Question card reader

[danezeq]

Can someone recommend on a card reader (for pc) that doesnt break down after few months?
which firms are reliable?
i used to buy some bad stuff on aliexpress and two card readers just destroyed all data on microSD card.

 

[Eugene$$]

Ugreen

 

[USAFRet]

Can someone recommend on a card reader (for pc) that doesnt break down after few months?
which firms are reliable?
i used to buy some bad stuff on aliexpress and two card readers just destroyed all data on microSD card.

For what type of cards?

 

[Misgar]

I've been using a couple of Kingston FCR-HS4 multi-card readers for at least 3 years with Compact Flash and SDHC/SDXC cards from my DSLRs and microSD cards from my phones. The FCR-HS4 is UHS-I rated, not UHS-II but even so, ATTO shows a read speed of 232MB/s and write speed of 192MB/s on a 128GB Lexar x1800 UHS-II SDXC card. The claimed read speed for the 128GB x1800 SDXC card is 270MB/s in a UHS-II compatible device, but I'm quite happy reading back 4K video files to my laptop at 232MB/s.

I also have a couple of Startech FCREADHCU3 card readers of the same vintage but they occasionally dropped out @ USB3 speeds when transferring files to one of the two laptops I use for daily backups on holiday, so I've stopped using the Startech readers. I use a short 30cm heavy duty blue Startech USB3 cable with the card readers to minimize data corruption, as seen on cheap poorly made 3ft/1m long USB3 cables.

I use a program called FreeFileSync to copy each day's shoot from CF and SD cards to my two laptops plus a portable SSD (3 copies). After each CF or SD card is copied, I run a byte-by-byte comparison in FreeFileSync to check for any differences in the source files on the cards and the files saved to the laptops. This doubles the copying time.

The backup process takes me some time each evening, especially when I've filled a 64GB CF card with RAW files and a 32GB SD card with JPGs during the day (not counting other cards with video). After making three copies of each card, I reformat the cards in the cameras, ready for the next day. The trick is to double check you've backed up each card at least once before wiping.

The Kingston readers and the 30cm USB3 Startech cable give 100% reliable copies. The Startech multi-card reader was less reliable with one laptop but fine with another laptop. I put this down to a slight incompatibility between the Startech reader and the USB3 chipset in one laptop. I would not advise using USB3 cables longer than 50cm/1.5ft with any multi-card reader.

I haven't tried Lexar readers but I'm sure they'll be good too. They ought to be given they're even more even expensive than Kingston. Don't economise on card readers. I've tried some really cheap eBay readers and they're awful at USB3 but OK at USB2.