SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader

  • Discontinued
  • B&H # SARE4FW
  • Mfr# SDDRX4-CF-902

Product Highlights

  • Slot for CF Cards (Type I and II)
  • Designed f/ SanDisk Extreme IV CF Cards
  • Supports FireWire 800 & 400
  • Compatible w/ Windows & Macintosh
  • High Transfer Speed up to 40MB Second

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The SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader is a high performance reader, which provides a complete digital system solution for your photography needs. It offers the highest Transfer Speed and performance with a transfer rate of up to 40MB/second with sequential read and write. It has one slot for CF (Type I and II) and is specifically designed to support SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash cards. Furthermore, it supports FireWire 800/400* connectivity on both Windows and Macintosh Operating Systems, and draws power directly from the FireWire interface with no external AC power.

Supports Up to 40MB/second Read and Write performance with ESP Technology
Supports FireWire 800/400* connectivity on both Windows and Macintosh Systems
Durable, reliable and thoroughly tested - temperature (heat and cold), shock, and vibration tested - even Water resistant
Fully Compatible with RescuePRO Deluxe Data recovery software
Provides significantly improved workflow efficiency for capturing, viewing, upload and transferring large image files

* Note: Supports ONLY 6 pin and 9 pin firewire ports.

Compatible Memory Cards CompactFlash (Type I & II)
Computer Interface FireWire 800/400 (6 pin and 9 pin firewire ports)
Data Transfer Rate Up to 40MB/second
Video Output No
Remote Control No
Power Requirements Power Provided via FireWire Connection
System & Software Requirements
  • Windows 2000, Me, XP, Vista; Macintosh OS X (10.2 or later)
  • FireWire Interface
  • Dimensions (WxHxD) Not Specified
    Weight Not Specified

    REVIEW SNAPSHOT®

    by PowerReviews
    SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader
     
    4.7

    (based on 175 reviews)

    Ratings Distribution

    • 5 Stars

       

      (136)

    • 4 Stars

       

      (26)

    • 3 Stars

       

      (9)

    • 2 Stars

       

      (3)

    • 1 Stars

       

      (1)

    96%

    of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

    Pros

    • Fast transfer (160)
    • Lightweight (121)
    • Reliable (100)
    • Excellent interface (77)
    • Durable dock (74)

    Cons

    • Short cable (12)

    Best Uses

    • Image transfer (152)
    • Digital photography (103)
    • Digital capture (26)
    • Image storage (21)
    • Viewing images (19)
      • Reviewer Profile:
      • Professional (67), Enthusiast (54), Semi-professional (49), Casual user (5)

    Most Liked Positive Review

     

    Fast, Reliable and Stable on the Table

    After years using USB card readers, I decided to invest on a Firewire one, after seeing how much faster they were compared to my current transfer rates. So, I went for this one,...Read complete review

    After years using USB card readers, I decided to invest on a Firewire one, after seeing how much faster they were compared to my current transfer rates. So, I went for this one, since Sandisk is a brand I do rely on.

    The first impression is amazing, since it's metal encase, not plastic. Also, a single simple connector on the back, for both cables to plug in ( FW800 and FW400 ). A card that took 38 minutes to download yesterday after arriving from a job ( a 2Gb card completly filled ), took around 2 minutes on this card reader.

    But that was expected. What wasn't, was the fact this model has a rubber foot for more stability while on a tabletop, or a notebook top. I have had previous card readers with cable, smash on the floor, simply because I brushed my hand on it while using it laptop, and since it didn't have any way of adhering to the notebook surface, it did slide and fall. This small attention to the detail of where people use this item, and how to PREVENT silly accidents, was very encouraging.

    So, all in all, the only thing that could make this item better, was none to be sincere. It's light as a card reader is expected, not small enough to make big hands have trouble handling it, the cables are long enough, and not too long, nor too hard, and fitting it on a backpack, or using tabletop, or over your notebook keyboard inside a car, won't be a problem.

