In early May, 2003DPReviewnoted that the small Japanese companyASKAhad announced that it was shipping a 32 bit Cardbus PC card adaptor. What you may ask is this, and why do you need one? And, if it's so great where can you get one and what does it cost?

Photographers working in the field who use notebook computers for storing their data files face the problem that the PC Card slot available on all portable computers is a slow interface. Transferring a 1 GB card can be a lengthy slow process — up to 15 minutes.

The solution is to carry along a Firewire or USB2 card reader. Of course this means extra gear in your bag. And, if you are a PC user with a mini-Firewire port on your laptop you'll find that this port isn't powered, and so your Firewire card reader needs to be plugged into AC power to work. Mac users don't have this problem. USB2 card readers on PCs don't have this problem either, they are self powered. An examination of this problem is detailed in my August, 2...