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Entrega PCI USB Card Review
By Chris Martin 10/30/98

[11/16/98: I've added an update based on reader comments - Mike]

Ok, so I was in Best Buy with a friend of mine and I went on a bit of a spending spree. On the shelf in the computer section was an Entrega PCI USB card. I had read on some other site that this card used the Opti chipset and was supposed to be Macintosh compatible. I thought "What the hell…" the card is less than US$40 (Entrega UPG-PCI-2U) and I’m not losing much if it doesn’t work. I also picked up a Microsoft SideWinder Freestyle Pro and a copy of TombRaider II.

First Impressions:

Small price, small box, small card. Since the Macintosh is just now support USB, the box has nothing Macintosh related written on it. Inside, a very small installation manual for Windows 95/98 users and a warrantee card. The card itself was not in a static bag, which was a bit disconcerting, but if Entrega felt it was unnecessary, then who am I to disagree.

Installation:

Piece of cake. Just open up your Macintosh, pick a PCI slot and install the card. Download the Apple USB Driver Development Kit, drag the extensions to the Extensions folder and start up your Mac. Just follow the instructions in the README files.

Testing:

On my spree, I bought a Microsoft SideWinder Freestyle Pro gamepad joystick. My friend bought a Microsoft Natural Keyboard (at my recommendation, I love that keyboard.) I plugged in the joystick, installed Unreal and TombRaider II. GameSprockets 1.3 recognized the Freestyle Pro (even the motion sensing control) and it worked with both games properly. It’s not a bad joystick, but I still prefer the mouse in those kinds of games. I also plugged in the MS Natural Keyboard and it worked as well. The Command key was mapped to the Windows key. Hot Plugging worked fine as well. I also had a Connectix QuickCam (now sold by Logitec) and that worked as well after I downloaded the newest drivers from the Logitech site.

Conclusion:

The Entrega PCI USB card works with Macintosh computers with the current developmental drivers.

Notes:

Test System: Apple Macintosh G3 Minitower, 6GB IDE HD, 160MB RAM, MacOS 8.5.

Apple MacOS 8.5 does not contain drivers for third party USB cards, just the iMac. Even if you have MacOS 8.5 you will still need to download the DDK. Also, the DDK is currently in a developmental stage and should be treated as such. These drivers can crash your computer. You might feel safer waiting for the release of these drivers as a final product.

Update: Here's recent reader comments on the card:

" Hi Mike,
With the siting of the recent guest review, I went and purchased the Entrega USB card, and MS Sidewinder Freestyle Pro gamepad. I've tested both extensively, and have the following comments to add to the previous review, if interested:

My system: Umax S900 / 200 Mhz 604e / 96 MB RAM / OS 8.5

My experiences relate more to the use of the MS gamepad with different games. Since I was able to use the gamepad - the USB card did the job it was supposed to do (most of the time). My computer crashed each time I attempted to unplug the gamepad from the USB port on the card.

I was able to get the gamepad to work with Unreal, Quake, and Future Cop Demo with varying success. Games that did not work, and I don't think there was much chance of it working either are: Diablo, Abuse, Duke Nukem 3D Demo, Nanosaur. Considering this setup is not endorsed, nor supported, then I shouldn't complain.

Anyways, I thought I'd write in my experiences with the products. I didn't find them to be very useful - thus returned them to the store I bought them from. I think I'll wait until I find another USB card is officially sanctioned - thus supported. As for the gamepad - it worked extremely well with the Windows 95 game it came with, so there is still hope for it in the future. (And likely a positive one too - the setup dialogs recognized the gamepad by name - thus allowing some controllability over all its functions - but again that varied by game.)

Thanks for the awesome site...
- Darcy Friesen"

Latest Reader Comments [11/17/98]:

" Mike,
I just read the update to the Entrega USB card review. I think Unreal, Quake, and Future Cop all support Input Sprockets which is probably why they work with the Sidewinder Pro. The other games mentioned probably aren't patched for Sprockets. I would suspect that this is why they do not work, and not the card itself. I don't know what to think about the lack of "hot swap" capability that is mentioned. But, you probably already know that Keyspan now sells a USB card touted to work in any Power Mac. The only drawback is that it costs $20 more than the Entrega (gee, where have I seen this type of thing before??). Anyway, maybe the reader can try that card. There's also a pre-release version of Sprockets available at the Apple developer site. Maybe this would have an effect on the hot-swap for this machine. Thanx for the hard work. I access your page mutliple times a day :)
Jeff "

Related Links:

• XLR8 PCI USB Card Mini-Review by Charles C. Ruggiero
• Entrega's web site
• Apple's USB Dev Kit Download area

Have you used a Mac product that delighted or disappointed you recently? Reader reviews of Macintosh software and hardware are welcome. Contact me for details.

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