    VS

    Most Liked Negative Review

     

    Speed is Dissapointing - My Test Results

    I ran a test timing a big copy from this Firewire reader to my PC, and from the SanDisk USB 2.0 Imagemate 12-in-1 to my PC and the results were about the same...Read complete review

    I ran a test timing a big copy from this Firewire reader to my PC, and from the SanDisk USB 2.0 Imagemate 12-in-1 to my PC and the results were about the same! I transferred 5.55 gig of JPG+Raw files (366 files total)and timed the transfer of each. I used a new SanDisk Extreme UDMA 60-MG sec CF card. Time for Firewire was 17:25, and the USB 2.0 was 18:05. Go figure. Maybe my PC drives were the limiting factor but I don't think so as I built one of the fasted PCs available a few years ago (XP Pro, Intel D975XBX2 w/ X6800 2.93 GHz processor, and Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM drive). It is what it is.

    Also, XP doesn't always recognize that you inserted the card - have to do it twice sometimes.

    REVIEWS

    Reviewed by 175 customers

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    5.0

    Screaming fast!

    By TnT

    from Colorado Springs, CO

    About Me Hobbyist/Enthusiast

    Verified Buyer

    Pros

    • Fast Transfer
    • Long Cable

    Cons

      Best Uses

      • Image Transfer

      Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

      Coupled with a UDMA CF card, this device snaps photo upload from "go get a cup of coffee while you wait" right into "let's look at pictures"! A must for rapid workflow.

      Comment on this review

       
      5.0

      Amazing Build Quality, Really fast.

      By Light and Logic

      from Calgary, Alberta, CANADA

      About Me Professional

      Verified Buyer

      Pros

      • Durable Dock
      • Excellent Interface
      • Fast Transfer
      • Lightweight
      • Reliable

      Cons

        Best Uses

        • Digital Capture
        • Digital Photography
        • Image Storage
        • Image Transfer
        • Viewing Images

        Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

        This is great, i am getting twice the transfer speeds I used to. I own the Extreme Multi card reader USB 2.0.

        2009 Macbook pro 500gb HD 7200 RPM drive
        Sandisk Extreme Multi reader usb 2.0
        32MB/sec
        Sandisk Extreme Firewire 800 Compact flash
        59MB/sec

        Its made of solid aluminum, great build quality. It helps me out so much when I'm dumping a 32GB card with wedding video from my 5D. Those extra 7 mins for dumping could mean I loose precious moments.

        Worth the investment. The original sandisk card reader is not good for traveling its so skinny, and plastic, I broke the clicky button on it. In a weeks use.

        Absolutely no cons!

        And you can view 1080p streaming from it, so you can review before you dump footage.

        Comment on this review

         
        3.0

        Stick with the USB version

        By Shooter

        from Los Angeles, CA

        About Me Professional

        Verified Buyer

        Pros

        • Durable Dock
        • Lightweight
        • Long Cable
        • Reliable

        Cons

        • No FW-400 connection

        Best Uses

        • Digital Photography

        Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

        Well built and all but didn't really notice a speed difference. For the $'s it really isn't any better than the USB version.

        Comment on this review

         
        5.0

        Great little card reader

        By Kris

        from MN

        About Me Professional

        Verified Buyer

        Pros

        • Fast Transfer

        Cons

          Best Uses

          • Digital Photography
          • Image Transfer

          Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

          I recently purchased this card reader and my images are uploaded onto my computer very quickly - much faster than my previous method.

          Comment on this review

           
          5.0

          Quicker than USB 2.0

          By beaker2001

          from Statesville, NC

          About Me Hobbyist/Enthusiast

          Verified Buyer

          Pros

          • Fast Transfer

          Cons

            Best Uses

            • Image Transfer

            Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

            Quick, smooth transfers of data.

            Comment on this review

             
            5.0

            Fast and Portable

            By Jeff Levine

            from Tallahassee, FL

            About Me Professional

            Verified Reviewer

            Pros

            • Durable Dock
            • Excellent Interface
            • Fast Transfer
            • Lightweight
            • Reliable

            Cons

              Best Uses

              • Digital Capture
              • Digital Photography
              • Image Transfer

              Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

              This is an essential part of my workflow. It is fast and portable, simple to use, and hasn't failed me yet. It is a great match with my SanDisk Extreme Pro CF cards.

