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- Article Comments (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=17)
-- MemPlug (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=10230)

Posted by marcus on 12-20-2000 06:20 AM:

Discuss the MemPlug here...

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Posted by BrianX124 on 12-20-2000 06:58 AM:

Looks like a great new storage option.

This looks like it will be a great new storage option. I wish they had a estimated price though. I dought it will be to much since it is only and adaptor. Does anyone know if you can store games on it and run them? (un-like the 8 meg flash by handspring because of high scores and things?) Could there be a simple hack that could be made to fix this? Like it could be installed on the module and it would automaticly save all databases onto the visor's ram and you would just put most of ur apps on the module. Dont know if its possible though.
-Brian

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Posted by digichimp on 12-20-2000 07:48 AM:

this is gonna rock

I just bought an Olympus D360L camera that uses SmartMedia and the PI solution is a godsend!

I can't wait for a review!
Innogear better get moving with InnoDrive. Until there's a lot of SD cameras floating around,
SD, my A.. Is anyone else as giddy as me to hear that SM might be used with a Palm Powered device?

Pair this with Autorun, like TRGPro's AutoCF or Sony's MSGate/run and the possibilities for storage are terrific.
I hope developers can write an analogous app for this device: download to ram, run, delete from ram on removal.

yippy kai yeah!

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Posted by MHCohn on 12-20-2000 11:31 AM:

Giddy Yup!

quote:
Originally posted by digichimp
I just bought an Olympus D360L camera that uses SmartMedia and the PI solution is a godsend!

I can't wait for a review!
Is anyone else as giddy as me to hear that SM might be used with a Palm Powered device?

Am I giddy? Yup! I've got an Olympus 2020zoom. The potential ability to use my various SM cards in the Visor too is a real plus. But I'm even more excited by the potential to view pictures taken with the camera on my Visor. When this comes out, I finally will have a real reason to upgrade to a Prism from my trusty VDX.

Now all I need is a mp3 player that accepts SM cards too!

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Posted by Vinny on 12-20-2000 01:11 PM:

Can anyone give me an estimate on how much this will generaly cost? Not neccesarily from the source but anyone with technical knowhow. If its under $40 ($30 if at all possible..) then it could be a nice solution.

I did a quick check at Egghead.com and found 8MB cards for around $17, 16MB cards for $27, 32MB for $62, and 64MB for $100. These are just from browsing this morning. A quick check at Ibuyer.net for a 32MB chip shows the cheapest at $45.

I want expansion for my Visor but the 8MB flash is too costly. This should hopefully be a nice solution

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Posted by Deslock on 12-20-2000 01:17 PM:

Can run apps? How much?

I'll get it if:

1. It's cheap
2. I can copy/delete files with my USB Smartmedia reader
3. I can run apps from it

As far as running apps goes, it doesn't have to be as seamless as the Handspring Flash module (though that would be nice). If it's as flexible as the TRGPro, that'd be sufficient. If it works like the Clie, I'm not interested.

Since their website mentions nothing about running apps from the cards, I assume this is not possible.

Posted by Eug on 12-20-2000 01:49 PM:

quote:
I dought it will be to much since it is only and adaptor.

I'm no expert, but my understanding is that smartmedia is a lot less "smart" than compact flash. At least for computers, more stuff is required in the adapter to make it work. This might not be a direct comparison, but the PCMCIA adapter for my compact flash cards costs less than CAD$15, and all it is a bracket. No electronics whatsoever. The PCMCIA adapter I have ordered for my SmartMedia costs 10 times that much.

I hope this company can keep the price fairly low. The form factor is potentially better than compact flash for the springboards. While I have tons of CF for my camera, I'm getting tons of SmartMedia as well for another camera.

Deslock,

What have your experiences been with the Clie?

[Edited by Eug on 12-20-2000 at 09:00 AM]

Posted by Babylon5 on 12-20-2000 02:49 PM:

Re: Looks like a great new storage option.

Looks good except for one major thing. They use nice small flat media cards then make a module that has a HUGE bulge sticking out the back. What the F&^%$. I would not buy one now as that would make my current case unusable.

Also they never show if the SM card sticks up over the top of the Visor. I wonder....

BTW Brian your signature is wrong or they said it wrong on the Simpsons.

You have:

Push The Any Key To Start
"Wheres the Anykey?!"

