Card Reader: USB vs. PCMCIA

[SleepyinWhineCountry]

I am a stuggling newbie, trying hard to figure all this out and make CPAP work for me. My question is regarding Encore Viewer (or Pro if it is available anywhere to non-doctors/DMEs). I am hoping a computer savy person (with a lot of patience for stupid questions) will help me. I realize that for an M-series auto CPAP I will need software (Encore Viewer, unless anyone knows how I can get a copy of Encore Pro) and a card reader. What kind of card reader would be best? I work off a laptop so would PCMCIA be the way to go (isn't that the same port used for other laptop accessories?)

To make matters worse (or at least more expensive), my laptop died and now I have to buy a new one (in addition to a first time CPAP unit/mask, etc. since I have a big deductible to pay before insurance benefits even become an option). Do these things work with Apple computers (I doubt I can afford one anyway so not that important an issue - I will most likely have to buy a PC with windows)? What exactly is USB? Would USB be preferable to PCMCIA for some reason? It is pretty nightmarish to have to purchase all this expensive equipment out of pocket and a computer too!!!!!

Thanks so much for your help with these newbie questions. I did search the archives and found lots about the software but not exactly this issue. I really appreciate you guys who have made this stuff work helping those of us strugglers.... there sure is huge learning curve.

[TheDreamer]

USB is Universal Serial Bus. Pretty much any modern computer that runs XP or Vista has USB ports. PCMCIA seems to be vanishing (it definitely isn't on a MacBookPro). Don't know if the USB reader would work if you used bootcamp or some virtualization product (such as VMware) to run Windows.

Since my laptop had died months ago, it was pretty much a simple decision to go with USB.

The Dreamer.

[Peaktagger]

Do you have a data capable xPAP?

[jules]

I was wondering where you disappeared to -

there are ppl who have had luck with encore and macs running the right OS - can't put my hands on anyone but blarg right now and he doesn't visit the forum often - for more information post a thread called Encore on a Mac or something like that

usb - yes - that is the way to go most likely - you need the DT3500 - there are several vendors - if you need them post again -

for USB -- from wiki

[Debjax]

I am a stuggling newbie, trying hard to figure all this out and make CPAP work for me. My question is regarding Encore Viewer (or Pro if it is available anywhere to non-doctors/DMEs). I am hoping a computer savy person (with a lot of patience for stupid questions) will help me. I realize that for an M-series auto CPAP I will need software (Encore Viewer, unless anyone knows how I can get a copy of Encore Pro) and a card reader. What kind of card reader would be best? I work off a laptop so would PCMCIA be the way to go (isn't that the same port used for other laptop accessories?)

I went with the PCMCIA reader because I have too many peripheral cables tangling up as it is (think geek). My 17" has a PCMCIA slot and that is my primary computer, I just keep the reader in place and there is no additional clutter. However, be aware that many newer laptops do not come with that slot anymore, so if you go with the PCMCIA, you may have to purchase a new USB model if you get a new laptop without the slot. We have 3 laptops here at the house, only my 17" has the slot. The PCMCIA works fine, it's matter of which is more important to you at this time.