              Comment on this review

               
              4.0

              Time Saver!

              By PhG - Photography By Gillilan

              from Columbus, Ohio

              About Me Professional

              Verified Buyer

              Pros

              • Durable Dock
              • Excellent Interface
              • Fast Transfer
              • Lightweight
              • Reliable

              Cons

              • Slower Rated Cards

              Best Uses

              • Digital Photography
              • High Speed Card X-Fer

              Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

              This product is a great time saver when transfering images/data from CF cards to your computer. I have not tried it on my PC, but it works well on the MacPro. It seems a lot faster than USB 2.0 when using the FW 800 connection on a MacPro tower... On my laptop it still seems faster than the USB 2.0 on the FW 400.

              I do warn though... If you have older cards that are rated at 8Mbs, 10Mbs, 15Mbs, etc. it won't seem faster at all... This is because the card's read/write speed it too slow to realize the abilities of this reader...

              I.E. I took a 15Mbps card and timed a transfer b/t USB2.0 and Firewire... About the same time in transfer - fireware was about 30 seconds faster for a 8 GB card.

              I then took a 45Mbps card and it took a fraction (about 1/3rd) the time to transfer the data.

              Long story short - this reader is only advantageous with higher data rate cards.

              So far - knock on wood - the data xfers have been reliable too!

              Comment on this review

               
              5.0

              Fast, Fast, Fast

              By jkj

              from New Orleans, La

              About Me Semi-Professional

              Verified Buyer

              Pros

              • Excellent Interface
              • Fast Transfer
              • Reliable

              Cons

                Best Uses

                • Digital Photography
                • Image Transfer

                Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                so much faster than standard card reader or Camera

                Comment on this review

                 
                5.0

                Extreme Firewire Cardreader,

                By Ranagra

                from Montreal

                About Me Professional

                Verified Buyer

                Pros

                • Fast Transfer
                • Lightweight

                Cons

                  Best Uses

                    Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                    The Firewire protocol installed in so many professional sound recorders has been somewhat abandoned by lowwr-end product manufacturers.
                    Glad to find this rare product at B&H.
                    Works perfectly for reading and transferring sound files at the end of a day of shooting sound files for film.

                    Comment on this review

                    (0 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

                     
                    4.0

                    So fast I thought it might catch on fire

                    By The Krimager

                    from Grand Haven, MI

                    About Me Professional

                    Verified Buyer

                    Pros

                    • Durable Dock
                    • Fast Transfer
                    • Lightweight

                    Cons

                      Best Uses

                      • Digital Capture
                      • Digital Photography

                      Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                      This card reader is crazy fast! I hooked it up to my mac pro via firewire 800 and I had an 8 GB card copied in under 10 minutes. This is defiantly a great choice!

                      Comment on this review

                       
                      5.0

                      Extremely efficient

                      By David HM

                      from Palm Beach Gardens, FL

                      About Me Hobbyist/Enthusiast

                      Verified Buyer

                      Pros

                      • Lightweight
                      • Reliable

                      Cons

                      • Short Cable

                      Best Uses

                      • Digital Photography
                      • Image Transfer

                      Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                      A very speedy way of download a bunch of large image files. Easily cuts 50% of the time it used to take with fast USB readers.

                      Comment on this review

                       
                      5.0

                      Worked Great

                      By Scarlet Jim

                      from West Virginia

                      About Me Casual user

                      Verified Buyer

                      Pros

                      • Durable Dock
                      • Fast Transfer
                      • Lightweight

                      Cons

                        Best Uses

                        • Image Transfer

                        Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                        This device transferred my new CF card data when my other reader wouldn't. The device has a rubber bottom that keeps it from sliding easily.

                        Comment on this review

                         
                        5.0

                        Very Happy

                        By John

                        from Cary, NC

                        About Me Hobbyist/Enthusiast

                        Verified Buyer

                        Pros

                        • Fast Transfer

                        Cons

                          Best Uses

                          • Image Transfer

                          Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                          I was having a problem of not being able to read my Sandisk CF cards on my Mac using a Lexar USB 2.0 Multi-Card reader. This reader has no problems reading any of my CF cards and it's faster.

