Macbook Pro + Express34 Memory Card Reader (pictures)

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I ordered a SIIG ExpressCard 34 11 in 1 memory card reader for my MacBook Pro last week, it came today. I was actually have a terrible day and forgot this was coming and it cheered me up . I read about it on Apple forums (the actual apple.com ones). No one had one yet so they didn't know if it worked, hopefully this will answer any questions. It does work, no drivers needed. I just plugged it in and it worked immediately. I'm not a good photographer and am too lazy to take screen shots, so the pictures aren't the best, but they convey the point.



-Justin



















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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    did you find it in an elevator?



    It is only real if the picture is in an elevator!!











    ps: thanks for the post. sorry for the inside joke



    pps: does it support compact flash?
  • Reply 2 of 27
    No, it doesn't support compact flash, it never will. Express34 is 34mm wide, compact flash is wider than that. I'm sure it would work for a computer with the larger expresscard slot, but not for the current MacBook Pro line.
  • Reply 3 of 27
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jpennington

    No, it doesn't support compact flash, it never will. Express34 is 34mm wide, compact flash is wider than that. I'm sure it would work for a computer with the larger expresscard slot, but not for the current MacBook Pro line.



    I don't mean to sound like a retard, but what is an Express34??



    Is it just a memory card reader??

    Does it do other things too??
  • Reply 4 of 27
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    ExpressCard/34 is the 34-mm-wide of ExpressCard, which is a laptop expansion standard that allows for external versions of PCI Express- or USB 2.0-based devices, much like CardBus was.*



    ExpressCard also exists in a /54 configuration, which, you guessed it, is 55 mm wide. Because CompactFlash is wider than 34 mm, and because Apple only uses the /34 version, you cannot make a CompactFlash adapter (media card reader) for ExpressCard.



    *) Both CardBus (also sometimes known as PC Card) and ExpressCard were standardized by PCMCIA, an industry consortium for this specific purpose. CardBus cards were thus also often incorrectly known as "PCMCIA cards".
  • Reply 5 of 27
    tednditedndi Posts: 1,921member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jpennington

    No, it doesn't support compact flash, it never will. Express34 is 34mm wide, compact flash is wider than that. I'm sure it would work for a computer with the larger expresscard slot, but not for the current MacBook Pro line.





    That's what I figured.



    It could if the CF card sits outside of the computer I guess.
  • Reply 6 of 27
    k squaredk squared Posts: 608member
    How do you pop the card out? I don't see a release button as on earlier 'Books.
  • Reply 7 of 27
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Thank you!
  • Reply 8 of 27
    Quote:

    Originally posted by k squared

    How do you pop the card out? I don't see a release button as on earlier 'Books.



    Both the memory card and the express card are released by pushing in. There is a spring loaded mechanism or something that pushs it back up a little bit so you can remove it.



    -Justin
  • Reply 9 of 27
    Someone pointed this out on the apple discussion site, which I have verified. With the card reader in the express slot, (without a memory card inserts) will not allow the computer to sleep.



    I will rephrase ...



    If you leave the card reader in the computer while you are not using it, it will not go to sleep. Frankly, this sucks. Hopefully someone smarter than me will figure out a fix for this soon.
  • Reply 10 of 27
    whwere did you order it from, how much was it?
  • Reply 11 of 27
    I ordered it from the sIIg online store. The fastest shipping was 2nd day air, which brought the total to $64.99 ($49.00 for the card and $15 for shipping).



    You can purchase at http://www.siig.com/product.asp?pid=1051&catid=128 .
  • Reply 12 of 27
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by TednDi

    did you find it in an elevator?



    It is only real if the picture is in an elevator!!











    ps: thanks for the post. sorry for the inside joke



    pps: does it support compact flash?








    I agree that its good to hear firsthand Express card reports.



    Is it true that it won't sleep if the card is in the bay? I'd expect that this could be the case for some cards, but if the card reader is simply a passthrough device and there's no card inside, I don't see why it would block sleep.
  • Reply 13 of 27
    Yes, that is true, unfortunately. I hoping someone will figure out a way to fix thus. I was really hoping to leave it in the computer all the time.
  • Reply 14 of 27
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Xool





    I agree that its good to hear firsthand Express card reports.



    Is it true that it won't sleep if the card is in the bay? I'd expect that this could be the case for some cards, but if the card reader is simply a passthrough device and there's no card inside, I don't see why it would block sleep.




    I don't think the card is just a pass through. A standard PCMCIA to CF card adapter is just wires in a case, I've torn one apart, PCMCIA has an ATA mode, and CF has an ATA mode. For ExpressCard, there is likely some logic because none of the memory card standards support USB or PCIe signalling.



    It is kind of a bummer on the sleep. I'd like to know if any of the SATA ExpressCards work on the MBP. edit: scratch that, the current SATA cards listed at NewEgg are EC/54 only.
  • Reply 15 of 27
    nijiniji Posts: 288member
    i wonder why the SIIG site does not specifically state that this expresscard supports mac os x.
  • Reply 16 of 27
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by niji

    i wonder why the SIIG site does not specifically state that this expresscard supports mac os x.



    It probably never occured to them to test it. If they did test it, maybe they didn't list it because of the sleep issue.



    SIIG can be a bit odd at times. Back when SATA was new, their SATA controller didn't support optical drives and the official statement was that they aren't going to support it with that controller.
  • Reply 17 of 27
    nijiniji Posts: 288member
    well, i checked with them. here is their reply:



    quote

    Hi,

    Unfortunately, it doesn't fully support Mac OS X. We are working on Mac

    support it but do not have a release date at this time.

    Regards,

    Larry

    endquote



    the original poster of the info to this board supplied such evidence as photos of the mounted disk. when i saw that, i smelled something wrong. either he is associated with SIIG, or it didnt work all the time, or something.



    by the way, the equivalent card that is supported on windows is much less in price than this one.

  • Reply 18 of 27
    blackcatblackcat Posts: 697member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by niji

    well, i checked with them. here is their reply:



    quote

    Hi,

    Unfortunately, it doesn't fully support Mac OS X. We are working on Mac

    support it but do not have a release date at this time.

    Regards,

    Larry

    endquote



    the original poster of the info to this board supplied such evidence as photos of the mounted disk. when i saw that, i smelled something wrong. either he is associated with SIIG, or it didnt work all the time, or something.



    by the way, the equivalent card that is supported on windows is much less in price than this one.




    Or SIIG are wrong.



    Remember 'does not support' is not the same as 'does not work'.
  • Reply 19 of 27
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Blackcat

    Or SIIG are wrong.



    Remember 'does not support' is not the same as 'does not work'.




    You are partly right, it does work, but I am also inclined to say that SIIG statement is totally correct. They said "fully support". It does work for the most part. The rest of that full support issue may have to do with the fact that the MBP doesn't sleep properly when that card is in the slot.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    If you think I work for SIIG then there is something wrong with you, I have several posts on this board only a few are regarding this card.



    I don't care if they don't support it, it works for me 100% of the time. I have to take it out when I'm not using it, but the times I use it are on trips, where my laptop is sitting on a desk plugged in, so it doesn't matter if it doesn't sleep.
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