I am getting this camera for Christmas, bought an extra card and the battery charger & batteries. Question is why is the Olympus FlashPath selling for around $90 (reading a 16mg card) when Philips sells one for $40 reading a 16 mg card. Are adapters generic?? I also have a 400P machine - would my serial port still be awful slow or is it worth the investment for the adapter. Help, going nuts!!

-- Fran (ftorrisi@rocketmail.com), December 15, 1998

Answers

Don't go nuts!

The FlashPath units are pretty generic, as I believe they're all made by an outfit called Fischer Systems. The deal with the Philips unit (if you can find one) is that Philips is rumored to be exiting the digicam business, so these could be clearance items. (Eg, good deals, but no post-sale support. OTOH, there's likely very little post-sale support needed.)

Even a fast Pentium won't significantly affect serial-port transfer times: You're almost entirely limited by the speed of the camera's port and the serial protocol itself, rather than by the CPU speed. Based on my own experience, the FlashPath is well worth it at any price under $100, as it makes the camera a lot more convenient to use (meaning it will get used more). Have fun!

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), December 15, 1998.