Customer Reviews

SanDisk SDDRX3-CF-A31 Extreme USB 2.0 Reader (Black)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this card reader to pair with my SanDisk Extreme III CF cards, and it's proven to be a worthwhile investment. Card transfers are very fast with RAW images from my D300, and stay fast even with a full card. The mini-USB cable supplied with the reader is commonly found, so there's no need to worry about proprietary cords if you happen to break yours. The reader is also very compact, proving to be an easy carry-along item in your camera bag, if need be. Also of note: there's a rubber foot on the bottom of the reader if you happen to use it on a slick desk surface (which works very well). This reader is everything it advertises to be, and a must-have if you're shooting high-res RAW imagery.

I have been very impressed at how fast this can transfer data from the card to a hard drive. The built in card readers I have been using on my computers are no match to the speed of this device. I have used it only on Vista machines (a laptop and a desktop). The speed of down load is a fraction of what it was typically taking (10 minutes vs 30-40).

I am using several different types of card manufactures. ALL type II CF cards and sizes from 1G to 8G.

If you want to speed up your download times this is worth every penny.

Card reader works great. I shoot with a Nikon D300 12.2mp wiith extreme III cards, and with a standard reader it would take over an hour to rip a card. With this reader it takes only a few minutes to fully rip a card. Comes in handy when shooting RAW and you only get like 80 images a card.

I bought the Sandisk Extreme SDDRX3-3IN1-901, a cousin of this reader with SD capabilities, about 7 months ago. On the same day it arrived, I filled a 4GB CF card at my parents' anniversary party.

To test the speed, I transferred the files a total of four times:

- Camera to desktop via camera's USB 2.0 cable
- Camera to laptop via camera's USB 2.0 cable
- CF in this cardreader to desktop
- CF in this cardreader to laptop

The camera used is a Canon EOS 40D. Memory card is a 4GB Sandisk Extreme III CompactFlash (30MB/s). In each of the four tests, I transfered the files using Canon's ZoomBrowser EX transfer tool (included with the 40D).

Results:
Average transfer time via the 40D's USB 2.0 cable was 8:48.
Average transfer time via the cardreader was 4:36.

That's nearly twice as fast as the camera's USB 2.0 interface. That could quickly add up if you shoot a lot.

Other than that, I'm pleased with the appearance, size and feel of the reader. The cord detaches so it will fit in my camera bag easily, or it looks good just sitting on my desk. There's a small blue LED that indicates when a card is inserted.

The reader has spent the vast majority of it's time loose in the top compartment of my camera bag along with some filter cases, remote shutter release, and other various extras. I'm surprised to see that it isn't really scratched up. It still works great.

Bought to replace my antiquated SanDisk CF reader that would not work at all with the newer UDMA cards.

Pros?
- Inexpensive
- Well built
- Includes cable
- Includes software (have yet to use though)
- Nice rubber pad/foot on the bottom

Cons?
- Potentially finicky operation on a Mac (~43 minutes to copy 2.49 gigs of images to a MacBook Pro) with an Extreme IV 4G card. Subsequent use of the reader proved much faster (~3 minutes to copy 2 gigs of images) regardless of CF card type used (Extreme III, Extreme IV, Ultra II, or Lexar 133).

Speed aside, the reader is durable and affordable. No regrets about buying it.

This is a super downloader. It is well built, feels solid, downloads very quickly and with it's little rubber foot, does'nt slide around. I've got 2 of them as I download 8gb cards regularly.

I've had a few other brands that did not download so quick, and I'm very happy with this.

The cards go in and out easily, and feel secure and well locked in when pressed into the reader.

Merv.

This item is recommended only for Extreme III Sandisk card users. Will NOT read a 16GB Transcend and I was disappointed with it. On the other hand, 8GB Sandisk Exreme II CF card is copied to the Harddisk faster than anything I had used before.

Seyhun

I've been happy with this card reader. I had bought a cheap one initially and it broke after a couple of uses. This Sandisk reader holds the cards straight is foolproof in terms of loading the cards and reads the cards much faster than the camera or the cheaper one I originally bought. It's expensive, but worth it.

Upon Receiving a camera I had ordered at the same time as this reader, I discovered that it did not include any storage on-board, so I went to a local shop and picked up a 4GB 233X Lexar Professional CompactFlash card as I had not yet received the 4GB 300X Transcend CompactFlash cards I had ordered from another vendor.

This reader works fine with the 233X Lexar card, but the 300X Transcend card will not mount at all using this reader. Oddly enough, the 300X Transcend card works fine with my camera which came out well before CompactFlash IV cards, but for some reason this reader refuses to read it.

It works fine (as expected) with CompactFlash III or lower cards, but if you plan on purchasing cards faster than 233X, you might want to look elsewhere for a different reader.

Murphy's Law: I changed cameras and my laptop does not have a CompactFlash slot... so of course, along with all the camera equipment and new memory cards, I got a CF reader to carry around. This is strictly for traveling, since my desktop computer does have a CF slot. The Sandisk works fine and is faster than my desktop CF card reader. Some might complain about the fact that the USB plug isn't built into the unit: there is a USB cable that needs to be connected to reader and computer USB slot (one more thing to carry around...). I find this good, because in most laptops the USB slots are tightly spaced and the unit wouldn't fit alongside other USB slots. I am very satisfied with this reader.