                          Comment on this review

                           
                          5.0

                          Great Product! Would Buy Again!

                          By Jason

                          from Atlanta, GA

                          About Me Hobbyist/Enthusiast

                          Verified Buyer

                          Pros

                          • Durable Dock
                          • Excellent Interface
                          • Fast Transfer
                          • Lightweight
                          • Long Cable
                          • Reliable

                          Cons

                          • None

                          Best Uses

                          • Digital Capture
                          • Digital Photography
                          • Image Storage
                          • Image Transfer
                          • Viewing Images

                          Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                          Fast Speeds, Compact in size and great quality.

                          Comment on this review

                          (1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

                           
                          5.0

                          At least 3x faster...

                          By Instigator

                          from Florida

                          About Me Professional

                          Verified Buyer

                          Pros

                          • Durable Dock
                          • Excellent Interface
                          • Fast Transfer
                          • Lightweight
                          • Reliable

                          Cons

                            Best Uses

                            • Digital Photography
                            • Image Transfer
                            • Viewing Images

                            Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                            ...than downloading large CF cards through my Epson P-3000's CF slot with USB2 cable.

                            I am very happy with it, very small, seems to be build to be durable.

                            Comment on this review

                             
                            5.0

                            Good Product for large file transfer

                            By Dale

                            from New Mexico

                            About Me Professional

                            Verified Buyer

                            Pros

                            • Durable Dock
                            • Excellent Interface
                            • Fast Transfer
                            • Reliable

                            Cons

                              Best Uses

                              • Digital Photography
                              • Image Transfer

                              Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                              Well made dock with cords for 400 and 800 firewire connections that are used for new and older mac pro note books and I macs. Downloads large HD video files 2 to 3 times faster (estimate) than UBS or older firewire docks.

                              Comment on this review

                               
                              5.0

                              Does just what it says.

                              By Saint728

                              from Honolulu, Hawaii

                              About Me Hobbyist/Enthusiast

                              Verified Buyer

                              Pros

                              • Durable Dock
                              • Fast Transfer
                              • Lightweight
                              • Long Cable
                              • Reliable

                              Cons

                              • Not a multi-card reader

                              Best Uses

                              • Digital Photography
                              • Image Storage
                              • Image Transfer

                              Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                              The best thing about this product is the transfer speed.

                              Comment on this review

                               
                              5.0

                              Exactly what I needed

                              By Ada Photography

                              from Indianapolis, IN

                              About Me Professional

                              Verified Buyer

                              Pros

                              • Durable Dock
                              • Excellent Interface
                              • Fast Transfer
                              • Lightweight
                              • Long Cable
                              • Reliable

                              Cons

                                Best Uses

                                • Image Transfer

                                Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                                I got this about two weeks ago when my usb CF reader broke. I'm loving the faster transfer speeds & the reliability. The 800 is transferring about twice as fast as the USB was.

                                The only thing that could improve this is allowing them to piggy-back so I could download more than 1 card at a time.

                                Comment on this review

                                 
                                5.0

                                Fast, works with newest MacPro

                                By Lindsay

                                from Denver, CO

                                About Me Professional

                                Verified Buyer

                                Pros

                                • Durable Dock
                                • Fast Transfer
                                • Lightweight
                                • Reliable

                                Cons

                                  Best Uses

                                  • Image Transfer

                                  Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                                  Works like exptected

                                  Comment on this review

                                   
                                  5.0

                                  Best card reader I've bought

                                  By Brotha Lee

                                  from Pasadena, CA

                                  About Me Semi-Professional

                                  Verified Buyer

                                  Pros

                                  • Fast Transfer
                                  • Lightweight

                                  Cons

                                    Best Uses

                                    • Digital Photography
                                    • Image Transfer

                                    Comments about SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader:

                                    Very fast transfer speeds. I was a also very surprised at the small physical size.

                                    Comment on this review

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                                    SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader
                                    • Two Extended FireWire Cables
                                    • User Guide
                                    • 3 Year Limited Warranty
                                     
                                     
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