StarTech.com ExpressCard Memory Card Reader review

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Verdict:

An ExpressCard reader saves a USB slot, but will stick out of the EC slot and is more expensive than USB versions.

Review Date: 8 Aug 2010

Price when reviewed: £16

Supplier: http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop

Reviewed By: Barry de la Rosa

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

If you have a laptop and are running out of USB ports, an ExpressCard memory card reader may be what you're looking for. This model claims support for 12 types of card, although reading the fine print it seems an adaptor is required for most of them. Still, it handles the most common formats, notably Memory Stick and SDHC. Write speed on our test SDHC card was 10.2MB/s, while read speed was an impressive 17.9MB/s.

Although you pay a bit extra compared to a USB card reader, there are advantages to an ExpressCard option: you don't have to give up a USB slot, and you can leave the card fitted, reducing the chance of losing your card reader. However, depending on the design of your laptop's ExpressCard slot, the card may stick out a few millimetres and it has quite sharp edges.

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