Built in Media Readers

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 01:35:29 GMT, Dave Cohen wrote:

>Some questions on newer machines with built in card readers.
>1. Are these usb devices.
>2. Are they as fast as an external usb 2.0 card reader.
>3. I assume they all take a separate drive #, that's a lot of numbers.

They are generally the same as external USB readers, but with an internal cable.

-- Larry
 >> Stay informed about: Built in Media Readers 

Hi,

I was visiting my cousin a few months ago. She had a fairly new Gateway
machine with built in media readers.

They (well, at least the compact flash one) were very very slow. Seemed like
USB 1.1 speed and not USB 2.0.

Gadi

"pltrgyst" wrote in message

> On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 01:35:29 GMT, Dave Cohen wrote:
>
>>Some questions on newer machines with built in card readers.
>>1. Are these usb devices.
>>2. Are they as fast as an external usb 2.0 card reader.
>>3. I assume they all take a separate drive #, that's a lot of numbers.
>
> They are generally the same as external USB readers, but with an internal
> cable.
>
> -- Larry
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Built in Media Readers 

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 01:35:29 GMT, Dave Cohen wrote:

> Some questions on newer machines with built in card readers.
> 1. Are these usb devices.
> 2. Are they as fast as an external usb 2.0 card reader.
> 3. I assume they all take a separate drive #, that's a lot of numbers.

I guess that you missed a recent thread here. HP's most recent
and most powerful computers have a slew of USB 2.0 High Speed ports.
They also come with several built-in card reader slot that connect
(internally) to one of the USB ports. Unfortunately, the card
readers are *not* USB 2.0 High Speed. Whether they're USB 2.0 Full
Speed or USB 1.1 doesn't matter, as they're both equally slow.

They allow up something like 8 or 9 different card types to be
used, but only consist of 4 unique card sockets, so 4 drive numbers
are reserved.

I assume that some or most of the other built-in readers provided
by other computer manufacturers use real USB 2.0 High Speed parts.
If you want or need the fastest transfer, Sandisk's Extreme IV cards
and readers allow much faster sustained data transfer rates than USB
2.0 High Speed normally allows. Sandisk has a USB 2.0 version, and
an even faster Firewire version. According to tests shown using a
100x, 133x and an Extreme IV card (see links below), read
performance was the same, 8MB/sec for all cards using a Fuji USB 2.0
High Speed reader. Using the Sandisk's new reader, read speeds
increased to approx. 15, 11 and 22 MB/sec. Write performance was
similar. Using the Fuji reader, the 100x, 133x and Extreme IV cards
could be written to at 6, 6, and 7 MB/sec. In the Sandisk Extreme
reader the write speeds increased to about 11, 8 and 22 MB/sec.

I think that most people would be satisfied with most USB 2.0 High
Speed readers, and that the Extreme hardware would be useful mostly
for those that transfer far more data daily than most people do in a
month.

http://dpnow.com/2879.html
http://dpnow.com/2879a.html
 >> Stay informed about: Built in Media Readers 

Dave Cohen wrote:
> Some questions on newer machines with built in card readers.
> 1. Are these usb devices.
> 2. Are they as fast as an external usb 2.0 card reader.
> 3. I assume they all take a separate drive #, that's a lot of numbers.
> Dave Cohen

1. Yes, usually. One could connect them to a Firewire port internally,
but I am not aware of any company who does this.
2. They can be. However, HP has been putting USB 1.1 card readers in
even their top of the line (64 bit dual core) machines, causing a lot of
dissatisfaction lately, so check the specs before you buy.
3. Not always. Some have a drive letter for each slot, some share
drive letters between the slots. Some slots accept multiple types of
cards, ie. MMC and SD cards are compatible.
 >> Stay informed about: Built in Media Readers 

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message

> Dave Cohen wrote:
>> Some questions on newer machines with built in card readers.
>> 1. Are these usb devices.
>> 2. Are they as fast as an external usb 2.0 card reader.
>> 3. I assume they all take a separate drive #, that's a lot of numbers.
>> Dave Cohen
>
> 1. Yes, usually. One could connect them to a Firewire port internally,
> but I am not aware of any company who does this.
> 2. They can be. However, HP has been putting USB 1.1 card readers in
> even their top of the line (64 bit dual core) machines, causing a lot of
> dissatisfaction lately, so check the specs before you buy.
> 3. Not always. Some have a drive letter for each slot, some share drive
> letters between the slots. Some slots accept multiple types of cards, ie.
> MMC and SD cards are compatible.


