Registered: Aug 1999
Location: Inverness, FL
Posts: 428

Discuss the MemPlug here...

__________________
<B>Marcus Adolfsson</B>
Editor

Registered: Oct 2000
Location:
Posts: 57

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

__________________
Push Any Key To Start
"Wheres the Anykey?!"
-Homer Simpson

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 2

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!

__________________
Tony Ching, President
SF Palm User Group
Palm Powered by the Golden Gate
www.sfpug.org

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Mineola, NY USA
Posts: 161

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?

---

__________________
-Michael-

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NC, Indiana
Posts: 465

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

__________________
-Vincent

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 23

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.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

quote:

---

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

---

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA Interests: Women, Drums, Visors, Computers, Home Theater and any cool gadgets.
Posts: 138

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]

__________________
I don't NEED color, I crave it!
<BR>Just a fan! <A HREF=" http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/ "><IMG SRC=" http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/nav/foot-station.gif "></A><BR>

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 23

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?

---

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
Posts: 47

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?

---

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 18

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....

---

__________________
Matt Ridge
Upward Technologies
www.upwardtechnologies.com

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

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.

---

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 19

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.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

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.

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 120

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.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

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

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

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

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA Interests: Women, Drums, Visors, Computers, Home Theater and any cool gadgets.
Posts: 138

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

__________________
I don't NEED color, I crave it!
<BR>Just a fan! <A HREF=" http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/ "><IMG SRC=" http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/nav/foot-station.gif "></A><BR>

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 23

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.

---

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 384

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]

__________________
Fat's