Can a usb thumb drive be used to transfer applications to and from a panelview plus unit or do have to use the compact flash card?
The manul says usb keyboard and mouse and mass storage for data logging i guess but will the application manager read from the usb drive to import a application?
Transfer Utility via Ethernet is definitely the fastest and most reliable method, but using a Thumb drive works ok, as well.
Some things to watch out for when using a USB drive:
Don't use one that's cluttered up with a bunch of other files, I like to keep one just for PV+ apps. Also, don't use a drive larger than 4gb, as these are normally formatted in FAT32 instead of the PV+'s native FAT 16.
If it's a "virgin" thumb drive (never been used to xfer apps) you have to upload an application from the terminal to the drive before trying to download with it, because the upload process creates the correct file path on the drive that the terminal won't recognize your .mer file without.
Oh yeah, and you have to plug in the thumb drive BEFORE going to the config screen. For some reason, if you wait to plug it in when you get to config, the terminal just will not read the drive.
As dmroeder said, definitely hit or miss, but for those times when hooking up a cable between your laptop and the terminal is not a good option, it's not a bad way to go.