Vantec All-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader

Media card readers are as important to today’s computers as the 3.5” floppy drive was to the computers of the 1980’s. Comparatively, memory cards can store several times more data and are almost 400 times faster. As of 2006, the floppy drive had all but disappeared in modern computers and in its place we find these memory card readers. But what makes a good memory card reader and how does the Vantec All in1 compare?

Design and Features

The Vantec All in 1 internal card reader features support for the most common types of memory cards used today, including:

• Compact Flash types I and II
• Microdrive
• xD-Picture Card
• Secure Digital (MiniSD and microSD with adapter)
• Memory Stick (MS-Pro, MS Duo and MS Duo Pro)
• Smart Media
• MMC/MMC2

The card reader has four independent drives that can be used and accessed at the same time. So you can copy data from your SD card to your Compact flash without having to copy it to your hard drive first.

The reader has two LEDs to indicate power and activity. When the computer is plugged in the power LED glows constantly and when the drive is reading or writing information to a memory card, the activity LED will flash.

The card reader comes with a black face front panel attached but you also get a white face panel if your computer uses white face drives. The computer I installed the card reader in was built in a black case but all the drives are white face so I switched the front panel to the white face to match the other drives in the computer. This is a simple task that only requires pinching the sides of the face plate and pushing in the bottom while pulling it out. It took me literally two seconds to remove the black and another second to attach the white face.

Installation

The card reader also gives you a single USB 2.0 front panel port which connects to the motherboard internally along with the card reader. The card reader has only a single cable to connect during installation. The cable is a dual USB connector that attaches to a dual USB connection on the motherboard. You need to make sure you have a free dual USB connection on your motherboard before hand in order to be able to use the reader. If you don’t have one, you may want to look at some of Vantec’s external USB card readers.

The card reader installs in a floppy drive bay (3.5” drive bay) and screws in place just like a floppy drive. Once the USB cable is connected, the physical installation is complete. Windows XP and Vista users do not need to install any drivers or other software as the device will be detected and automatically configured as removable drives.

The card reader comes with a mini CD with drivers for Windows 98SE and Windows 2000. Current versions of Linux and Mac OS will also automatically provide drivers for this card reader. Older versions may not be compatible, check your OS for USB and memory card support.

Performance

The Vantec All-in-1 card reader performs well with data transfer speeds from the memory cards. It takes less time to copy 2GB of data to my microSD card than it does for my computer to boot. The computer that the reader is installed in did not originally have front panel USB but it did have the internal connection for front panel USB support. USB devices connected to the card reader through the USB port can transfer data up to 480Mb/s depending on the device attached and its transfer capabilities.

The card reader and USB port are backwards compatible with USB 1.1, but the speed is much less with data rates only supported up to 12Mb/s. In other words, it will work on a USB 1.1 compatible computer but at a speed 40 times slower than USB 2.0.

Transferring data between media cards is easy with this reader. As long as the media cards use different drives, you can transfer data from one to the other without having to remove one or saving to the hard drive first. You can not transfer between media cards that used the same drive on the reader like that though. For example, if you want to transfer data from your Compact Flash type I to a Compact Flash type II, you will have to save the data to the computer’s hard drive and then copy it over after switching the cards.

Vantec All in 1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader

The Vantec All in 1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader is a good memory card reader that is exceptionally easy to install and use. Other card readers offer dual USB ports, IEEE 1394 port and fan controllers but at a higher price. Many of them also use a 5.25” drive bay instead of the otherwise unused floppy bay. If all you need is a good card reader and maybe a front panel USB port, this is an excellent choice.

Pros: Easy to install and use, fast card access, USB 1.1 compatible, black and white face included.

Cons: Only one front USB port.

Rating: 5 out of 5

www.vantecusa.com