Customer Reviews

OLYMPUS MAUSB-10 xD-Picture / SmartMedia USB Card Reader / Writer (Retail Package)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I bought this reader/write mostly because I was frustrated at the very long time it took to download pictures from my (Olympus 340) digital camera. This device really makes it a snap, cutting what took five to ten minutes to download 100 pictures to something well under a minute. You simply remove your memory card from your camera and put it into this cigarette-box sized reader that attaches to your USB port.

I had no trouble loading the necessary software onto my laptop (XP operating system) and the reader/writer attached easily to my laptop. The instructions are clear and it is really quite easy to get your pictures downloaded in a very fast time. The reader/writer comes with a CD-disk with software needed to edit pictures.

I recommend this product highly.

I bought this along with a new Olympus camera, for all the obvious reasons (faster downloading). I'm not that enamoured with it.

The good:
- downloading is definitely faster than from the camera
- it's portable, so I can use it on any of my PC's or laptops
- I didn't have too many issues making it work

The bad
- bad driver; still not XP certified. I'd expect Olympus to have their act together in this regard
- wouldn't work with my 7-in-1 floppy drive card reader; I've had to disable that on my PC to get this to work
- doesn't like 'moving' pictures - will only 'copy' and then I have to manually delete the pictures through file manager or the camera
- I think it is slow: plugged into a USB 2.0 and transfer rates are well below par. It takes about 15-20 seconds to download a single SHQ.JPG picture (about 3.5MB)

I personally would opt for something else (e.g. a multi reader with XP certified drivers) before getting this card reader.

Happy shopping
JB

This reader works great..after getting the driver to load on my XP Pro system. Initially, the reader was on a Windows 98 machine and was the perfect solution to read both medias. Each slot appears as its own drive on windows explorer.
The reader is simple to use and has a light letting you know if the drive is working. The information is moved quickly to the computer.

Loaded the driver from the enclosed CD and plugged the card reader into my USB hub and Windows 98 had no problem recognizing the new hardware and finding the new driver.

The card reader works fine and each slot, one for an xD card and the other for a SmartMedia card, is assigned a different drive letter by Windows 98.

The procedure for removing the card is described in the Quick Start Guide. It involves right-clicking the card reader icon to extinguish the status light on the unit. The use of the word "eject" is misleading because like other card readers removal of the card from the slot is done manually by grasping the edge of the card. Easy to insert and remove a card.

I bought the Olympus MAUSB-10 to use with my new Olympus C50 camera. I'm pleased with both products. Olympus responds promptly to email inquiries and has a toll-free number for technical support.

I own many Olympus digital cameras and accessories, and have been quite brand-loyal.

But I've been disappointed by several flaws in the recent xD product line.

This MAUSB-10 device appears to have some problems with Windows XP. The driver on the CD is not certified for XP, nor is the latest online driver. The latest online driver is dated 2002, and it's currently summer 2004, so Olympus has had plenty of time to create a certified XP driver.

The MAUSB-10 appeared to work at first, but caused blue screen Windows crashes when running Windows backup, when it was searching for backup devices. I also experienced crashes on card insertion.

I have had other USB card readers working well in the past, and I reverted back to them, now the problems are gone.

I think this driver just isn't 100% polished. It probably handles the most generic case, but hasn't been well tested or implemented for the various system configurations.

I might recommend you try the MACF-10 xD to Compact Flash adapter. That allows you to access your xD cards from Compact Flash readers. It seems to work for me, but I'm not sure if there are cases when the compatibility doesn't work.

I bought this reader for my Olympus D-460 Zoom because Olympus won't update a driver for XP. (Maybe we should update cameras when we update pc's?)
Back to this card reader, None of the software is XP certified, meaning it won't install! Tried downloading the updated software from the Oly website, same problem!! The only thing I got after 5 attempts was it loaded a driver and the XP software reads your card and directs it to a destination. [...]

I was unable to get this reader to work at all with my Windows XP system. Both the drivers on the disc and the "latest" drivers on the Olympus site are outdated and not signed by Microsoft.

I tried using the device with both USB 1 and USB 2 ports with the same results. After a bit of a fight, the drivers do seem to install and you get a drive icon for each memory slot, but it doesn't recognize any media inserted, (you don't even get a flicker of the drive access light).

In reading the other reviews it seems that some people are able to get it to work on XP, but it's a crap shoot.

Without updated, signed drivers, I can't recommend this device.

Usually you plug an item like this and it installs itself. Not so with this reader. I used the enclosed CD with no luck. I then went to the manufacter's site and downloaded the latest driver and it still does not work. I emailed the company for advice and have not received a reply after three days time.

You are better off buying the ScanDisk 5 in 1 reader for half the price. I plugged that in and had to do nothing, it just works. I give this product four thumbs down!

I purchased this reader as a more convenient option than having to get out the camera (C-5060 Wide Zoom), and also to save battery power. Unlike the problem other reviewers had, the software installed just fine on my Windows XP.

The reader works and it accomplishes the task of saving battery power. However, the download is FAR slower than with the camera itself. It is so much slower, that I prefer to waste battery power and just use the camera. It's just too darn slow to merit even two stars.

I too, have Windows XP, and can't seem to get the software to install correctly (at the final step, there is an error message that reads: The parameter is incorrect). I'm not a computer whiz, so I don't know what this means. I just know that when I plug the USB reader into the computer, the computer recognizes the hardware, but it won't function because the software is incompatable with Windows XP! Unless I can find software that is compatable (and/or digitally signed), this USB reader is useless.