Memory-Card-Reader Reviews

Didn't work when I first connected to my ~2 year old Dell running WinME. Turns out I had to update several drivers. Dazzle online support did eventually come through for me, but it took several hours over a couple of nights to get it done.

Now it works great and I wouldn't want to be without it. So I recommend it for anyone who is knowledgeable and persistent with Microslop stuff, but I would probably not suggest it for others.

I've had this reader for a couple months now, and it's worked without a hitch (under Win98). It's much much faster than the parallel reader I used to use. It's nothing fancy but it's worked for me really well.

I'm using this handy little device on a Powerspec we bought from Microcenter in '99, running Windows '98. By no means a computer genius, I've had no problems with this at all. It's fast, simple, performs as advertised. I like that in a product.

Where is the USB compatibility that all the other cards have?

This is a great card adapter. The user who thought it would convert an xD card to a Compact Flash was misinformed and their rating should be held against this product. This card allows you to put your xD or SmartMedia memory card into your PCMCIA-equipped laptop to transfer pictures, etc. It works great and is highly recommended for the price. A rock-solid product in my opinion.

I purchased the Fujifilm XD Picture Card PC Adapter (DPC-AD) and use it with both my laptop and dvd player.

...P>- Has issues with Windows 98, even with downloaded drivers from PNY's website. Windows 98 would "lose" the drive, i.e., not recognize/detect it after a period of usage. Tried the reader with other Windows 98 machines: got the same problems.

- Works perfectly with Windows XP. Installed quickly. No drivers necessary. True Plug and Play bliss.

- Functional, but ugly. ...P>Anyway, just a caveat emptor to Windows 98 users: you may want to look at another vendor for your CompactFlash needs.

I purchased the PNY USB Compact Flash Card Reader at Best Buy... After installing it on my Windows 98 system, the card reader behaved erratically, crashing the system or making the drive disappear from the system (in other words, Windows 98 suddenly can't detect it anymore). Even downloading updated drivers from PNY's website did not work.

To be consistent, I tried the reader with two other Windows 98 machines and got the same problems. Interestingly enough, it works very well with Windows XP systems (no drivers are needed for installation - true Plug and Play at last!).

The transfer rate of the reader is the standard USB 1.1 rate: about 1.5 Megabits per second, slightly faster than a zip drive, since the card reader and media have no moving mechanical parts.

Side note: I was about to give up on getting any flash media and readers whatsoever since I use Windows 98 a lot. However, I have used two other flash products (Sandisk's 128 MB Cruzer using SecureDigital media and JungSoft's 128MB solid-state drive) with no problems on both Windows 98 and XP.

So, caveat emptor: if you're using Windows 98, you may want to look for a reader from a different vendor. If you're using XP (I have not tested the product with Windows ME) and don't mind USB 1.1 transfer rates, the PNY USB reader is an inexpensive solution.

P.S. I gave the product three stars because given the smooth designs of other available products (SanDisk's Cruzer comes to mind), the reader looks an oversized, uninspiring lump of flattened coal (Uh, PNY, hello? Other companies have already done the market research for you: people like silver.) A CompactFlash card is not that large; PNY should have designed a more compact (intended word use) reader that won't burst the seams of my shirt pocket.

Though you need the drivers on the enclosed CD if you have Windows 98, for other operating systems this self-installs when you attach it to a USB port and shows up as a removable drive. Then you can copy files from your CF card at USB speeds. An extension USB cord is included if necessary, but if you have easily accessible USB ports you can just plug it in directly. It's the next best thing to having a built-in CF card reader.

I bought this card reader so I wouldn't have to fiddle around with cables every time I want to download pictures and so that it can go from an hour ordeal to a quick few minutes. This memory card reader works perfectly. I am running Windows XP Home Edition and have an Olympus D-460 ZOOM camera. I used a 16 MB Smart Media card also made by Olympus. In my informal tests I was able to download pictures several times faster as well as doing so without using any of the software that came with the camera. Also whenever I want to download pictures all I have to do is slide the memory card in then open the F drive. I would recomend this product to anyone with a old non-USB camera that would like to transfer pictures faster and with less hassel.

I purchased this smartmedia reader in a combo with my new FinePix 2800 Zoom camera (which comes with a FujiFilm 16MB smartmedia card). I have used the USB reader repeatedly with no problems, but have not yet tried other card sizes or different brands.

Setup was easy with Windows XP and did not require the included software for the drivers. My camera was bundled with the FinePixViewer software for downloading and minor editing of the pictures from my digital camera - but it also loads wonderfully from the Lexar card-reader, AND saves batteries! Overall, wonderful.

I use an Olympus D450, a 64MB Olympus Smart Media card, and an iMac with Mac OS 8.6. After downloading some free software from Apple to be able to recognize the reader (newer system software would eliminate this step) I plugged the Lexar reader in and in a split second, the card popped up on my desktop and I moved the the photos to my hard drive. I am impressed with this product.

