Eye-Fi Share 2 GB Wi-Fi SD Flash Memory Card EYE-FI-2GB (OLD VERSION)
by Eye-Fi
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Eye-Fi Share 2 GB Wi-Fi SD Flash Memory Card EYE-FI-2GB (OLD VERSION)
Customer Review: Works great, if it installs...
Summary: 3 Stars
This review was revised because I got some incorrect information from tech support and has been updated accordingly.
I was really excited about this product because my wife's computer has a flaky SD card port and she doesn't like to work on my desktop, so I thought this would be the perfect solution. And it is, if configuration work correctly.
I tried to install this card on two computers. The first, a Dell desktop system about 1.5 years old, worked fine. The second, a Dell laptop about 6 months old, would never see the card. I talked with customer support who then forwarded me to the developers, but nobody could get the card to work on the laptop. Back it went.
One drawback is that the card gets registered to only one user at a time. This means my wife and I have to share a user account. Not a big deal, but I do like to keep our accounts separate.
The card requires a client program (OSX and Windows XP,Vista) to be running on your computer to upload photos. Not a problem, but I don't see why this is needed. Linux and Windows 2000 are not supported.
Also, you are required to be connected to the internet to change any configurations on where files are saved or to which computer the card is "registered". This is really annoying since I've purchased the card. What happens if the company goes out of business in a year? They are a private VC funded company with no guarantee of future support.
The client program is also a little annoying in that it pops up a window to show the photo whenever they are downloaded. I would prefer that it does that silently in the background.
As others have noted, the card only transfers jpg files. It would have been really nice to use this in my MP3 player which I also use to transfer files from work.
They company has no plans of releasing an SDK for the card. I have the feeling they are trying to keep this locked down so they can get kickbacks from the online photo print shops.
If you're expecting the card to download photos to your computer and online photo services it works great. I, however, am not thrilled by the card right now and have since returned it for failing to install on my laptop.
Customer Review: Works Much Better Than I expected
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading some of the bad reviews here I was a little nervous buying this card.
We will be traveling all of 2008 and we always bring a router with us. I found that even in a hotel room if you have 2 computers (which we always do) a router is now a necessity.
Even with our router getting photos up on the net to drop on a travel Blog has always been a pain. FTP'ing photos up to the site was just another long process I didn't want to go through after a day of exploring.
When at home I always forget to upload the photos off the card or can't find the cable to my camera when I need it.
I got the card and fired it up so to speak. I have security on our wireless router and just plugged in the code. Bam it was on the network.
I don't normally use the online photo services (why upload them there and make an extra step) at all but went ahead and signed up for a picasa account just to test this thing out. I want to eventually use it with Google Earth anyway and Picasa fits in with them seamlessly.
After getting it on the network I just popped the card into my camera and started taking pictures. By the time I got back to my computer they were all in a folder I told it to save to during the setup. Very cool!!! Logged into my Picasa account and they were there too. Made a Blog post and used the URL from the photo and there it was.
Camera and Eye-Fi card took care of it all. No FTP, No cable hook up, No pop the card from the camera and upload to computer. Works much better than I would have expected!!!
Only thing I would ask for is a 4GB version.
Keeping my old Hi-speed card as a backup for fast action shots and will have to do it the old slow way.
FYI - I did notice someone said that they could not find the software for the card. The software for the card is on the card when you first set it up. Windows XP saw it right away and asked if that's what I wanted to open when I first popped in the card. If you look for it I am sure your setup will go as easy as mine.
~ Steve
PillFreeVitamins.com
Customer Review: Eager marketing ruins a good idea.
Summary: 1 Stars
Okay, part of the description above, verbatim, is:
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Upload to Computer
Uploading photos to your computer requires that your computer be turned on and running the Eye-Fi Manager software. When it detects the Eye-Fi Card on the network, photos will be uploaded into the folder on your computer that you choose. You don't have to bother with cables or camera software; everything is automatic.
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NOT SO! The card uploads to your NETWORK. So having a laptop with a wireless capability is not enough. You need a router and it has to be wireless. Add in another $100.
