Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The little things they don't tell you, January 24, 2009
There are a few things that are not in the documentation or made clear in the advertising that may impact your use. 1)As mentioned in an earlier review, the application this device talks to must have an internet connection back to the Eye-Fi server to be set up. 2)The Eye-Fi will not connect to an ad-hoc network, i.e. you cannot just have it talk directly to your laptop. While you can use a small router such as the Apple Airport Express to set up a small network, then back to item #1, it must have an internet connection to make it work. So if you were wanting to do a location shoot where there was no internet available, you better hope everything was setup correctly in advance back at the office where it could connect..
And although this is in the documentation, it will ONLY transfer jpgs.. So if you have a DSLR that may capture to a RAW+jpg or TIFF,, it will only see and transfer jpgs.. So you have to take a chip to your computer anyway..
But as a little fun product that allows you to upload to a photosite on the net,, it works.f
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39 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting novelty, but not practical, January 6, 2009
If you are interested in this product because you want to stop using USB cables or card readers to get your pics on your computer, then you might not be getting what you expect. If you live in an apartment or dormroom and want to quickly get your pics posted on Facebook, Flikr, Shutterfly, etc., then this product is good. But for most other users, not so much, as I will explain in detail below. (Reviews of this product seem to illicit some emotional reactions, so I will stick to the facts with this less than favorable review.)
(1) The range on this product is way less than advertised. I had to bring my camera to within 5 feet of my computer for it to connect. If you live in a small apartment or dorm, no big deal. But if you have to walk across the house to get the camera within 5 feet of your computer for the transfers to start, is it really so much easier than using a USB cable?
(2) The EyeFi software is browser-based, and needs to be in constant contact with EyeFi's servers for picture transfers to occur. Even if you are only transfering pictures to your computer (and aren't having them uploading to a picture service), your computer has to be in continual contact with EyeFi's servers. Why is this such a big deal? Because EyeFi's servers are buggy and slow. It took me over 20 minutes to transfer pictures to my computer with EyeFi when it would have taken 15 seconds using a USB cable or card reader. Oh, and since your camera has to be on (obviously) for the pictures to transfer, the long transfer time leads to quickly drained camera batteries. (Note, EyeFi admitted that their servers were overwhelmed on Christmas Day because usage exceeded their expectations. But if their infrastructure can not handle the number of EyeFi cards in the market, isn't that a reason to NOT have their software be browser-based?)
(3) The EyeFi does not transfer video (EyeFi should make this more explicit in its marketing materials), so you'll need to use a USB cable or card reader if you use your camera for video.
(4) The EyeFi "software" does not delete pictures after it transfers them. So at some point you will have to traditionally connect the camera/card to your computer just to delete them. Unless you want to spend the time doing it manually on your camera.
So, in short, even though pictures do wirelessly transfer to your computer, you still have to set the camera next to your computer anyway, wireless transfers take longer than the traditional methods, and you'll have to traditionally connect the card or camera to your computer at some point anyway. At the end of the day, the "wow" factor of a teeny-tiny itty-bitty WiFi on the card doesn't make anything any easier. Unless your primary goal is getting all your pictures onto Facebook/Flikr ASAP.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So far, so good!, July 30, 2009
To preface this with my background, I am a techie. I have graduated college with a degree in computer engineering, so I have a certain aptitude for technology and computers.
With that said, I bought this card so that I would never have to respond again to my mother's question "Can you show me just ONE MORE TIME how to put the pictures on the computer?" She does NOT have a great technical aptitude.
So, I ordered this for my mother for mother's day. She has recently become a grandma and wants to take pictures of my nephew, her grandson, and share them with the family. I opted for the Share version of the Eye Fi, so she could upload to Kodak Gallery without any trouble.
In my experience this product works like a charm. I had to set it up for my mother, obviously, but it was relatively painless. One quick tip for setup: SUPPOSEDLY the Eye Fi cards do NOT WORK WITH WPA-AES. They may require your wireless network setting to be set to TKIP instead. I did this in advance because I read it somewhere, but I didn't find this information on the Eye Fi website, so I cannot verify it at this time. After registering the card with the supplied software, which admittedly took 2 or 3 [very quick] tries, and setting up for my now WPA-TKIP network, and our Kodak Gallery settings, we tested it out. Using my mother's camera, we took a few photos within the house. Within moments, because we were in the wireless network range, the photo appeared in the corner of our computer screen. We checked the folder it was supposed to be placed into, and it was there. I logged into Kodak Gallery, and the photo was there. The names need to be changed, if you wish them to be more descriptive, but I didn't find them to be a problem (folders/names based on date, time, etc.)
We tried this on about 5 photos, and each one offered the same positive results. At this point, my mother has taken at least 100 or so photos with the camera, inside and outside the range of the wireless network. She turns it on when she brings it home, and so far it has been near flawless. She has informed me that one or two photos did NOT get transferred--I haven't determined what the cause was for this, due to a lack of supervision during the process--it's simple enough that I didn't feel it to be necessary.
Regardless, with the exception of those one or two photos that were missed, the card has been perfect. I honestly think that, for the convenience that this brings to her (and the sanity it maintains for me, being "the computer guy" for the family) it is worth the one or two missed photos. At this point, I've told her "just take extra pictures" until I figure it out. If/when I figure it out, I'll post an update. But it hasn't happened again since those couple of photos, which were a while ago, so I don't see this as a recurring problem. Given all of that, I would have to say this is a great product, which offers incredible convenience for the price.
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