Inspiron 6000 incompatible with some memory sticks???

I read a review in PC World that says "the 6000's memory card reader accepts only Secure Digital cards for exchanging data with PDAs, cameras, and other digital equipment, leaving Memory Sticks, CompactFlash cards, and other media incompatible."

I am a non-technical but not totally clueless pc user looking for a new PC. I was about to buy the 6000 online using all those coupons etc, having increased the hard drive to 80GB and made some other upgrades.

I am from the states but will be living in other countries over the upcoming years and most important for me is compatibility with whatever I might find in Malaysia, India, western Europe, etc. When I read that I'm going to have trouble with memory sticks, and who knows, digital cameras and the like, I decided I can't buy the inspiron 6000. I then started looking at the Toshiba Satellite M55.

But I can't find any confirmation on this info. Nobody else ever seems to mention this compatibility issue in other reviews.

Is it true? What's up with that? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

traveler

 

All that is talking about is the type of card. The inspirons only have an secure digital (SD) slot, so it will ready any SD card that you have. I believe the toshiba has card readers for different types, so it can read more types of cards. If your digital camera uses an SD card, then you shouldn't have any problems with the Inspiron.

You can buy an external card reader at Wal-mart or anywhere else (usually in the camera memory section) for about 20 bucks, and you can hook that up to your laptop via USB cable.

SG

 

Thanks so much, southern girl. My last laptop being from the late nineties, I didn't have to deal with memory sticks or anything like that. When I saw the words "not compatible" I got a bit concerned.

Any opinions on the Toshiba M55 versus the Dell 6000?

 

I would take the Dell - Toshiba's build quality is terrible, plus their hard drives and optical drives are the worst you can get.

Consider looking into the HP dv4000 - that is a decent alternative to the Inspiron 6000.

 

I love my inspiron 6000, totally satisfied with everything about it.

It's funny you mention that thing about the memory cards, I had a mini panic attack last night regarding them. I bought my girlfriend a new digital camera for christmas and went to insert the card that came with the camera into my laptop and it wouldn't work. Turns out that the 6000 will only read SD memory cards, not multimedia cards (I think that's what they're called). Thankfully I bought my her a 512 mb SD card also, and that works like a charm. The card that came with the camera is worthless anyway- 16 mb. As long as you use SD, you won't have a problem.

 

if anything, SD is becoming the most popular standard of flash memory (thankfully)

you will find SD memory being used in practically any country you end up in.

if you have a camera that uses a different format, you can easily find a PCMCIA adapter to rest in your otherwise unused PCMCIA slot.

for example:



accepts compact flash, 8 bucks: http://www.memorysuppliers.com/comad.html



accepts SD, MMC, smart media, and sony memory stick, 25 bucks: http://www.memorysuppliers.com/danpcmcilapc.html

a cheap solution that doesn't add to the weight or bulk of your gear