I got this card because I travel a lot. I am in Tajikistan right now even as I write this. Not only do I not have access to the wireless network, even if I did I would not trust my information to it. I wanted to carry my laptop with me and upload while having lunch. NOPE! WON'T WORK! Not unless I have access to the router and the router allows the camera to connect. For security reasons a lot of wireless routers are locked down, so you need YOUR router. Not feasible.
So it is like the software on your computer will "suck" the pictures off the card but USING the wireless router which you need.
I am bothered that the people who write this up neglected to say that "ad hoc" connections will not work. You still have to connect the card to the laptop via a little card reader. The good news is that they give you a card reader too. The bad news is that it is so far that it blocks other USB ports beside it. Way to go Eye-fi. You have a good idea but did not think it out.
- Wireless router needed.
- You need the router to be able to receive the connection.
- Will NOT work wirelessly with your computer as stated in the ad.
- Tech support web site even admits there is no ad hoc capability.
- Included card reader is so fat it blocks whatever is beside it.
- You can take your laptop to a friend's house but need to reconfigure the card for their network in order to to use it.
REFUND TIME!
Customer Review: It works great with OS X [Updated May 31, 2009]
Summary: 1 Stars
The comments below are from previous versions of the software. I have lately tried it one more time and the after the updates, I have to say I am quite impressed. The USB unit does not need be connected to your USB port in order for it to transfer pics, it all happens seamlessly, which is great.
They've also address stability issues, the manager does not crash anymore. The camara no longer has to be in Player mode to transfer the pics, so if I take a pic anywhere in my house, the pic is immediately transferred to my computer, which is pretty cool.
The updates have been regular and it's cool to see that the company is so eager at work trying to get things right. I'll leave the review below just for reference, but please keep in mind that it no longer reflects my opinion towards the device.
Note: I'd like to change the rating from 1 star to 4 stats but do not see this option anywhere when editing the review.
Old Review
I really wanted to like this product, but I have found it to be a nuisance under OS X (I have the latest updates for everything). When the card wants to connect (because it is not when YOU want to), the manager will transfer some files and then will crash. After that, it is a matter of invoking black magic spells to see if the stupid thing will want to sync again with iPhoto.
I oftentimes get so frustrated that I just plug in the card directly to the computer, which defies the whole purpose of having a wireless SD card. When it works, it won't transfer movies from your camera, and it won't delete the pictures that you have already downloaded to iPhoto. So guess what? You need to connect the card to your computer; defying, yet once again, the whole purpose of a wireless SD card.
In a nutshell, you will end up plugging this SD card to your computer more times than actually using it wirelessly. I don't know if it works fine un Windows, but as far as OS X goes, this is buggy and a royal pain in the butt to work with.
Customer Review: Fantastic device, makes it so much easier to share photos
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great product, I would highly recommend it. After using it for the last 6 months, it's consistently delivered on what it says it would do, but more importantly I'm noticing it really has made a difference in how we share photos with our friends and family making even the distant relatives feel more a part of our growing family.
It's not that using the cables to quickly pull a batch of pictures off of our camera was that hard before, but it was just annoying enough that we would wait for a week or two between download sessions. With the EyeFi, it's so super easy to get the pictures from the camera to our computer that we do it the same day they're taken every time. What I didn't realize ahead of time was how big a deal that seemingly small change would be. We happen to have a 1-year old daughter who changes every day, and getting pictures up onto the photo sharing site (Flickr for us) on the same day makes all the extended family feel like they're part of her growing up. Somehow seeing a new picture every day or two just feels more like you're there than seeing a batch of new pictures every week or two, and the EyeFi card makes it so simple that it's easy to do...
Packaging is very slick, somewhat Apple-esque, and gets you up and running quickly. Installation is a quick plug-and-play with your PC, pop it into the camera, and you're off and running. The EyeFi has worked flawlessly for us without having to touch it since installing. They do release updates every month or two to improve performance or add features, but it's up to you whether you want to download them (super simple if you do). Hasn't impacted batter life in any noticeable way, we're still getting hundreds of pictures between charges on our camera.
All in all delivers on its promises perfectly, and changes the way we share our photos (a bigger impact than I guessed before we started using it). A definite must-buy for any frequent photographer.