pc-link the USB file transfer cable

Review Type: Hands On

Reviewer: Chris Kaminski 

Date: Mar 27, 2001

Sometimes a network is an overkill

Have you ever wanted to move a few large files between a couple of computers but did not want to put a network in place? At times, connecting your laptop into a clients network is just not possible for physical or security reasons. This is where the USB pc-link cable comes in.

pc-link works with Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP and Macintosh computers. It can even transfer files between Mac's and PC's. pc-link is not a 'networking' device. It is a file transfer device. Because it is does not install as a network device, its setup and configuration and operation will in no way conflict with your existing network!

 

Just plug the pc-link cable into the two computers' USB ports, load the pc-link software and copy away. It really could not be much simpler. There's no security to set up, no 'network configuration' and no 'network shares'. When the pc-link explorer like software is loaded on each computer, they automatically find each other and allow copying.

pc-link is a USB 1.1 device limited to USB 1.0 speeds. You can probably expect about 4Mbps throughput - about the same as a wireless network. When running under Windows XP, the program must be placed in 'compatibility mode' but works fine otherwise.

The pc-link is Explorer like but does not actually integrate into Explorer.  This is both a positive and a negative.  Without integration a separate program must be loaded to do file transfers.  At the same time, I have seen too many poor explorer integrations that crashed my OS.  No worry of that here.

pc-link is USB 1.1 compliant.  USB 2.0 is available and gaining popularity.  It would have been nice to USB 2.0 support and speeds.

pc-link the USB file transfer cable