Digital Home Thoughts: Sandisk 8-in-1 USB 2.0 Memory Card Reader

Many months ago Sandisk sent me their USB 2.0 6 in 1 memory card reader, and I immediately starting using it. It worked so well that I forgot that I was supposed to review it! :oops: And now it seems that they've replaced the 6 in 1 with an 8 in 1 model, because Amazon lists the 6 in 1 as being discontinued. At any rate, here's a Quick Look review of the product that I have combined with some of the specs from the newer version. Hopefully that doesn't confuse you too much. ;-)



The newer 8 in 1 device can read the following formats:

• CompactFlash Type
• CompactFlash Type II
• Memory Stick
• Memory Stick PRO
• SmartMedia
• xD Picture Card
• SD
• MultiMediaCard

The 6 in 1 that I have can read everything except xD and I believe Memory Stick Pro. I don't mourn the loss of either of those. :wink: Setup was completely painless: with Windows XP, no drivers are required. If you're using anything other than Windows XP, save your money and upgrade your OS first before buying this memory card reader.

I connected it to the front USB port on my Shuttle and within a few seconds I had new drive letters for my removable storage slots. One thing I'd like to see is custom icons for each type of storage, or an icon to indicate that there's a card in the drive. As it stands now, unless the card is formatted with a name (I have a tip on that coming up this week), you can't tell which drive letter has the card you inserted. I realize this might require a software download to change the icons, but I think it would be quite helpful from a usability point of view.

In terms of speed, because the card reader uses USB 2.0, it's fast - very fast. Beyond that, what more can you ask of a memory card reader, right? It's priced at $25.74 USD from Amazon.com, which I consider pretty cheap.

So how much faster is USB 2.0 than USB 1.1? On paper, USB 1.1 is 12 megabits per second, while USB 2.0 is 480 megabits per second. In rea life, the difference isn't quite as large, but it's still quite dramatic:

USB 1.1 eMagic Memory Card Reader

1 GB Sandisk CF card (READ)
4K block size: 590 KB/s
256K block size: 1024 KB/s
1 MB block size: 1024 KB/s

1 GB Sandisk CF card (WRITE)
4K block size: 562 KB/s
256K block size: 972 KB/s
1 MB block size: 1024 KB/s

256 MB Sandisk SD card (READ)
4K block size: 576 KB/s
256K block size: 1024 KB/s
1 MB block size: 1024 KB/s

256 MB Sandisk SD card (WRITE)
4K block size: 424 KB/s
256K block size: 870 KB/s
1 MB block size: 920 KB/s

USB 2.0 Sandisk 6 in 1 Memory Card Reader

1 GB Sandisk CF card (READ)
4K block size: 778 KB/s
256K block size: 1792 KB/s
1 MB block size: 1740 KB/s

1 GB Sandisk CF card (WRITE)
4K block size: 642 KB/s
256K block size: 1432 KB/s
1 MB block size: 1432 KB/s

256 MB Sandisk SD card (READ)
4K block size: 1960 KB/s
256K block size: 982 KB/s
1 MB block size: 1536 KB/s

256 MB Sandisk SD card (WRITE)
4K block size: 476 KB/s
256K block size: 896 KB/s
1 MB block size: 1536 KB/s

About the only complaint I have regarding this memory card reader is, ergonomically, it's a bit strange. As the photo above indicates, it's designed to be mounted on a vertical stand. But if you're like me, you might not have the right right kind of space for it. The stand is removable, but the USB connection cable is very short. My solution is to store the drive near my computer, and only connect it when needed. It's actually not a bad solution, but I would have preferred to see Sandisk come up with a more efficient horizontal storage solution for those of us who can't or don't want to store the drive vertically.