are supported by a full line of reader/writers and accessories. Known as the "Camera Store" brand, eFilm is available worldwide primarily through a network of independent camera stores, and a leading choice among photographers passionate about digital photography.

The company continues to be one of the leading US manufacturers for memory upgrades whose success has been the result of providing a broad range of products with premium quality, innovative designs and an ongoing dedication to superior customer service. Delkin’s website attracts visitors from over 100 different countries, underscoring the company’s international success.