Written by Brakken
December 2007
Looking for the Memento Review?
Click here!
Introduction
The Memor32 is one of the last accessories that is going to be released for the Sony Playstation 2™, but it's leaving along a large fan base as this is a very useful accessory. The Memor32 is basically a 32MB (megabyte) memory card. What makes it special is the fact it has an on-board USB port which allows you to connect it to a computer. Once connected, you can export and import your save game data. This is very useful as you'll always have a backup of your saved games and also allows you to store a lot more saves on your card as you can easily backup old ones to make room for new ones.
Features
32MB Save Data
USB Support
Custom Software for Managing Data
Contents
Depending on who you purchase your Memor32 from it may or may not come with the Mini-Male USB -> Male USB connector cable which is required to use it's PC connection functionality. The card itself is a little larger then a normal PS2™ memory card, but doesn't take up that much room. It's made from really sturdy plastic and comes with a label. No instructions, drivers or programs are included with the sample I received, but these can be easily found on their website.
Installation
The first thing I did was hit up www.memor32.com and downloaded their Memor32 Savegame Manager (SGM) software along with the device drivers. The SGM comes with it's own installer so all you need to do is to run the installer and tell it where to install it to. I used the default directory (folder).
Next I tried to run the software, but it said it could not find a particular DLL file which was present in the installation directory. I was a bit puzzled at first, but then I figured I'd install the Memor32 USB drivers and see if the program would run.
Once you plug your Memor32 into a spare USB port Windows will detect it and ask you if you want to search for the drivers. Select "No, not at this time".
Next select "Install from a list or specific location".
After this select "Search for the best drivers in this location" then deselect "Search removable media". Now choose "Include this location in the search" and browse to the folder you've extracted the Memor32 drivers to.
Click "Next" and it will find two new devices and install the drivers for them.
Usage
Once you've installed the drivers for the Memor32 you can run the SGM. When you run it and the Memor32 is not connected it will tell you so, but once you plug it in it'll say it's "Connected", but "Not Formatted".
So the next thing you'll want to do is "format" the card with your PS2. This can be done by inserting the card into your PS2, turning it on, going to the browser and selecting the card. It'll tell you it's not formatted and then ask you if you wish to format it. Once it's done formatting it's ready to be used.
If you're like me you're more then likely to already have some other PS2 memory cards with saves on them. Using the PS2's browser you can now copy them over to the Memor32 so you can back them up on your PC.
Once I had them copied over it was time to go back to the PC and see how the SGM worked. Well, it can't be that complicated and it wasn't. As soon as I loaded up the SGM it automatically showed the save games. So far so good.
The first ting I did was transfer all of my save games to the SGM's "Computer" tab. This was done by selecting each game and then picking "Backup". The transfer was really fast - so fast I couldn't time it.
It would be perfectly fine to leave your save games in the "Computer" tab as they will still be located under the SGM's program directory, but I wanted to see what would happen if I deleted them all. So I clicked on "Export" which will grab all of the save games and either export them in single files or in one multiple database. I selected the "Single File" option and then exported.
Now I wanted to see what would happen if I erased the card. So I picked "Erase Memor32" and it warned me that everything on the card would be deleted. So I picked "Yes" to continue. It erased it instantaneously.
The next prompt is displayed was a little surprising as it informed me I would need to use my PS2 to format the card again. So I guess when it said it was going to delete "everything" it wasn't kidding.
So I went back to the PS2, formatted the card again, plugged in back into the SGM and then decided to delete all of the saves from the "Computer" tab. My goal with doing this was to completely erase the saves from the card and the SGM then import them back in, write them back to the card and see if they still worked with the games I was playing. Anyway, I deleted the games from the SGM.
Next I picked "Import" and selected the database file I had created.
Writing to the card isn't as fast as reading from it. It took around 1 minute 37 seconds to write the save games back to the card. Once I had them on the card I went back to my PS2 and loaded up FFXII, loaded my save and it worked! I was back to my 40 some odd hour save point!
The last thing I did was test the "Import" function again as you can import Datel's Max Drive Pro™ save game files. I loaded up one for GT3 and one for FFXII and then played the games. The Max Drive Pro save games worked fine and I was almost half tempted to go fight the final boss in FFXII, but then that would of course ruin the gameplay experience.
Conclusion
The Memor32 is designed well, is built really well and the Savegame Manager software that comes with it does it's job without any bugs. Having the ability to backup your saves for archival purposes or to make room for new ones is a great option to have. The only downside I can see about this product is the lack of instructions and files needed to get yourself up and running. Well, that and the USB cable. Overall it's a solid product worth investing in.
Positives
Solid Build Quality
Ease of Use
32MB of Space
Negatives
Lack of USB Cable
Lack of Install Disc
Lack of Instructions
Links
Memor32 Website
Memento Firmware v1.2e Review
