Which CF reader to buy?

[ron53693]

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking for? Who makes a good brand?

Thanks

 

[Vincent D]

Microtech's Zio! CF reader is very popular--I've had one and liked it a lot. I'll be getting a Microtech Cameramate CF/SM reader when I order my S110 soon. It's also very popular.

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

Thanks

 

[Jim Carman54204]

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

I have a SanDisk ImageMate that reads CP types I and II (and microdrive) cards. Bought it at Office Depot for about $30. It works alright, and works with Windows 98 and 2000.

If you go to http://www.newegg.com and look around, you'll see many types there. One even reads SmartMedia and MMC as well, for about $30.

Just my .02 worth...

 

[Adam2]

How much do you want to spend? Initially, I had trouble finding an inexpensive CF reader which was both type I & II compatible. The Sandisk was/is widely available, but it appeared to crash my (and many other people's) system. Several months ago, I found a no frills reader made by Memorex at Target for $29. It has worked flawlessly, never crashed my system, worked with my MD, and was an inexpensive solution.

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

Thanks

 

[David Bookbinder]

I've been using a SanDisk ImageMate for a couple of weeks. Had one crash on my Win98 SE system, after that no problems.

 

[Mike Flaherty]

Get the Sandisk CF reader for around $30. I've got 2 of them and they work flawlessly. The ultimate in simplicity and their tiny size doesn't seriously impact real estate space on your desk.

Mike Flaherty

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

Thanks

 

[Garth55626]

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

Thanks

I have been using the Microtech Zio Compact Flash Reader for serveral months and love it. It reads both Type 1 and Type 2 CF Cards, connects via USB (either with or without a cable), does not require an external power source, and takes up little room on my desktop as it is so tiny. The price is very reasonable too - I picked one up in Calgary, Canada for $69.00 CDN. I'm sure they're much cheaper in the US.

http://www.microtechint.com/zio/index.html

Real life use is great - computer sees the reader as another drive letter, and I use ACDsee to access and move the pics to various folders.

 

[Richard W]

Microtech Zio. I use it for Microdrive and CF cards.

I had a Sandisk USB but although it worked sometimes, it was very unreliable with Win 98 and Me.

No problems with the Zio since I got it a few months ago. I think maybe the Sandisk was slightly faster, when it worked!

Richard W

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

Thanks

I have been using the Microtech Zio Compact Flash Reader for
serveral months and love it. It reads both Type 1 and Type 2 CF
Cards, connects via USB (either with or without a cable), does not
require an external power source, and takes up little room on my
desktop as it is so tiny. The price is very reasonable too - I
picked one up in Calgary, Canada for $69.00 CDN. I'm sure they're
much cheaper in the US.

http://www.microtechint.com/zio/index.html

Real life use is great - computer sees the reader as another drive
letter, and I use ACDsee to access and move the pics to various
folders.

 

[G1 User]

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

I have a SanDisk ImageMate that reads CP types I and II (and
microdrive) cards. Bought it at Office Depot for about $30. It
works alright, and works with Windows 98 and 2000.

I got one for a friend the newer but older style ImageMate which is $18 at the Sandisk Store - http://www.sandiskstore.com . The newest style is $30. I have the oldest one which only support type I.

If you go to http://www.newegg.com and look around, you'll see many types
there. One even reads SmartMedia and MMC as well, for about $30.

Just my .02 worth...

 

[eg #37159]

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

I have a SanDisk ImageMate that reads CP types I and II (and
microdrive) cards. Bought it at Office Depot for about $30. It
works alright, and works with Windows 98 and 2000.

Avoid the SanDisk. Even though it claims type II support, it doesn't work reliably with Microdrives. This is according to Sandisk's tech support. Something about "moving parts."

 

[Jonas Lohr]

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

Thanks

Hi fellow Canonites,

One thing I don't see addressed in this thread is the ability of a card reader to extract & display EXIF data. I had a SanDisk, but returned it because I couldn't see the data unless I downloaded through Canon's ImageBrowser software. Is it because I'm on a Mac, is it inherent in card readers, or is it just me (again)? Thanks for any reply, Jonas Lohr.

 

[skanter]

I'm looking to get a CF USB card reader. What should I be looking
for? Who makes a good brand?

Get the Microtech Zio. DO NOT get the Sandisk Imagemate! It is touted as
Type II compatible, but is flaky with IBM microdrives.

 

[Richard W]

Hi fellow Canonites,
One thing I don't see addressed in this thread is the ability of a
card reader to extract & display EXIF data. I had a SanDisk, but
returned it because I couldn't see the data unless I downloaded
through Canon's ImageBrowser software. Is it because I'm on a Mac,
is it inherent in card readers, or is it just me (again)? Thanks
for any reply, Jonas Lohr.

Jonas

Card readers are not designed per se to show the EXIF data which is contained in image files stored on CF. It is down to software to extract the data from the file and display it for you when you access the contents of the card.

From a hardware viewpoint a card reader is treated as a removable drive/media. Think of the CF reader as a floppy drive or Zip drive. If you've got images on a floppy or Zip and you display the drive's contents you don't get the EXIF data shown do you? It's the same with card readers. CF cards are just a storage medium. You can put whatever you want on them - MP3s, WAVs, AVIs, Quicktime, Word documents etc.

It's nothing to do with the Mac as far as I'm aware (I don't think the Mac OS shows EXIF data for files automatically does it?).

Richard W