Product DescriptionThe Extreme USB 2.0 Reader provides you with a complete digital solution for your photography needs. Its performs at up to 20MB per seconds sequential read and write, above the level needed for the high enthusiast photographer. It's designed with two slots and supports CF (Type I and II), SD, MS Pro, and MS PRO Duo. It supports USB 2.0 connectivity on both Windows and Macintosh Operating Systems. It plugs and plays with no external AC power.
Fast and reliable (Rating: 5 out of 5) I purchased this unit a year ago and use it about once a week. It is very fast, depending on your CF card. I've offloaded images at 30 MB/second, which is about all USB 2.0 can do. I use it with Lexar 133X/300X cards and SanDisk Extreme III cards - they all perform impressively. The SD/MMC slot works equally well. I've used it with SanDisk, Sony, and Lexar cards.
The unit has only two limitations, but they weren't limitations when I purchased it. It doesn't do SD/HD and it doesn't do CF UDMA, but it never was represented as such. Maybe SanDisk will do an upgrade in the near future.
I purchased this unit for $25, so I don't understand the current high price. But, if it drops in the future to a more reasonable, affordable price don't hesitate to buy one. Given the current economic climate, SanDisk could modernize the unit or they could stop manufacturing it and you'd be left to purchase one of the many cheaper pieces of junk that are out there. My opinon.
Lightning fast card reader! (Rating: 4 out of 5) I've been using this in conjunction with a SanDisk Extreme III CF card, Extreme III SD card, and a Sony MS Pro Duo card, and all three transfer at lightning fast speeds with this reader. As the old adage goes, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! I'm very happy with my purchase.
I should mention that my computer (with XP Pro OS) had some difficulties recognizing this reader when I first hooked it up, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. After some frustrating troubleshooting with the Device Manager and Disk Manager, I finally got it working, with one caveat: I have to unplug and replug the USB cable almost every time I want to read a card. Likely just a problem with my computer, but I thought I'd mention my troubles.
Nice to have fast CF and SD in one small package (Rating: 4 out of 5) Very handy to have Compact Flash and SD in the same small unit, as these are the formats I've been most likely to encounter with DSLRs and other digital cameras. Not sure why SanDisk split these formats in their newer readers. So far, it's much faster than transferring pictures through the built-in USB port on a Canon Rebel XT and 20D. And it looks smaller in real life than it does in the product photograph where it appears more elongated -- it's about 2.5" square by .75" thick.
So nice! (Rating: 5 out of 5) It's nice to have a card reader that the card can be inserted and removed from so smothly without fear of ruining the pins and/or card sockets.
And this thing is blazing fast! With my Extreme III cards, I can transfer an entire card's worth of photos to my PC very quickly!
OK so far (Rating: 5 out of 5) After reading reviews about it failing to read cards after a while, and having experienced that with other card readers, I was a bit hesitant but really needed a reader with a decent cable length. In the month or so I've been using it, it has failed to immediately sense an SD card a few times, but I believe in all cases it was really because the Mac had been sleeping and was not fully awake yet. I'd remove the card and reinsert it and all was well. I can't remember any failures with the compact flash slot. So I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt in awarding 5 stars. It seems faster than any other readers I've used.