Customer Reviews

Kingston 1GB Secure Digital Flash Card with MobileLite 9-in-1 Card Reader (FCR-ML+SD/1GB)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Overall, the reader is an excellent unit. Based on NewEgg's users, they reported some SD/miniSD/microSD were having problems with the reader. From my experiences, none so far with a variety of SD/MiniSD but no microSD yet.

First Impression:
When I looked at this out of the box, it doesn't pop out at me as anything special. Just like my older SD/miniSD card reader that I've purchase on Amazon and eBay. BUT, it all changes the second I got the chance to play with it.

Appearance can be deceiving:
Rather than being regular size memory card reader, it actually has a double-sided (3 ports total) card reader, ranging from the normal SD and MMC to the microSD and microMMC. I can use all 3 ports for my cards. The kicker is, unlike my suspicion that the cards will be sticking out of the reader, they all actually sit within the reader, with both caps snapped into place neatly, without any protrusion problem what-so-ever. The lids for the ports are nice and tight, preventing any probability of the cards from falling out, IF, the cards can slide out of the retention plastic holder on each port. The semi-clear retention strips are actually card guiders for easy removal of the media card. Where have this design when I needed it a few years back. If tend to lose the USB connector cap from your reader like those cheapy $2 or $5 reader, this is it. Kingston actually put some thinking into having a retention line to it. It may act like a keychain holder, but I wouldn't use it to place on a keychain. The line is not as strong as one may think. Neverthless, the cap has a 4-plastic slits which do a great job holding the cap on the USB connector, but that extra feature in keeping the cap from getting lost, KUDOS Kingston.

Read/Write capability:
If you have a problem with the Read/Write speed, it's not the reader, but rather, the media you've purchased. I've used a media transferring rate monitoring software, and tested on various SD/miniSD brands and storage sizes, from 512MB to 4GB+, from normal SD or SDHC, from class 1 to Class 6, and ultra classes (SanDisk Extreme III). What ever the class it indicates on the media you've purchased, that the speed of your media in writing mode (Class 2 is 2MB/s, Class 6 is 6MB/s, and the SanDisk Extreme is 7MB/s, including the generic 150X which tops out at 7.25MB/s). The reader supports any media that can attain up to 480Mb/s (40MB/s) read/write capability, which surprises me. Most cheap readers out there will attain 480Mb/s reading speed, but never writing (250Mb/s which is 25MB/s) or less. Nice one Kingston.

Intellectual approach:
In the reader's package, Kingston staff that came up with the unit were thinking hard and well. Why? For most of us who purchased the compact desktop system from HP and Dell, the front USB ports were designed at a slant, flushing into the body of the system, which prevented us from inserting the less-compacted USB devices to the front USB ports properly. On top of that, the USB ports were placed so close together, you can only use one USB device connection at a time. So, thanks to the dimwits who designed the systems' casing without proper thinking for normal operations, Kingston provided a USB A-to-A 2.5 inches adapter cable. That $1.50 cable makes all the difference for connecting to the front USB ports. KUDOS Kingston. You got my vote the "Device Design and Packaging of the Year".

Compatibility:
So far, all PCs, MACs, and Linux read this unit, on all operating system that can support USB storage media and readers. Media cards from 512MB to 4GB+ from companies such as Kingston, A-Data, Ridata, TopRam, SamSung, SanDisk, and quite a bit of generics out there work with this reader.

Stay away from moisture:
Like all media and hardware, once exposed to moisture, it's done for. First goes your media, since area with a high moisture content and humidity of 90%, it will fail. The reader actually gone through the rough environment, and still functioning, although, I can't say the same for the media.

High-G impacts:
I'm a clumsy guy, and tends to drop things like there's no tomorrow. The device shell handles the drops nicely, and the internal hardware, not much of it, work flawlessly after the drops.

Don't play in the sun:
Like most electronic device, don't let your device sit under the sun. It may be a cheap unit to replace, but a bit of care will prevent you from shelling out another $15 for the device every few months. It will still work after sitting in a 120 degree F environment for a few days, but, try to bring it with you when ever possible. It's not indestructible.

It does what I need it to do. Nothing special about. I have since move on to a 2GB one thought, but this 1GB is perfect for when I want to download photos so I can take them to the drug store for printing.

Si manejas diversos tipos de memorias es muy util y versatil. me permite bajar las fotografias de mi camara rapidamente a mi pc.