I'm helping a family member go through a cache of digital items (computers, cameras, phones, etc.) and one particular item has gotten me paused... an HP PhotoSmart camera from 1997! This is HP's entry into the market and is the original "C5340A" model in their "PhotoSmart" family of products. The images were stored on Intel "MiniCard" flash memory cards.
Apparently these cards were only used for a couple of years in the late 90's so I'm not finding anything in regards to a reader for them. The alternative to finding a reader for them is to hook up the camera to a PC to read them that way. Unfortunately this a 1997 device we're talking about here so it predates the emergence of USB meaning that it's using a custom interface cable from the camera to a PC's 9-pin RS-232 serial port! I suspect some of you may not have even ever owned a PC with a serial port!
I'm not thrilled with the prospect of breaking out an ancient PC with a serial port running Windows 95 to install the drivers and hoping that it works so anybody ever come across any type of reader for Intel MiniCard memory cards? With my luck the cards are likely blank but it'd mean a lot to the family to at least find out and preserve any images from them if they do exist.
Apparently these cards were only used for a couple of years in the late 90's so I'm not finding anything in regards to a reader for them. The alternative to finding a reader for them is to hook up the camera to a PC to read them that way. Unfortunately this a 1997 device we're talking about here so it predates the emergence of USB meaning that it's using a custom interface cable from the camera to a PC's 9-pin RS-232 serial port! I suspect some of you may not have even ever owned a PC with a serial port!
I'm not thrilled with the prospect of breaking out an ancient PC with a serial port running Windows 95 to install the drivers and hoping that it works so anybody ever come across any type of reader for Intel MiniCard memory cards? With my luck the cards are likely blank but it'd mean a lot to the family to at least find out and preserve any images from them if they do exist.