[Steve400]

is there any particular make that stands out as being reliable and good performance?!

i've never got round to getting one and think its about time i did!

thanks

[silkstone]

Yes!

Hama USB 2.0 Card Reader - 35 In 1: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

I've bought three of these. Well, one of them is connected semi-permanently to my Linux desktop PC, one is used with my laptop, and one I gave to a neighbour who needed an SDHC reader because the internal one in his laptop wouldn't read SDHC.

Cheap and very cheerful.

[Steve400]

sounds good!

is there any difference in transfer speeds in them or are they a much of a muchness!?

[silkstone]

It's more a function of the card than the reader, as long as it's USB 2.0 (which they all are now). The main things to watch for are...

1. Some card readers do not support SDHC - even ones that are still being sold. (This one does.)

2. The CF lead-in slot on some readers is very short, and there's a risk of putting the card in at an angle and bending the pins. This one seems OK on that score. I have another type which needs a bit more care.

Just go for it!

[Steve400]

aye am going to, ill take a couple just in case! nothing to lose at that price!

cheers for the link!

[silkstone]

P.S.

If you've not used a USB card reader before, here's what happens...

You don't need to install any drivers for recent operating systems.

In Win XP, when you first plug the card reader in it will assign a new drive letter for each slot. That may take a little time but it will get there eventually. You can then plug a card into any slot and it should recognise it and either open it in Windows Explorer or ask you what you want to do with it,

In Linux it will just launch the file manager and open the card. (You can insert the card before pluging in the USB cable if you want, but I'm not sure if this works in XP.)

Vista will probably ask you for your mother's maiden name and your NI number but will be OK by the time the kettle has boiled and you've made a cup of tea.

[Steve400]

forgot to say i got one of these bad boys, mighty job hi, sure saves the cables hanging around!

[ccsharry]

um... depending how quick your memory card is... if you are using sandisk extreme III or IV, you better of getting a sandisk extreme usb (for extreme III cf, ms pro and sd) or sandisk extreme firewire (for extreme IV cf) as these memory cards have a very high read/write speed that only a few card reader can actually quick enough to make sure they are transferring at the max speed.

Many card readers on the market are claimed to be usb 2.0 480Mbit/s but their actual transfer is may be limited at 10MB/s or 15MB/s, even you put a sandisk extreme IV cf card with the capability of read/write at 45MB/s since the hardware of those card readers just couldn't cope with the high demand. So if you are one of those who needs speed, spending a little time on looking for some card reader reviews before hand would be a great idea.

Just my 2 cent.

[Steve400]

i couldnt believe the speed of the thing to be honest.....never expected it to be that quick!

cheap and cheerful but worth an awful lot more than they cost!!

[simpbow]

Just seen this Steve, i use Kingston 12/13-1 reader got it at PICSTOP was cheap too & came with lifetime guarantee.