Memory card reader - what do YOU recommend?

[Jason Dunn]

More often than not, you'll find myself and my team talking about the hardware and software we use, what we like about it, and what we don't. Well, I'm searching for something and I can't quite seem to find what I'm looking for. Any given community will always have a collective intelligence greater than that of its founders/leaders (in our case, by a huge margin <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif" />), so help me out.<br /><br />Here's what I'm looking for: a memory card reader that can accept CompactFlash type 1 and 2 (Microdrive), Secure Digital and MultiMediaCards, and supports USB 2.0 with backwards 1.0 compatibility (most USB 2.0 will do so). I've found USB 2.0 CF card readers, but all the combo units I've found are USB 1.0. Any recommendations?

[Boxster S]

Which USB 2.0 CF readers have you found and for how much?? I'm looking for one for my system. I just got a new i845G based mobo for my 1.8A overclocked to 2.25GHz. I need a new CF reader to tap the 4 USB 2.0 ports :wink:

[Take1]

It's probably too soon to expect USB 2.0 readers yet. Give it 6 months and something will arrive. I like my Dazzle* card reader which handles everything and only costs $48 -- it's not 2.0 compliant, however.

[Boxster S]

It's probably too soon to expect USB 2.0 readers yet. Give it 6 months and something will arrive. I like my Dazzle* card reader which handles everything and only costs $48 -- it's not 2.0 compliant, however.

Well, ONE has been out for Months now from IOGear...doesn't support MD though:

http://www.everythingusb.com/hardware/index/IOGear_Memory_Bank_2.0_review.htm

[njb42]

I dig my Travel Flash reader. It's only USB 1.1, but it does CF I/II, SD/MMC, and SmartMedia, all in a tiny package. The USB cable even folds into the device when you're not using it. And it's dirt cheap to boot!

http://www.18004memory.com/focus.asp?sku=506001

Under Windows XP, no drivers necessary. It just shows up as 3 new drive letters.

[Jason Dunn]

Well, ONE has been out for Months now from IOGear...doesn't support MD though

Those IOGear products are BEAUTIFUL! Totally stunning design across all their product line. I've contacted them about a partnership, because they have a lot of gear I think the readers here would be interested in. We'll see if they respond. :-)

[butch]

I'm currently looking for a new CF reader too... since my dog ate my 128MB card, my reader is dead... a chance I didn't try it in my Casio... anyway...
The only one I've seen is the IOgear, but didn't find a distributor in Canada, maybe it's time for you HHC guys???
There is also some Firewire reader, but I don't remember if i've see a combo...
here is some
http://www.microtechint.com/qs-cmatefw.html
http://www.synchrotech.com/products/card-rw_00a.html

HEY! My english is not perfect, but this one seem to be a USB 2 combo... but not clearly said...
http://www.menlomart.biz/flash_media_reader.htm
It is also compatible with Windows CE 4.0... hummm not sure we can trust them....
The manufacturer page is here : http://www.omniflashproducts.com/unomas.html and they say: USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 compliant.
Does this meen it's a USB 1.1 device that will work with USB 2 card or a USB 2 device that will work on a USB 1.1 card????

[st63z]

Yeah as mentioned, the CFII and AC adapter limitations kinda turned me off the IOGear USB2 reader (the sphere also looked bulkier than necessary)...

And IIRC, that POI/PNY combo reader unit was tested to be like 2-3 times slower than the competition for some reason (?).

Also as other people have said, beware the Dazzle Zio CF readers with the misleading USB2 label...

I'm just waiting for the inevitable market moving to USB2 as a whole (I would've gotten one of those 1394 CF reader, but so far I've been satisfied with my Addonics Mini DigiDrive USB1.1 quad-slot combo reader -- note that this is the newer, much smaller revision than the original Pocket DigiDrive). As far as I can tell it performs about the same as the Zio individual readers...

[st63z]

Of course, if you mostly use a laptop, a PC Card adapter is way faster than any USB1.1 readers (but is it still considerably slower than 1394/USB2 readers?). Think it's practical for someone to make a CardBus adapter? :)

[OTHHC]

We have just taken stock of a new USB 6 in 1 reader that we were sent a demo unit of and we were very impressed with the quality and performance. The specs for it say it is USB 1.2 compliant but hopefully they will update this to USB 2.0 in the next release of the product.

It supports CF I and II (including MicroDrive), SD, MMC, SmartMedia and Memory Stick.

http://www.handheldcanada.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=H&Product_Code=MS0049&Affiliate=ppcthoughts

If the link isn't live right away, it will be by Thursday morning...

[klinux]

Well, Jason, you seem already know you want so not much help from me here, sorry. In any case, I have been using a Lexar firewire CF card reader for the last 12 months and have not been happier with its speed.

I am sure everyone already knows this but as a reminder, USB 2.0 devices needs USB 2.0 cables. I have yet to see any test with any real world IO devices (HD, CDRW, etc.) that show USB 2.0 to be faster than 1394. Second generation 1394b (800 mb/s and up to 3.2gb/s) should be out in the next 6 months, IMHO.

