Apple Reviews

buy the original of Olympus. This doen't work with my windows xp computer, the fact is that you don't have an XP software with the product. you must go to the web and download it.The only thing you have with this horrible products are 3 diskettes , with no XP software and no instaling instructions....a minimun advice in the bag , refers to the web page for the instaling instructions, the last bad thing is!in the web there are no instructions, for this product¡¡¡¡I'm going to return to amazon.BRRRRRRRR

The Viking SmartMedia 3.5 Floppy Adapter saves the day for those unlucky people trying to connect their older PC's to the new digital cameras. These newer cameras almost all universally connect to PC's by means of a USB port. Windows 95 did not properly support USB, even with its second version. Upgrading to Windows 98 is not necessarily a reliable fix. I found that the BIOS of my computer had the USB driver conflicting with DMA memory allocation, so USB would still not run.

That is where this handy little accessory fits in. It allows Windows 95 to read the device with SmartMedia card inserted, as another drive with all files accessible for transfer. This works fine after a simple installation of the proper driver that comes on a 3.5 in floppy disc. The transfer of files is faster than through a serial port, but much slower than through a USB port, but it works and is reliable.

My only quibble echoes the preceding comments. There is almost no documentation with this device. That makes it a poor buy for someone not familiar with computers and disc operations. If you are handy, and have an older computer, this one will fill the bill. Or you could help the economy, and buy a new computer!

No problems, no complaints. I wouldn't think of not buying it when I bought my digital camera that uses Smart Media. What's cool is that I can also use it for transferring large files of any kind (not only images) from one computer to another via the floppy drive. 128 megs large. For all I know there could be a 256 Mb Smart Card now. It's nothing to install the driver then BOOM your in business. It doesn't have the fastest transfer rate of all devices, but it is definately faster than a parallel port.

The Viking 128 mb smart media card permits me to take approximately 175 pictures of very high quality before having to download them from my digital camera to the computer. After some months experience, I can report the card works perfectly. Its only weakness - but not significant to me as I also have a smaller capacity Olympus card - is that it will not allow "panorama" pictures with my Olympus. To do that - namely, stitching separate pictures - takes a proprietary card. However, for all other purposes, this Viking card is a very fine product.

Have owned 4 months. Bought 2 128MB cards. no problems for 3 months. camera stopped recognizing 1 of the cards, but Viking promptly replaced. Best customer service I,ve seen for a long time. rebate was extra slow to arrive, took about 3 months.

I recently received a Fuji Finepix F601 as a gift; the giver, a professional photographer, included a Fuji 128MB Smart Media Card as a matter of course. Thank goodness he knew what he was doing in terms of storage needs, at least -- the 601 only comes with a 16MB card, which on the 601 is only enough for 5 images at the highest recording level. If you're getting a compatible Fuji, Olympus, or other-brand camera, you really need the highest storage card possible.

But it turns out these cards are fragile, and fingerprints can short them out or cause problems with the camera or reader being able to access their contents. So the best way to keep them around forever is to get a 128 MB card and never remove it! Ideally, then, this should be a solution coupled with the purchase or ownership of a camera which interfaces directly (USB or firewire) with the PC, so there won't be a need to remove the card. Ever. That security, and the ability to store over a hundred 8x10 print-quality pix on one wafer-thin card, makes the bigger sized card easily worth the extra cost if you're getting a Fuji or other-brand digital camera.

As for brand...well, after trying a Fuji and a Viking card, and checking the wiring stats on both, it turns out the brand names of Smart Cards have almost nothing to do with quality -- these are, for all intents and purposes, interchangable -- so buying the cheapest one out there is the best bet. And, with rebates, the Viking card IS the cheapest Smart Media brand on the market -- by a factor of about 10% or more. Order now before the sale price changes!

Painter 7 is hands down the best and most most versitile digital art studio to date. I have been trained in various dry and wet media, this program lets you put that training to use. The freedom of a digital canvas cannot be appreciated by everyone, but if you are an artist who is a techie at heart or visa versa you will love this program. The brushes included are amazing and very closely mimic the behavior of real brushes. It is somewhat pricey, but if this is how your bread is buttered this software is well worth the price. It cannot do what Photoshop 7 does, it doesn't even try to, but it works seamlessly with it. Try it out today.

This is one incredible program! The best way to describe it is that it's an entire art studio (plus a photo editor and web publisher) on a disc. From chalk and crayon to paint and even water color (!) this program handles it all. I've been amazed with the high quality images I've been able to create. The dregee of subtlty I'm able to achieve when blending and smearing is incredible. I've already posted some things on the web and have just foud out that the program also lets you create basic animation! These animations can be created in the frame rate of your choosing and be exported as Quicktime,AVI (windows only) or GIFs for posting on the web. That's taking things to the next level!

Professional and serious artists will get the most out of this software since it follows many of the same rules that apply to using actual paints and papers (watercolors run and require 'drying' time). But other users should be able to pick up the basic techniques and be able to create some terrific art. The interface with OS X is easy on the eyes and very responsive. However, you will want to use a tablet and stylus instead of the mouse to maximize your results. If your looking for the best painting program available (on the best OS around), well your search has ended. The possibilities are as limitless as your imagination.