It should be:

Push Any Key To Start
"Wheres the Anykey?!"

[Edited by Babylon5 on 12-20-2000 at 09:55 AM]

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Posted by Deslock on 12-20-2000 03:03 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Eug
I'm no expert, but my understanding is that smartmedia is a lot less "smart" than compact flash. At least for computers, more stuff is required in the adapter to make it work.

Deslock,

What have your experiences been with the Clie?

SM doesn't have an on-board controller like CF. The upside to this is that SM tends to be slightly cheaper and a little smaller (in thickness that is). SM also takes a little less power than CF, but I don't know if it has anything to do with the lack of a controller. A potential downside to this is that devices that use SM will not support future SM cards unless the device's controller can be updated to support the new specifications (i.e. a CF camera should accept all future CF cards, while a SM camera compatible with 64MB SM may not be able to read the upcoming 128MB SM cards). Also, there are CF modems, LAN cards, etc... SM is memory only.

I personally have only played with the Clie in stores and read what others have written. People seem to not like how the Clie handles apps on the card; it apparantly has to copy files from flash to the memory to run them. This is slow and it requires that you have free space in the Clie's RAM. Here is an excerpt from a recent USENET post:

The TRGpro has up to 1GB with an IBM Microdrive, though you can "only" access 256 files directly via AutoCF, and it's a little slower (though still faster than Sony's MSAutoRun because it pages DBs in a record at a time).

Posted by everything's a blur on 12-20-2000 03:06 PM:

Re: this is gonna rock

quote:
Originally posted by digichimp
I just bought an Olympus D360L camera that uses SmartMedia and the PI solution is a godsend!

I can't wait for a review!
Innogear better get moving with InnoDrive. Until there's a lot of SD cameras floating around,
SD, my A.. Is anyone else as giddy as me to hear that SM might be used with a Palm Powered device?

Yes and no. Frankly, I don't quite see the practical application for having a digital camera's memeory card and read that on my VDx. Heck, one 3.3 MegaPixel photo could fill my enitre VDx's internal memory! Unless I had a VPr, then this is pretty much useless as the screen resolution is horrible even compared to the camera's LCD (I have an Oly C-3030Z).

SmartMedia is a storage only medium, so for backups and large file/application stores it would be great. Other than that though, there isn't much you can do with this device. This better have a very reasonable price point considering the actual SmartMedia cards (which would be the expensive part in this equation) are seperate.

quote:

Pair this with Autorun, like TRGPro's AutoCF or Sony's MSGate/run and the possibilities for storage are terrific.
I hope developers can write an analogous app for this device: download to ram, run, delete from ram on removal.

I suppose, but as a developer are you going to write and package an application on SmartMedia??? TRGPro using CF is fine becuase there are hardware CF Devices (Ethernet cards, modems, etc.). With Sony MemoryStick's it works fine because they can also run an actual hardware devices (MemoryStick cameras, etc.), but SmartMedia is a memory-only format. As a developer, you'd be better served putting things straight on to Springboard since every Visor has one of those, not everyone will have/need the SmartMedia adapter.

Don't get me wrong here, I'll probably end up with one anyway for mass backs and file storage. But in the end, though it costs a lot, the MiniJam is a much more flexible device that offers much of the same functionality.

Posted by mridge on 12-20-2000 07:35 PM:

Re: Looks like a great new storage option.

quote:
Originally posted by Babylon5

Also they never show if the SM card sticks up over the top of the Visor. I wonder....

They actually show the card inserted on this page: http://www.memplug.com/product_info.html

It only sticks up a couple of millimeters.

[Edited by mridge on 12-20-2000 at 02:42 PM]

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Posted by Gameboy70 on 12-20-2000 08:44 PM:

Estimated price

An admin at PDABuzz reports, "I've received a response from the folks at Portable Innovation Technology and the expected MSRP for the MemPlug should be $49 to $59 (SmartMedia not included)."

quote:
They actually show the card inserted on this page: http://www.memplug.com/product_info.html

It only sticks up a couple of millimeters.

That's probably for display purposes; the SM card probably fits flush in the MemPlug. Handspring's first pictures of the Springboard slot showed a module in the slot mounted halfway to illustrate the concept. Sony displayed the Memory Stick on the Cli� the same way.

