Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Do you use the SD card slot in your MBP?

View Poll Results: Do you actually *use* the SD card slot built into your MBP, monitor, USB hub, etc.?
Poll Options:
Yes 8 votes (57.14%)
No 6 votes (42.86%)
Voters: 14. You may not vote on this poll
Do you use the SD card slot in your MBP?
Thread Tools
CharlesS
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 12, 2009, 02:37 PM
 
You can also vote if you've got a card reader built into something else - your monitor, your USB hub, etc. External card readers don't count, though.

Ticking sound coming from a .pkg package? Don't let the .bom go off! Inspect it first with Pacifist. Macworld - five mice!
     
jokell82
Professional Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 12, 2009, 02:50 PM
 
I've used it once, but I don't imagine using it much again. If the card would actually sit flush I could see buying a larger card and just leaving it in there, but as it stands that's just not feasible.

All glory to the hypnotoad.
     
slugslugslug
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Durham, NC
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 12, 2009, 09:39 PM
 
I occasionally use the one in my USB hub. Really infrequently though, since it's usually for photos off a camera card. And I share the camera with the missus, so every now and then when she imports into iPhoto, I just drag them from her shared library into mine. For most sneakernet-type operations I use a flash drive.
     
ApertureValue
Forum Regular
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Suspended Animation
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 12, 2009, 09:48 PM
 
Yes. Yes, I do. My 5D Mark II uses CF, but I use SD cards for shuffling around files and such at the house.
( Last edited by ApertureValue; Jul 13, 2009 at 12:03 PM. )
MacBook Pro 2.66GHz | iPhone 3G | 
Canon EOS 7D | EF-S 18-135mm IS | 580EXII

Flickr
Tome Curator
     
abbaZaba
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Pittsburgh
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 12, 2009, 10:09 PM
 
would booting from the SD card slot on the MBP give you any sort of performance advantage?
     
CharlesS  (op)
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Dec 2000
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 13, 2009, 12:54 AM
 
Booting it from a real SSD via SATA or ExpressCard, yes. Booting from an SD card hooked up to the USB bus, doubtful.

Ticking sound coming from a .pkg package? Don't let the .bom go off! Inspect it first with Pacifist. Macworld - five mice!
     
OreoCookie
Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 13, 2009, 02:49 AM
 
I don't have one, but I'll definitely use it once I upgrade my laptop: my D80 uses SD cards.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
Simon
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 13, 2009, 02:56 AM
 
My Canon uses SD as well. I still never used the built-in card readers I had. Plugging into USB is way faster for me than prying that tiny card out of the camera and shoving it into some reader slot.
     
angel_benet
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jul 2009
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 13, 2009, 09:44 AM
 
hey there, my weapon of choice is a canon 450d and been using the built in SD slot of the mid 09 macbook pro to read it. works great!
     
TribeLeader
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 14, 2009, 05:12 PM
 
I've had my MBP (with SD slot) for about 4 days and I've already used the card slot.

I'm not sure yet if it's that big of a deal -- I had a card reader anyway. Also, my SD card isn't the easiest to remove from my camera so I mostly use the USB cable. But I sorta like having it their just in case.
     
MacDuff
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Oct 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 17, 2009, 07:39 AM
 
I use it for transferring photos from my Nikon D90. I prefer it to coupling the camera directly to my Macbook Pro as it doesn't use up the camera's battery. I only wish they would have kept the ExpressPort slot as well as I could have used it as well.
     
awcopus
Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: New York City
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 17, 2009, 01:21 PM
 
I'd love to hear about people booting from the SD card and then using the internal hd as a scratch disk. This always seemed to me to be the possible advantage of having a bootable SD card... though the fact that it doesn't install flush with the Mac might make me a little nervous.
Liberty lover since birth. Mac devotee since 1986.
     
jokell82
Professional Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hampton Roads, VA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 17, 2009, 03:12 PM
 
Originally Posted by awcopus View Post
I'd love to hear about people booting from the SD card and then using the internal hd as a scratch disk. This always seemed to me to be the possible advantage of having a bootable SD card... though the fact that it doesn't install flush with the Mac might make me a little nervous.
That and the speeds are definite downsides.

