Media Adapters allow a host slot for one media form factor to accept media in a different form factor.
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Continued from above. Consider a notebook computer with a standard PC Card slot which accepts ATA Flash and hard drive cards. A PC Card to CompactFlash™ Adapter will allow it to read and write to CompactFlash™ just as if it were an ATA Flash card without the need for a separate card reader. Not only are Media Adapters usually less expensive than corresponding card readers, they often provide much higher throughput. Additionally, they are very compact and portable, which is a boon for travelers. Furthermore, they typically require no drivers on any system that fully supports the host media specification. Media Adapters work in nearly every host system fully supporting the host media. The PC Card form factor adapters will work with laptops, desktops with PC Card readers, or external PC Card readers. The CompactFlash™ form factor adapters allow CF Slot equipped handheld computers to access other media. The newest Media Adapters are capable of reading multiple media types and some support dual interface features.
