SanDisk ImageMate All-in-1 Flash Memory Card Reader

by SanDisk

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 2.5 x 2 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001FR8PQS
• Item model number: SDDR-189-A20
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #83 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Accessories > Memory Card Readers
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 29, 2009

Product Description

Transfer your files to your PC quickly, easily and safely with this USB reader. The All-in-One Reader works with all popular types of memory cards, without the need for an adapter. With read/write speeds of up to 34MB/s*, this is one of the fastest USB 2.0 readers you can find. The included metal stand lets you easily detach the reader and slip it into your notebook bag. Press the transfer button on top of the reader to automatically launch your favourite application or website when transferring or editing your files. And when you're all done, stand back and admire your work and your All-in-One reader, sleekly styled to look great on your desk. Package Contents: Reader, Metal stand, USB 2.0, Quick Start Guide (Downloading the User Guide)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile For Digital Photos, May 5, 2009

By 

Mitchell Small (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SanDisk ImageMate All-in-1 Flash Memory Card Reader (Personal Computers)

I do not like the software that comes with many digital cameras that forces you to connect the camera to your computer to transfer your photos. The card reader built into my computer does not read the newer SDHC cards, so I needed an external card reader.

Installation could not have been simpler: plug one end of the supplied mini-USB cable to the reader and the other to your computer. Wait until a message shows the device is ready and you are done. No drivers to install, no setup program, just plug it in and you are done. The small size allows it to easily fit into a laptop case for travel or share with other computers at home.

Despite what some people have posted about this reader not working properly with their operating system, mine is performing flawlessly with Vista. What is more, I find this reader is faster than the one built into my computer.

Strongly suggested for fans of digital cameras and other devices with removable memory cards. As a bonus, it can also read the micro-SD card from my GPS without needing to find that pesky adapter that is always getting lost.

67 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reasonably Fast Reader, February 13, 2009

By 

ChicagoCPA (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SanDisk ImageMate All-in-1 Flash Memory Card Reader (Personal Computers)

I recently purchased a Canon Vixia HF100 camcorder and knew the files would be HUGE, so I was looking for the fastest SD card download set up I could find.

I initially bought the Lexar Pro UDMA Dual-Slot Reader and a SanDisk 16GB Extreme III 30MB/s SDHC card hoping for at least 20MB/s performance.

Alas, the Lexar reader only gave me 10MB/s performance on this SDHC card (see re-test later for 18MB/s)

So I then purchased this SanDisk All In One Reader (SDDR-189-A20) and I achieve 17MB/s, which is much faster than I ever had before, however no where near the 30MB/s advertised.

According to [...]:
Unlike the ImageMate Multi-Card reader, the ImageMate All-in-One doesn't include support for the proprietary data timing mode found in SanDisk's Extreme III 30MB/s Edition SDHC. This means it doesn't deliver an extra speed boost when paired with one of these specific cards.

So I then purchased the Multi-Card reader (SDDR-199-A20), which is basically a 1 slot version of the 3 slot SDDR189.

On my Dell XPS600 with Windows XP SP3 with Norton IS2009 turned off, downloading a 1GB movie takes
55 seconds - 18MB/s - on the SDDR189 and the Lexar (close enough to rank together)
41 seconds - 24MB/s - on the SDDR199
43 seconds - 23MB/s - from my USB 2.0 hard drive
31 seconds - 31MB/s - from that same hard drive via firewire 400 ()
10 seconds - 95MB/s - from my external esata hard drive ()

Considering that a typical download is 2 to 5 GB, we are talking about saving several minutes here.

I like the Lexar reader a lot. Even more-so now that my initial test of 10MB/s proved to be faulty. I perceive it to be of better quality and I like that it protects the slots from my kids who have already bent the pins on another CF reader by jamming something into the inviting slot. I like the simplicity of having just two slots. The included usb cable is too short to reach my desk, however it is a standard cable and easily replaced.

I like the speed of the SDDR199, however I wish it read CF cards as well (our primary camera is a Canon 40D), so that I can use just one card-reader. On the SDDR189, the magnetic stand is a joke, however on the much smaller SDDR199, it works well. My computer sees it immediately and I find it to be very responsive.