All glory to the hypnotoad.
     
cbrfanatic
Mac Enthusiast
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Windsor, NY
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 24, 2009, 12:14 AM
 
Originally Posted by awcopus View Post
though the fact that it doesn't install flush with the Mac might make me a little nervous.
that is one reason i am so glad i got the MAcbook Pro right before the new ones, i have a EC memory card read, than when i insert it into the computer, it sits completely flush, then i just click it so i slides out and take out the memory card, really clean. In fact i leave it in most of the time since i forget it is there since it is so flush. Plus is can read 18 different memory cards, not just SD
MPB 2.8GHz, 4GB Ram, 320GB HDD
2TB Raid 1 setup, Wacom 12x19, 24" ACD, Bose SS
FCS 2, Shake, Adobe CS4, Lightroom > Aperture
     
Simon
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 24, 2009, 03:25 AM
 
Which is exactly why exchanging the EC/34 for an SD reader was a bad move. Every EC/34 can be used as a memory card reader for all kinds of cards. And then some (eSATA, A/V, extra FW, etc.).

But now we're stuck with one type of application and even at that it kind of sucks.
( Last edited by Simon; Jul 24, 2009 at 03:42 AM. Reason: typo)
     
SierraDragon
Mac Elite
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Truckee, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 27, 2009, 12:16 PM
 
I did not vote because my 17" MBP has an EC/34 slot, not the SD downgrade. I use the CF slot routinely and will not buy a laptop downgraded from EC to the IMO silly SD. Most important is those folks buying SD-slot laptops cannot add eSATA or second-drive SSD to their boxes, a HUGE limitation. Even if one does not use EC capabilities immediately, availability of such a strong port connection is very useful as regards extending the life cycle of a laptop.

-Allen Wicks

----------------------------------------------------
From an earlier post of mine regarding EC vs. SD slots:

Much of the point of having an EC slot is some currently unknown future usage that may significantly extend the useful life of the box. What portion of responding users currently use the EC slot is of very limited relevance. E.g.

• The useful the life of my G3 PB was doubled by the card-slot connections made to standards like USB that did not exist when the PB was new.

• I was still shooting film when I bought my G4 PB, but when I switched to DSLR the PB later turned out to be far more useful due to the CF card adapter. On my dad's G4 PB used as a desktop we (inexpensively) used the card slot to replace a failed port, again extending box life.

• When I bought my 2.33 GHz MBP eSATA and hard drive throughput seemed to be of low importance. Since then my pro photo workflow with Aperture, 2 computers and lots of drives evolved to make hard drive connectivity a huge issue that the EC slot eSATA helps facilitate.

• FW800 is pretty good, so eSATA's benefit to me although significant is not extreme. However, when I bought my 2.33 GHz MBP SSD EC did not exist. Now it looks like this laptop like all the others will have its useful life significantly extended by the existence of a fast card slot.

Make no mistake, removal of the EC slot is a serious cut in MBP capability. Folks saying "who needs it" maybe do not need pro level performance anyway, are simply short sighted, or perhaps enjoy playing the buy-a-new-laptop-every-2-years before-connectivity-gets-outdated game.

As to "gaining" an SD slot, that is simply part of Apple's (lower) product positioning concurrent with the serious cut in MBP capability, a cute party trick already well served by all the other ports on a MBP. SD cards are slower than FW800 or FW400, often even slower than USB, making the SD slot just a cutesy feature with which to attract non-pro consumers. Note also that pro cameras mostly use the much larger CF format, not SD.

Like I have said before, as long as the 17" (or bigger) is maximum competent I personally will remain satisfied. I whine on these boards about things like loss of the EC slot and loss of the matte display on all laptops but the 17" mostly out of fear that Apple may at some point also downgrade the 17" MBP - - and/or simply raise the prices relatively at the high end making MBPs a less cost effective pro solution.
( Last edited by SierraDragon; Jul 27, 2009 at 12:31 PM. )
     
   
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:03 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,