Posted by ginmtb on 12-20-2000 09:43 PM:

Is the bulge on the Memplug convex or concave? Seems to me that it would make sense that it is concave. That would help with removing the module. It is difficult to tell on their website.

Posted by Vertigo on 12-20-2000 11:06 PM:

It's convex. The website states the module is 11mm thick, and by measuring one's backup module, one finds that the backup module is 3mm thinner. 3mm really doesn't matter at all, the visor will still fit into the vast majority of cases. Seems like it would have been simple enough to make the thing flat though.. Oh well..

If it does turn out to be $50, I will definetly be buying one. I already have a couple 32MB smartmedia cards.

It's nice to have (almost) a cheap memory alternative.

Posted by sanchan on 12-21-2000 03:57 AM:

Hi, 1-year veteran of the VDX. GREAT, PERFECT handheld absolutely no problems, a DAILY journal keeper, etc., etc., so this SM option really seems extraordinary.
Now, here's what I'm NOT: Technically savvy on memory hardware pieces or apps such as this. It LOOKS and SOUNDS great... and, reading the posts, you'd think, would answer some of my questions; instead, they add more.
1. You can or cannot RUN applications directly from the card?
2. It does or does NOT take a LOT of time accessing applications from, say, the 32meg card
3. Is it just a glorified backup module??

Observation: for those anticipating the form factor and whether the cards will "stick out" of the back or not. You know, it's just a module, no more. I would think that if the card inserted fit flush with the top, there would not be enough space for your fingers to grip and remove the card when necessary. I THINK there WILL be some extension above the slot. There doesn't seem to be any way to eject it and the module does not appear to be wide enough to allow opposing grip on each side. Plus, don't think I saw any crescent shaped access to the cards profile. Just an observation.

Posted by Eug on 12-21-2000 04:39 AM:

Yes, I would be surprised if the smartmedia card didn't sit flush, because they are very flimsy unlike compact flash.

Posted by EricG on 12-21-2000 07:07 AM:

WOW..

All these great new modules coming out, one right after another! This module is DEFINITELY on my list.. I use my Olympus digital camera a great deal and this would be VERY handy to have.. And like some other posters, I have a few spare SmartMedia cards that I consider too small for use in the camera but will provide wondrous amounts of Palm storage!!

(hope they keep it under $50 - start a new trend!)

Now if the just started taking pre-orders!

-Eric

Posted by Babylon5 on 12-21-2000 02:59 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by ginmtb
Is the bulge on the Memplug convex or concave? Seems to me that it would make sense that it is concave. That would help with removing the module. It is difficult to tell on their website.

Is anyone else turned off by this huge bulge on the back of the module?

I am just asking as this sounded like a good product but that bulge really bothers me. It would make it very hard to keep this in the Visor all the time and have it in most cases since it won't lay flat.

I carry my Prism in the old EB Slipper and I could not use or carry it around all the time unless the module was flat.

Can someone tell me if this HAS to even be there. Why would you design it like this.

I guess this is just me but I won't buy one because of this "feature" or maybe put my Dremmel tool to it

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Posted by Deslock on 12-21-2000 03:27 PM:

Re: Estimated price

quote:
Originally posted by Eug
Yes, I would be surprised if the smartmedia card didn't sit flush, because they are very flimsy unlike compact flash.

I hope it's flush too, but only because I wouldn't want the somewhat sharp edge of SM to dig into my case. As far as durability goes, SM is more flimsy than CF, but it's not nearly as fragile as people think (the biggest weakness of SM is the exposed contacts). It's strong enough that sticking out a couple mm shouldn't be a problem.

Posted by Fat_Man on 12-21-2000 10:04 PM:

But this is still bothering me...

Well, we all know that all of these various storage options are coming out, rather they are CF, SM, or memory stick, we all know that they can STORE lots of data. However there's still that problem of extracting the data or running applications. From what I have read so far ALL of these media requires some method of taking an application stored in the card and copying it to the visor's internal memory which require free memory in your visor. I think that this is an issue with the applications and may be with the data. I think that as the Palm programs gets more and more complex and the size of these applications get bigger and bigger, it will ultimately slow down the process of copying these apps to the internal memory an then running it. The application size for patientkeeper is over 300k's!

The perfect expansion will be a module greater than Handsring's 8mb that could run applications and access data directy from the card itself.

[Edited by Fat_Man on 12-21-2000 at 10:37 PM]

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