Pros :
Very fast reader (and as Robert points out below, it writes as well)
Multiple LUN
Can connect micro SD without adapter
Supports UHS-I for SD and UDMA 7 for CF
Supports SDXC
Detachable USB cable (easier to pack for traveling)
Cons :
Supplied cable is rather short
Cannot access SD and micro SD at the same time
No rubber feet to prevent it from sliding
SD / micro SD slot not spring loaded, no eject button on CF slot
If you're buying a fast SD or CF card, and if your system has USB 3.0 ports, you should get a fast reader. This one worked well for me, and it is significantly cheaper than SanDisk's reader.
There are 2 versions of this : TS-RDF8K and TS-RDF8W. I'm not sure what are the differences other than the color (K = black, W = white), I received the TS-RDF8K. There are 2 different firmware files on Transcend's website, one for each version.
The reader is fairly thick but very compact. The reader comes with a 3' long USB 3.0 cable. The length is rather short, as my computer is on the floor, and the USB 3.0 ports are at the back of the case. The reader has a USB 3.0 micro B port so you can easily replace this with a longer cable if you need to.
I tested this on my desktop, an Intel i7-920 running Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit, USB 3.0 provided by an add on card (NEC chipset). I do not have a Windows 7 system with USB 3.0 ports to test this on, unfortunately.
(Edit 11/12/13 : I've been using this under Windows 7 Pro for over a year now. It works, most of the time. Occasionally the computer would not detect the card reader when I plug it in. This appears to be a problem with my USB 3.0 PCI Express card or driver, and not this card reader - it wouldn't detect another card reader connected to USB 3.0, and it will detect this card reader when I connect it to a USB 2.0 port.)
Immediately after connecting the reader, I ran the firmware update utility. All this went uneventfully. After flashing the firmware, I disconnected, and reconnected the reader.
The reader is a multi-LUN reader. This means that it appears as 3 different drives - one each for SD, CF, and Memory stick. I did not test with memory stick as I did not have any. There's a slot for micro SD (so you don't need an adapter) but you can't use both SD and micro SD at the same time. You can, however, copy between SD and CF, though I don't think that's a very useful scenario.
I used h2testw for my testing. This ensures that I can read and write to memory cards through my card reader.
First I tested a Kingston 133x compact flash card. It only showed a small improvement of 1 MB/s over my USB 2.0 reader. I was surprised - I didn't expect any improvement.
Next I tested with
SanDisk Extreme 32GB 45MB/s SDHC Flash Memory Card SDSDX-032G-X46,Black
and
SanDisk 32GB Extreme Pro CF memory card - UDMA 90MB/s 600x (SDCFXP-032G-A91, US Retail Package)
. The SD card is listed as UHS-I compliant, and the CF card as UDMA 7.
The Extreme SD card measured 34.8 MB/s write and 40.7 MB/s read. On my USB 2.0 reader, I could only get slightly under 20 MB/s read. About half the speed.
The Extreme Pro CF card measured 63.2 MB/s write and 84.3 MB/s read. My USB 2.0 reader only managed 23 MB/s read.
In other words, it is almost 4x faster tham my USB 2.0 reader, and can download an entire 32GB card in around 6 minutes, compared to around 20 minutes with my USB 2.0 reader.
I didn't encounter any problems booting up my system with the card reader attached. The reader has functioned flawlessly so far. I'm definitely happy with this purchase, which will save me much time when downloading photos.
| Brand | Transcend |
|---|---|
| Item model number | TS-RDF8W |
| Item Weight | 1.13 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 2.7 x 0.6 x 1.8 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 2.7 x 0.6 x 1.8 inches |
| Color | White |
| Number of Processors | 1 |
| Manufacturer | Transcend |
| ASIN | B006JINI5G |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | January 24, 2012 |
