Card Readers.

[lordpain]

Ive seen many discussions about the speed of memory cards. But I think something that has been not discussed is that the type of card readers we use. I'm using a generic card reader, which takes about 15mins to transfer 2gb of jpegs from my cf to my com. I think this is a total waste of time, and I think many of you agree too.

So I would like to propose would some of you guys share some of the card readers you guys use, their speed; cost and its availability.

thanks in advance.

cheers.

 

[MÝ Ðë©ËMBëR®]

im using SanDisk Extreme® 2.0 USB Reader @ e moment to transfer my images, so far so good and the good thing is tt it has the data recovery software—ensures your photos will always be there (even if you delete them accidentally). a good buy @ CP, costs me about $35.00 ( dunno if the price still remains or not ).

 

[lordpain]

thanks, may i know how much time it takes to empty your card?

 

[lordpain]

okay a quick search at google tells me this:

•

Supports Up to 18 MB/second Read and Write performance with ESP Technology

•

Supports USB 2.0 connectivity on both Windows and Macintosh Systems

•

Durable, reliable and thoroughly tested - temperature (heat and cold), shock, and vibration tested - even Water resistant

•

Fully Compatible with RescuePRO Deluxe Data recovery software

•

Provides significantly improved workflow efficiency for capturing, viewing, upload and transferring large image files

perhaps a good buy? maybe ill go get it soon.

 

[MÝ Ðë©ËMBëR®]

hmmm... never regretted my copy :sweatsm::sweatsm::sweatsm:but you may want to give CP a ring b4 you go down, dunno if they got stocks or not? CP Tel: (65) 6337 4274

 

[Octarine]

okay a quick search at google tells me this:

Supports Up to 18 MB/second Read and Write performance with ESP Technology
Supports USB 2.0 connectivity on both Windows and Macintosh Systems
Durable, reliable and thoroughly tested - temperature (heat and cold), shock, and vibration tested - even Water resistant
Fully Compatible with RescuePRO Deluxe Data recovery software
Provides significantly improved workflow efficiency for capturing, viewing, upload and transferring large image files

1. That's normal since PIO 6 mode for CF cards is defined at 20MB/s maximum. Your example gives a read speed of about 2.3MB/s. So there's room for improvement. I just tried my no-name card reader and got 5.8MB/s (1.92GB in 5:30min) using a standard 4GB Kingston CF card (no Ultra or something).
2. USB 2.0 is standard, you don't want to try USB 1.1, trust me
3. Marketing bubbles, do you copy your files in the bathroom? CF cards are quire resiliant. I have dropped one into seawater accidentally. No harm done, the card is still in use.
4. Compatible .. that's nice. Do they include the software?
5. Even more marketing...

Conclusion: it's a standard CF card reader, nothing fancy.

Btw: what card are you using?

 

[ymmij]

im using SanDisk Extreme® 2.0 USB Reader @ e moment to transfer my images, so far so good and the good thing is tt it has the data recovery software—ensures your photos will always be there (even if you delete them accidentally). a good buy @ CP, costs me about $35.00 ( dunno if the price still remains or not ).

i have this as well, serves its purpose well...

 

[lordpain]

any users here have firewire card readers? octarine, maybe you might share where u got the card reader? cos mine is also usb 2.0 and its terribly slow.

 

[lennyl]

any users here have firewire card readers?

I'm using a fairly old setup - Lexar Pro 80x with a Lexar Firewire RW019. Using Downloader Pro I get slightly below 10 MB/s on my regular system.

Same software, same CF, Hovono reader (picked it up from Challenger when I desperately needed a reader on my last trip here). It is a multi-format USB reader with SDHC, SIM, M2 and a lot of other formats. On another system (much slower CPU) it transfers over 10 MB/s. On the same system I use with the FW reader, I get about 3 MB/s.

So system's USB chipset plays a large part in performance as well.

 

[lordpain]

for me, i tried it with different systems with various configs, including a macbookpro and macpro. its still the same speed. terribly slow.

 

[Octarine]

for me, i tried it with different systems with various configs, including a macbookpro and macpro. its still the same speed. terribly slow.

Have you also tried with a different card reader? Sometimes it's the combination of two items that either works well or doesn't work at all.
My USB card reader doesn't even have a brand or anything, it's just a blue box with all the slots (multi card reader) and a single tiny LED for activity. I remember the only criteria for me was that it also works with Linux. Haven't checked with my laptop (newer system than my PC) if the read speed is faster.
As lennyl said: the chipset is also important, regardless whether you use USB or Firewire. If you intend to get one of those 'Extreme IV' cards where you need to have the card reader from the same manufacturer your problem could be solved.
Otherwise: start the copy process and have a tea

 

[lordpain]

ive tried with 2 different types of generic card readers and a lexar firewire. the lexar one transfers very quickly, but the others are very slow. i also tried various configs of comps including mac pro, mbp and a core 2 pc with 4gb ram. it still gives me the slow results. the cards i tested was a 1gb sandisk ultra and a 2gb 133x transcend. i suspect the reader plays a huge role.

 

[roofies]

i have got that Sandisk SD/CFCombo reader, takes me abt 3mins to download a full 2GB card of RAW images to my mac. The card i am using is a Ultra II. I would believe if it were a faster more current card, like the Extreme III it would be faster.

I have as well the sandisk FW CF card reader, that baby is fast. regardless on FW800 or FW400, it is faster than the USB2.0 version. However you would need cards faster than the Extreme III to really optimise the performance.

=)

 

[lennyl]

Of limited use is the card reader speed database at http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/

I say it is of limited use because of the limited number of readers tested, and the cards it is tested with. There are a limited number of controllers that are actually used in the readers, but good luck finding out what it is until you've actually purchased one. And there's no guarantee that the manufacturer will stick with that chipset for that reader. It's a cut-throat business and every cent in savings counts.

My Hovono reader has no model # on it, and according to Windows uses the CS8819A3-116 controller. A bit of googling shows me that it is a Myson Century cntroller. Not that it is of great help in determining performance. Comparing it to a similar product in the hjreggel site shows that it should be capable of at least transferring 12MB/s with an Extreme III, the gods of USB willing.