Advice: Good Internal Card Reader

[mark_k]

What should I be looking for in a good Internal Card Reader?

I don’t need USB on front panel.
I don’t need head phones or mic jacks on front panel.

I want to have all the old and new card readers (including xd)
I see some with eSATA what is eSATA on the front panel for?
I see some with Front IEEE 1394. What is this used for?
Do I need to have or should I get firewire on the front panel?
Any other ports that I need to consider like for connecting cameras etc....?

Can anyone suggest a manufacture/model etc...?

Thanks

Mark

 

[heltoupee]

Short answer: Cheapest you can find that fits the bill. Pretty much all of these are manufactured in bulk in China and rebadged with whatever brand is selling them.

More in-depth:

Most of the 'all-in-one' readers out there will support all major formats ever made. Make sure it specifically supports SDHC (that's SD cards over 2GB. You'll run into quite a few of these).

eSATA is a format used for external hard drives. You'll pay more for your reader if you get one with this (~10-15 bucks more).

IEEE 1394 is firewire. The terms are used interchangably. You'll pay more to have firewire on the thing too (5-10 bucks more).

Personally, I'd get one with SDHC support, and a USB port (since most come with this, anyway), but I'd forgo the Firewire and eSATA ports. If you have an external eSATA drive, or a device (usually a video camera) that uses firewire, then possibly consider getting these ports, but remember, they're going to cost you extra.

I've been looking for a replacement for the one I have currently, and I've marked these as possibilities:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.17985 -- Really cheap, but should work. $5 shipped!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609298 -- more expensive but nicer looking. I was looking at this one because it has a dedicated microSD slot (those little, tiny cards you use in your cellphone for storage, not for network access (ie, not a SIM card)).

 

[mark_k]

Thanks.

I notice that the ones you selected dont handle xd.

- Dont need USB
I really am looking for Front Panel with:

- all cards including SDHC and xd
- one firewire

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I did a newegg search on your requirements and came up with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000069+1185012277+1179714428&Configurator=&Subcategory=69&description=INTERNAL+CARD+READER&Ntk=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

Do you really need the firewire port? There were a few more that supported SDHC and XD, but didn't have the firewire port.

I personally have this card reader and it reads my SDHC cards just fine. It also supports XD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820300901&Tpk=LKA-CR15B

 

[mark_k]

I did a newegg search on your requirements and came up with this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000069+1185012277+1179714428&Configurator=&Subcategory=69&description=INTERNAL+CARD+READER&Ntk=&SpeTabStoreType=&srchInDesc=

Do you really need the firewire port? There were a few more that supported SDHC and XD, but didn't have the firewire port.

I personally have this card reader and it reads my SDHC cards just fine. It also supports XD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820300901&Tpk=LKA-CR15B

SS,

I saw those.

I just thought I would need the firewire in the future.
But for $10.00 I might just get that one or this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820300608
It also supports SDHC and XD.
and upgrade in the future if I need to.

Thanks

Mark

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Neither are the greatest, but for $10 - $12 at least you're not out much if they die. My original reader was an older model and died very quickly, but the new one was the newer model I posted above and so far so good.

 

[cadder]

I scanned all of the ones on newegg a couple of months ago. In reading the customer feedback it seemed that some of the units were constructed better and/or more reliable than others. I needed a simple one so I bought the NIPPON ICR-BB, but these others also looked better than average: CABLES UNLIMITED USB-1610B, Silverstone FP35B, Silverstone FP34-B.

 

[mark_k]

I scanned all of the ones on newegg a couple of months ago. In reading the customer feedback it seemed that some of the units were constructed better and/or more reliable than others. I needed a simple one so I bought the NIPPON ICR-BB, but these others also looked better than average: CABLES UNLIMITED USB-1610B, Silverstone FP35B, Silverstone FP34-B.

Thanks for the reply.

I also read the reviews and they are that good.
I would think that there would be better units or at least more to select from.

Even the simple ones have bad review like DOA, or bad QA etc.......