I am going to keep the Lexar and the one-slot Sandisk 199 at the desktop using the same cable and throw away all the other card readers that have proven themselves to be highly unreliable, slow to respond and not worth their cheap price.

The SDDR 189 is a very good compromise and I will keep that one for my back pack so I can read all various card types with reasonable speed. The magnetic stand on this rather tall reader is a bit of a joke however, so the back-pack makes even more sense over the desktop in this regard. The Transfer button also seems very flimsy, but I doubt I'd ever use it anyway. Yet another bonus is that I have been able to upload photos/music directly to the microSD card in my ATT Fuze, rather than searching for the SD adaptor first.

I would love to see someone make a firewire (or esata) SD/CF reader because I read that Firewire CF card readers are getting about 30 to 40 MB/s.

I am somewhat disappointed that Canon (and everyone else) seems to be moving away from the CF format to the SD format as we knew from day one that the CF specification allowed for a much faster data transfer and that files will only get bigger.

45 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good functionality, poor ergonomics, July 5, 2009

By 

P. Schmidt (Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SanDisk ImageMate All-in-1 Flash Memory Card Reader (Personal Computers)

I have been using the older SanDisk ImageMate 12-in-1 card reader for years, happily reading my Compact Flash, Memory Stick, and SD cards. Then, one day I bought a newer, larger capacity SD card (also SanDisk), and found that the 12-in-1 would not recognize it.

A Google search revealed that the protocol for reading the higher capacity and/or higher speed cards that are now on the market was somehow different from what the 12-in-1 was designed to handle. SanDisk's website allowed that there was a firmware flash upgrade available for the 12-in-1 that would allow it to read memory cards with the newer protocol, but unluckily my particular reader was old enough that there was no flash available for its serial number range.

I bought a nice looking all-in-one reader made by IOGear (their "56-in-1 Memory Card Reader/Writer"), and it worked with the new card, but the transfer was agonizingly slow. It took almost an hour to transfer the 8GB card's contents to my computer. Extrapolating how long the older Sandisk 12-in-1 took to transfer a 2GB card, this was a ridiculously long time. Another Google search revealed that this reader, and some others, were notoriously slow...I should have Googled before I bought!

The same search suggested that the new SanDisk ImageMate All-in-One Reader/Writer was a speed demon, so I ordered one from Amazon (no local stores carried it, interesting enough).

The new SanDisk reader works well. The cards plug in and can be removed easily enough, the reader transfers data at a reasonably fast rate, etc. However, I find that SanDisk really fell down in the ergonomics department with this product. Apparently, the whole design group was stoned out and tripping to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and thereby designing their new card reader to look like the black monolith. Whereas the 12-in-1 had a nice appearance, docking into a stable desk stand, with ample room around the card slots for text and diagrams to show which kind of card goes into which slot, the new All-in-One looks cheap and flimsy (although it actually feels solid), is held onto a tiny desk stand base with a weak magnet so that it falls off too easily, and is so thin that the text and diagrams are illegible.

The older 12-in-1 could be undocked from the desk stand and laid flat on a table, or used as a hand-held device. The same is true for the new All-in-One, except its smaller footprint and slick surface makes it harder to use laid flat on a table, and its shape makes it unpleasant as a hand-held unit.

The older 12-in-1 had a nice array of colored LEDs to indicate that the reader was communicating with the computer over USB and that each slot was busy transferring data. The new All-In-One does not have anything to indicate that it is plugged in and ready, but does have LEDs to show slot activity. However, these are tiny pinpoint blue LEDs that seem to be sunken back into the plastic, and I find them hard to see unless I look closely. And, since they are next to the slots, the card itself may obscure its LED when viewed from some angles (the older reader had the LEDs grouped up on top where they were both attractive and highly visible).

While this reader certainly functional, it serves as a poster child for poor ergonomic design. The designers apparently wanted a slick looking design, but did not think through the functional aspects of the ergonomics.