Ultra DigiDrive Brings PC Card to Desktops

Addonics Technologies has introduced for release in September the Addonics Pocket UDD (Ultra DigiDrive), giving desktop PCs access to notebook-intended PC Card (formerly PCMCIA) storage devices. When the Pocket UDD, starting at under $100, is combined with Addonics' flash storage PC Card adapters, it also lets your desktop PC read and write as many as nine different types of Flash RAM.

The Pocket UDD is intended strictly for storage devices; don't think of it as an all-purpose add-on PC card slot. While it will read PC Card hard drives and Flash storage devices such as ATA Flash cards, it won't work with other PC Card devices, such as modems or network cards.

On the other hand, it just might boot your PC. Or to put it more precisely, a hard drive card inside the Pocket UDD may be able to boot your PC. This trick will require a BIOS that supports booting from a USB device, a setup option that has only recently become common with new PCs.

Addonics will sell separate USB and FireWire versions of the Pocket UDD. The USB version, priced at $89, is designed for USB 2.0 and will take advantage of its faster performance, but will also work with USB 1.0. The FireWire, priced at $119, comes with an AC adapter; the USB version doesn't need one.

The device measures 4.63 by 5.4 by 0.98 inches. At that size, it won't fit comfortably into most pockets.

Expansion Options

Addonics is touting the Pocket UDD as "a portable storage solution for users confounded by the incompatibility of the numerous Flash media storage options in today's digital cameras, camcorders, PDAs, MP3 players, and voice recorders." But the essence of this "solution" isn't the Pocket UDD itself but Addonics' pair of flash-to-PC Card adapters--products that have been shipping for months. In fact, if you have a notebook, the solution doesn't require a Pocket UDD at all.

Addonics offers two adapters that together support a total of seven flash formats (since the Pocket UDD natively supports the PC Card-compatible ATA format, the full total is nine). The CF DigiAdapter, which supports Compact Flash I and II, and Micro Drive, lists for $29. The 4-in-1 DigiAdapter supports SmartMedia, Memory Stick, Secure Digital Card, and MultiMediaCard and lists for $59.

A bundle that includes the Pocket UDD and both adapters will cost $149 for USB, $179 for FireWire.