[denivan]

I am wondering, is it really necessary for firewire or usb 2.0 card readers? I've been helping myself with normal activesync over usb for a while, but that really was too slow. So i got myself a multi card reader (Memory stick, sd, cf, smart media) with a normal USB connection and too met its blistering fast. I have a 256 Mb and I don't feel that I have to wait a long time for it to fill up. Maybe if you have a 1Gb microdrive, USB 2 will come in handy, but for my 256 Mb card, USB 1 is fast enough ;)

Just my thougt...

Ivan

[don dre]

other than to start drinking heavily is if you can;t wait, go with firewire. these products are tried and true. I am looking into gettign the usb 2.0/firewire card from orange micro so i can get a high speed reader. Nothing worse than waiting hours for a new playlist to copy to your microdrive.

[vetteguy]

I have the 6-in-1 reader from Acomdata. It claims it is USB 2.0, but unfortunately they haven't released drivers for XP yet (and I doubt they will, considering their webpage has said "under construction" for over 6 months) so I can't test it on my system that has 2.0. And if you call their (non-800) "tech support" number, all you get is a machine. I wonder if they are even a real company.

[Rez]

CompuApps offer two 8-in-1 flash media readers whch work with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0.

They read/write:
Compact Flash (CF) Type I
Compact Flash (CF) Type II
IBM MicroDrive
Smart Media™ (SM)
Secure Digital™ (SD)
MultiMediaCard™ (MMC)
Memory Stick (MS) BlueStick and
Memory Stick™ (MS) Magic Gate.

I have not tried these readers myself though.

http://store.compuapps.com/exusbdigflas.html

Rez

[Boxster S]

CompuApps offer two 8-in-1 flash media readers whch work with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0.

They read/write:
Compact Flash (CF) Type I
Compact Flash (CF) Type II
IBM MicroDrive
Smart Media™ (SM)
Secure Digital™ (SD)
MultiMediaCard™ (MMC)
Memory Stick (MS) BlueStick and
Memory Stick™ (MS) Magic Gate.

I have not tried these readers myself though.

http://store.compuapps.com/exusbdigflas.html

Rez

Just b/c it works with USB 2.0 doesn't mean that it is fully USB 2.0 "HighSpeed" compliant.

Any USB 1.1 device will "work" on a USB 2.0 port...that's how these manufacturers try to trick people.

[Rez]

I've found a review of the OmniFlash Uno Mas universal card reader, which I referred to in my previous post. According to the reviewer, this product only works at USB 1.1 speed, not USB 2.0.

http://www.dp-now.com/Features/Peripheral_reviews/perif2/perif2.html

Rez

[Jason Dunn]

Thanks for all the great responses guys! I do have a Firewire card, so what's a good CF/SD Firewire reader? Any top picks?

[Jason Dunn]

I am wondering, is it really necessary for firewire or usb 2.0 card readers?

When you're manipulating 4 megapixel images directly from a CF card, yes, it's too slow. :-)

[Steven Cedrone]

CompuApps offer two 8-in-1 flash media readers whch work with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0.Rez

From the site: "Superior Interface Technology. USB high-speed connection to your computer or other hosting device. Powered by OnSpec Link™ interface technology, our readers utilize patent pending interface technology that has been developed, proven, and refined by engineering veterans over a number of years. Works with USB 1.1 and USB 2.0."


I can't help but wonder if they mean it will be backwards compatable in a USB 2.0 port.....

Steve

[Steven Cedrone]

Just b/c it works with USB 2.0 doesn't mean that it is fully USB 2.0 "HighSpeed" compliant.

Any USB 1.1 device will "work" on a USB 2.0 port...that's how these manufacturers try to trick people.

Man, I am slow today. I didn't even notice your response.... :oops:

[butch]

UnoMas is a USB 1.1 device which works in USB 2.0 ports in USB 1.1 speed.
In canada you can buy from http://www.omniflashdistribution.ca/


And my second question : Do you have plan for a true USB 2 or firewire multi-cards reader?

Yes, we are developing USB 2.0 devices which will be available in the market after 3 months.


On there site (http://omniflashdistribution.ca/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=O&Product_Code=BU-CF-1G&Category_Code=BUN) they have a Microdrive/CF reader for 525 CND$

[st63z]

The 1394 CF reader that Lexar and/or SanDisk sells (I forget) seems to also be OEM'ed by several other companies I've seen, so I guess that unit design is one of the most popular, FWIW...

BTW, the Addonics link is http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_memory_reader/ . The one I have is the Mini DigiDrive, which seems similar in function to the UnoMas, (except the smaller Mini DigiDrive dropped the individual slot LEDs that are featured on the larger Pocket DigiDrive and UnoMas). One thing though, I'm not sure about the SD/MagicGate copyright security capability that UnoMas advertises? The write-protect function is standard, but as I understand it, the SDMI security requires a special reader (like the SD USB reader that comes with the Panasonic e-wear devices).

Addonics also now has the IDE Ultra DigiDrive 3.5" bay reader, which takes a PC Card and is meant to be used with any flash card PCMCIA adapter (which they also sell, heh). Advantage is higher speed (limited to the PC Card adapter speed), and bootability (using the ATAPI Zip BIOS interface). Though I dunno why you'd want to boot from your flash card...