Honestly, I was blown away with the concept of wifi being added to a flash memory card, but also skeptical if it would live up to the hype. I think there's room for improvement with the software, but the card itself actually works quite well.
Easy Setup
Just plug in the USB reader and SDHC card to launch and install the software and you're up and running within minutes. The wireless connection to your router might be where some novice users run into problems, but I suspect if you know what wifi is, then you're probably smart enough to figure out how to enable the connection. It's really no harder than connecting to a wifi hotspot at home or in your local coffee shop. Nothing complicated there, so let's move on to the true test...
Shooting Pics and Vids
I dropped the Eye-Fi into my Canon HFS 10, switched the cam's record settings from internal memory storage to this Eye-Fi -- and voila -- I was ready to shoot. And I tell ya, it's pretty cool to take a picture, and then seconds later, see it automatically pop-up on my computer screen and download into a folder on my hard drive. Videos obviously take longer to download than pics, but it still works and is pretty neat. Though honestly, I doubt I'd rely on this Eye-Fi to transfer my HD vids. The files can be pretty large, and I'd be concerned about file integrity over a sustained wireless connection. Anyone who has worked extensively with video footage knows how easily files can be corrupted. And for me, there are still circumstances where hardwires are just better and more reliable than any wireless connection. I guess I'm just old school that way. Besides, I prefer using my video camera's interface and software since it catalogs my videos in a way I'm used to working with. Maybe with some time to acclimate to the change I might use the Eye-Fi to transfer videos too, but for now, I'm gonna stick to just using it for pictures and transfer my HD vids manually. Besides, it's only 8gb, which isn't all that much when it comes to AVCHD video.
Software
The weakest element here is the software. Don't get me wrong, it works just fine. But it feels a little restrictive and the user interface is limited. But then, maybe it doesn't matter all that much since I already have my favorite photo editing and organizing programs. I guess it could just be a little more obvious about certain things, such as, why thumbnails remain viewable to pics that I've deleted. But I've since learned those files are refreshed every few days, so the orphaned thumbnails iron themselves out in the end. But overall, maybe the pared down interface is best. It takes a bit to get used to, but aside from setting up the wireless connection and selecting where to store files, the software really doesn't have to do much else for my needs.
It's Orange!
Meaningless as to how it operates, but I love orange, so...
:oD
Bottom line - the price tag is a bit hefty, but make no mistake, this is a cool little gadget. And since it's rated for class 6 speeds, the memory card itself is more than capable of handling speed intensive applications like AVCHD. Add to that a wifi connection -- and voila -- Eye-Fi has turned something as boring as disk storage into an exciting and pragmatically useful product. I just wish it was 32gb instead of 8, but I'm sure that's coming down the pike soon enough.
Get more detail about Eye-Fi Pro X2 8 GB Class 6 SDHC Wireless Flash Memory Card EYE-FI-8PC.
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