I bought the reader a few weeks ago and used it with Windows 2000 and it worked great. I then upgraded to XP and found that the drivers would not work, I went looking for new drivers and found that the US1A will not support XP and that I have to spend more money to buy the new model reader US20 to be able to read my memory sticks with XP. Needless to say I am extremely disappointed with SONY in this case.

This thing was recommended to be used for transferring files from the camera instead of using the USB cable when I had lost the latter. It turned out to be a bit unstable and have destroyed some precious picture files while transferring to my XP computer. I recommend sticking with the cable direcly connected to the camera instead, and if you loose the cable, try buying it from cables-to-go.

First, let me say that buying from Asena Shop has been the best by far! I received the item sooner than I expected it. It was in better condition than I expected. The item was easy to set up, and easy to use. Overall, everything from shipment to item beat my expectations. I will, without a doubt, be shopping from this seller again. Thank you so much!

if you have the new mac os 10.2 dont buy this reader.

I am pleased with the Zio CompactFlash media reader. It is simple and easy to use, out of the box. The benefits of reading the card directly into the computer from the card without having to attach the camera itself include:
1) I'm not using up the camera battery
2) I don't need the optional AC power cord (a significant savings)
3) It is easy to share the contents of the FlashCard with friends without having to give up the use of the camera while they are downloading the pictures to their PC
I certainly recommend this product for any digital camera user.

It's your basic compact flash/PCMCIA adapter card. Great for laptops when all you want to do is transfer digital pictures from your compact flash to your laptop.

Too bad this an Office Depot product that you can't pick up in the store. The shipping alone pretty much kills this product as a good deal.

This real plug and play compact flash card reader is a must for every laptop owner. Any laptop has a PCMCIA slot, and every laptop nowadays comes with a modem , LAN , built in, so you use the PCMCIA slot for nothing, but the reader.
I usually keeps it plugged in the laptop, and take a backup for my critical files on it. With a 512 MB card, it really takes a lot, and provides me with peace of mind with an online , reliable and fast backup.
With technology, the storage capacity doubles every 12 months , and the MB/$ drops by half every 9 month. Soon, you will be able to buy a 10 GB compact flash card for the price of 512 MB nowadays. And, still , you will use the same reader !!

I am running WinXP Home. This card reader is not hot-swappable. When trying to do so, the computer locks up and doesn't read anything. The only thing to do is shut off, plug in the reader, reboot, then ensert the cards. Not doing so results in a message that my USB device is malfunctioning. If a card is enserted while rebooting, I get the same message. This reader is NOT a smooth operator. I am now shopping for individual readers instead of a combo.

I've had this for about 4 months now, and overall the performance has been spotty, especially with Non-Sony media. My Lexar 128 stick worked fine with this unit for the first few months, but is now a hit or miss affair-- it only recognizes the stick about 50% of the time. A problem with the stick itself? Perhaps. My sony 128 mb stick works well all the time. In any case, I'm replacing this unit with a sony reader. I dont' need the aggravation!

I had my order the next day! I had no idea that I would get such fast delivery...and everything was in perfect condition! I could not be more saticfied.

My company purchased this flopy disc interface so that we could let any of the graphic artists pop the card into the machines without moving the USB reader we have around.. unfortunatly the card won't work on a dual processor system, so none of our graphic artists can use it. I think for the price we paid for it, it should be able to work on any system!

My computer doesn't have a port for a Memory Stick, so using any one of Sony's products that use them is impossible without using this adapter. Sony's digital cameras and digital voice recorders (why I have one) all use this media format, so forgetting to buy one can prevent your enjoyment of your own equipment.

To use the adapter, you just slide the Stick into the adapter, and then the adapter goes into your regular 3.5" disk drive, looking just like a regular disk. There is some software included to assist in the applications you will use with it, inluding the voice recognition program I originally hoped to use, but is sold separately.

I don't really know why the item is as much as it is, but it is necessary for most folks. I guess one way of looking at it is that it offers the same functionality as a Compact Flash card reader, just more expensive.

The floppy disk adapter perfectly suits people like myself who still have old computers without USB. One first installs the software from the included CD and then formats the memory stick. Be warned that you had better print or save any images you already might have on the memory stick before formatting as all data is lost in formatting.
Once you've formatted you can take pictures and immediately upload and print them if desired by inserting the memeory stick to the floppy and inserting the floppy into your FD drive.

Several Major Problems
1.The smart media card tends to drop inside the device- there is nothing to hold it in place.
2. Tended to scratch the media card.
3. Failed to read the card about half the time

I had the same problem with the card dropping inside however it really isn't a major problem. The enclosure slot is a bit too large and the card can slide in above the tracks that hold the card in place. If it was an expensive unit, I'd be disappointed with this flaw but I bought it specifically because it was cheap. It works and I'm happy with it.

I teach digital photography and use this reader regularly. It's the only one I've used that consistantly works well with no problems in Windows XP.

This is the reader I ALWAYS recommend to mu students! It's simple, light and does not get in the way.

As to not reading the card every time (Previous reviewer's comment) I'd guess he had a bad memory card. I've used a dozen or more of these readers and have not had a single problem with any of them.