Why don't camera reviews cover the data connection to the PC?

Pat Cheney wrote:
What good are the camera reviews if they miss totally something that is as
important as a totally non-standard data interface to the computer???????

Who cares? Get a card reader (they run under 10$ US) and enjoy much
better performance and you can even do the download with the standard
software that came with your OS -any OS- instead of having to install
and use the proprietary software from your camera manufacturer.

jue

"mcdonaldREMOVE TO ACTUALLY REACH wrote:
Bob Williams wrote:

Don't get too upset about it.
Most camera users don't even use the Camera-to-Computer cable anyway.
If your computer is of fairly recent vintage you may already have a
built-in card reader....Insert card in proper slot....Bingo!...Your pics
are ready to view and download. No Fuss....No Muss....Simple as Pie.


It's not as simple as connecting the camera to the computer. AND ...

True, it is not as simple. Taking the card and plugging it into the card
reader slot is indeed much simpler than prying out that rubber plug
without tearing off that tiny strap, searching for the cable, trying to
fit the tiny connector right way into the opening and then trying to
find the UPS port for the other end of the cable at the rear of the
computer.

you have to take the card out, which, as the OP said, could damage contacts.

Oh please, even for CF that was a stretch argument, for SD it is total
BS.

I admit, I use the Canon software and a USB cable.

If it works for you and you are happy with it, great for you. For me it
would be WAY to much hassle.

jue

wrote:
Yes but making it impossible to download the Nikon RAW files without Nikon
software is a petty sneaky thing to do in order to make a few more people
use Nikon software.

Funny. My computers (running Vista and XP) have not trouble downloading
_ANY_ file from a memory card (as long as the FS is FAT which is
normally the case).

Its a hassle to have to carry a card reader with me in
my rucksack but now I have no choice.

a: most somewhat modern computers have proper card readers build in
already
b: if they don't then it is trivial to add a card reader to a desktop
c: I wonder why carrying a cable doesn't seem to be a hassle to you.

I think trivial things like this need
to get negative vocal responses from camera uses otherwise the next thing

Exactly because it is such a trivial thing it is not worth wasting any
more electrons on it. You are seeing a problem where there is none.

jue

On Thu, 25 Dec 2008 08:44:19 -0800 (PST), ransley
wrote:

On Dec 25, 1:24*am, Pat Cheney wrote:
I'm sad because I read the camera reviews and now that I've opened the
gift, I found out the Casio EXILIM camera uses a proprietary USB cable!

The reviews failed me.

I only found out when I tried to pull some pictures out that all my mini
usb and micro usb cables are useless on this Casio camera.

What good are the camera reviews if they miss totally something that is as
important as a totally non-standard data interface to the computer???????

I'll never trust dp review ever again. I'm livid at how stupid the camera
reviewers are when they can't even tell me that a cable is proprietary.

Not one camera review caught this. Idiots all. I'm so angry at them.

I dint not come with a cable, most do, you didnt read the box is yor
fault not DPs. Every camera I have came with a cable that worked, so
go buy an adaptor or just use a card the reader in you computer.

He didn't say it didn't come with a cable. He said he didn't want to
use their cable.

Jürgen Exner wrote:

wrote:
Yes but making it impossible to download the Nikon RAW files without
Nikon software is a petty sneaky thing to do in order to make a few more
people use Nikon software.

Funny. My computers (running Vista and XP) have not trouble downloading
_ANY_ file from a memory card (as long as the FS is FAT which is normally
the case).

Add my Linux computer to that list. A file's a file. I don't use any
proprietary Nikon software.


--
Blinky
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://improve-usenet.org
Need a new news feed? http://blinkynet.net/comp/newfeed.html

nospam wrote:
In article ,
wrote:

Yes but making it impossible to download the Nikon RAW files
without Nikon software is a petty sneaky thing to do in order to
make a few more people use Nikon software. Its a hassle to have to
carry a card reader with me in my rucksack but now I have no choice.

card readers are not big.

Indeed - no bigger than a USB memory stick with somethong like the
Sharkoon Flexi-Drive XC+

http://www.sharkoon.de/html/produkte.../index_en.html

Hope you can get these in the US.

Cheers,
David

SMS wrote:
Pat Cheney wrote:

Not one camera review caught this. Idiots all. I'm so angry at
them.

That's something that would be nice for them to include in the
database of features, but that you should have checked yourself
first.

That's a nice way of putting what others have said less politely.
It's not as if dpreview spent tax money or the OP paid them to do
his research.

It's like when you buy a car, the manufacturer doesn't list
every
feature or characteristic, yet some are very important to
owners, but
unless you check the owners manual or the actual vehicle you'll
never
know whether or not the vehicle is acceptable to you.

? "tony cooper" ?????? ??? ??????
...
On Thu, 25 Dec 2008 20:13:08 -0000, Justin C
wrote:

In article , "mcdonaldREMOVE TO ACTUALLY
REACH wrote:

It's not as simple as connecting the camera to the computer. AND ...
you have to take the card out, which, as the OP said, could damage
contacts.

These posts are bothering me. OK, removing and re-inserting an SD card
time and time again may cause damage, but don't you risk the same
connecting and disconnecting the cable time and time again?

Right. You can muck up the card or the points inside the camera by
taking the card in and out repeatedly, or you can muck up the cable
connection by plugging it in repeatedly. Not that you will in either
case, but it could happen.


A mini USB cable is rated for 10,000 connects and disconnects, so with any
luck will outlive the camera. A happy new year to everyone!



--
Tzortzakakis Dimitrios
major in electrical engineering
mechanized infantry reservist
hordad AT otenet DOT gr

On Thu, 25 Dec 2008 16:14:24 -0500, tony cooper wrote:

Right. You can muck up the card or the points inside the camera by
taking the card in and out repeatedly, or you can muck up the cable
connection by plugging it in repeatedly. Not that you will in either
case, but it could happen.

It's way more likely you'll lose the proprietary cable when it's most
needed and will have no easy way to find the exact proprietary Casio EXILIM
usb cable.

If the camera reviews just mentioned this, I would have NEVER given a Casio
as a gift camera.

The camera, to me, is virtually useless. Sure, the Casio takes pictures,
but, without purchasing an additional HDSD card reader and carrying THAT
around everywhere we go, we can't ever get those pictures off the Casio.

I, for one, am extremely saddened the Camera reviewers don't test things we
care about in a simple point and shoot camera!

IMHO, a camera with a proprietary data interface is needless, useless, and,
most important, I'll never willingly buy one. I just wish the reviewers
knew this is an important detail, one they obviously missed on purpose
because they had the camera in their hands. I didn't.

On Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:46:04 +0200, Tzortzakakis Dimitrios wrote:

A mini USB cable is rated for 10,000 connects and disconnects, so with any
luck will outlive the camera. A happy new year to everyone!

But the Casio EXILIM USB isn't mini-usb. It's a proprietary Casio USB
interface.

I'm less worried how long it will last than losing or misplacing the cable
and then having the problem of having to either buy a new cable or having
to carry an additional HDSD card reader everywhere I go.

What gets me is I had read all the reviews.
None told me that the Casio EXILIM uses a proprietary USB cable.

Either they didn't know (which I doubt), or they didn't care (which is
probable) or they didn't want to torpedo the Camera sales by reporting the
egregious flaw.

If I had known about the Casio proprietary USB cable, the camera would
still be on the Internet, where it belongs!