Card Reader

[ameerat42]

Hi All.
I recently bought a "Fission 66-in-1" card reader from a "we sell all sorts of things" supermarket. It cost $9.95.

I got it because it specified it read SDHC cards, and it does, but...
66.5 MB (14 images) from card reader using Scanner Wizard 19.5 sec
while
66.5 MB (same images) from camera using same Wizard took 9.5 sec

Question is, what speeds can I expect from a "good" card reader, or will it always be slower than reading direct from camera? (Both USB2/Win XP)
Thanks, Am.

[I @ M]

Sorry Am, dunno if one is always going to be faster than the other but looking at it my way ---

If you multiply the number of images by 10 then I assume that the time would also be 10 times longer so that means roughly that the card reader is going to take 195 seconds as opposed to the cable taking 95 seconds to load the images. My way of doing things is to bung the card in, allocate folders and naming, hit the transfer button and then head off to make a cuppa. By the time the brew is done I reckon I wouldn't notice the extra 100 seconds.

[ricktas]

Depends. There are so many factors here. If you want FAST, you need to consider a firewire card reader (as long as you have firewire ports), or perhaps hold out till the new USB3.0 card readers come out, cause they are going to be mighty fast as well.

Certainly the card reader itself can have a lot to do with the speed of the transfer, but so can the connection method, the card itself, other tasks running on your computer at the same time..and more. I have 2 card readers (CF), one is an old USB one and a firewire one. Same files, on same CF card transfer much faster on the firewire reader. As is often said, you get what you pay for, sometimes it is just better to spend a bit more and get quality.

[ameerat42]

Thanks, both. I must admit I only got it so that I could occasionally read SDHC cards w/o the camera. All my other CRs are slower than the cams too. I'll just live with at. At <$10 it's cheap enough. Am.

[flash]

you count the seconds??????.................... hell I'm just glad they get themselves from the camera to the computer!!!!! god knows what I would do if they didn't! I'm stuffed without the automatic witchery involved in these modern day thingy's.............time was we had to take the film out of the box brownie, take it to the shop, have it sent away to Kodak, then wait for development, then a week later (if you were lucky) you could see all of the stuff ups of aunty Sharon's wedding in all their black and white glory

[arthurking83]

When I built my new PC a few months ago, one little embellishment I just had to have(at the princely price premium of $39) was a (front)case mounted car reader, port connector(with eSATA! port :th3:), audio jack output, and this annoying PC temp sensor display(with a VU meter).

Why the hell I needed a VU meter is beyond me.. but I got it now and I also regret it. Once the kids found out what it does, they stand next to me and yell!.. just to watch the bar graphs jump up and down!!(so be warned).

I've yet to fully test it against my USB tethered card readers, but I think it feels faster for some reason. It shouldn't, as it's still connected to an internal USB port.

Good quality card readers are supposed to be faster than <$10 specials from the local grocery store/shoe shop, and I remember that one of the reasons I purchased my Apacer card reader(for $20 or so) I was told by the store attendant that this one was fast.

I'll pit up against the front mounted yell'o'meter soon to see if there is any difference in speed.

There are programs that allow you to measure the actual Mb/s rate too.
Windows7 shows you the data rate as the files are being transferred across too now.

[peterking]

Personally I have several of these little readers and they are mostly about the same. My personal favourite is a $49.00 Qpix which I actually only paid $14.95 for on special.
The main point to look for is, does it say on the device "USB High Speed"? If not then it is likely a USB1.0 or USB 1.1. To get the best speed you need USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 if your computer can take it.
Having said that if your card is a low end copy rather than one of the name brands then it could be a matter of a slow card.