Hi.

Yes, each slot shows up as a drive with its own drive letter.

The 4 slots can handle up to 9 different card types on my machine.

I no longer use it, because it is so dreadfully slow. I plug my USB 2
Sandisc Reader into the USB 2 Slot on the fascia of the Card Reader. That
gives me another 4 Drive letters, but at least I don't grow old while
waiting for Files to download.

It does look more than a little stupid to have a Card Reader, on the end of
a cable, plugged into a machine with a Card Reader.

I was going to disconnect it and post it back to HP, and ask them to put it
into their museum of old fashioned and obsolete equipment, but they would
probably just put it into another machine and sell it again.

It is fitted into a Presario SR 1839 UK. Pentium 4 Dual Core 3000Mhz
Processors, 300 GB SATA Hdd, I Gb DDR 2 RAM, 7 USB 2 and 2 Firewire
Ports.

Not exactly a Slow machine. The base unit cost more than double the price
of the cheapest full system Presario in PC World. Yet this card reader
takes about 30 Minutes to read a 1 GB card.

H.P. are so proud of their "Total Care" (is that what they claim) that in
spite of writing to them twice, I am still awaiting an answer to any of my
questions.

If you are thinking of updating your computer, do check the Card Reader is
not a useless obsolete USB 1.1 version.

What else should we expect from a Multi National. There will no doubt be
some "Smart Bastard" in their HO, who thinks these threads are very amusing.

Roy G
 >> Stay informed about: Built in Media Readers 

Roy G wrote:
> "Ron Hunter" wrote in message
>
>> Dave Cohen wrote:
>>> Some questions on newer machines with built in card readers.
>>> 1. Are these usb devices.
>>> 2. Are they as fast as an external usb 2.0 card reader.
>>> 3. I assume they all take a separate drive #, that's a lot of numbers.
>>> Dave Cohen
>> 1. Yes, usually. One could connect them to a Firewire port internally,
>> but I am not aware of any company who does this.
>> 2. They can be. However, HP has been putting USB 1.1 card readers in
>> even their top of the line (64 bit dual core) machines, causing a lot of
>> dissatisfaction lately, so check the specs before you buy.
>> 3. Not always. Some have a drive letter for each slot, some share drive
>> letters between the slots. Some slots accept multiple types of cards, ie.
>> MMC and SD cards are compatible.
>
>
> Hi.
>
> Yes, each slot shows up as a drive with its own drive letter.
>
> The 4 slots can handle up to 9 different card types on my machine.
>
> I no longer use it, because it is so dreadfully slow. I plug my USB 2
> Sandisc Reader into the USB 2 Slot on the fascia of the Card Reader. That
> gives me another 4 Drive letters, but at least I don't grow old while
> waiting for Files to download.
>
> It does look more than a little stupid to have a Card Reader, on the end of
> a cable, plugged into a machine with a Card Reader.
>
> I was going to disconnect it and post it back to HP, and ask them to put it
> into their museum of old fashioned and obsolete equipment, but they would
> probably just put it into another machine and sell it again.
>
> It is fitted into a Presario SR 1839 UK. Pentium 4 Dual Core 3000Mhz
> Processors, 300 GB SATA Hdd, I Gb DDR 2 RAM, 7 USB 2 and 2 Firewire
> Ports.
>
> Not exactly a Slow machine. The base unit cost more than double the price
> of the cheapest full system Presario in PC World. Yet this card reader
> takes about 30 Minutes to read a 1 GB card.
>
> H.P. are so proud of their "Total Care" (is that what they claim) that in
> spite of writing to them twice, I am still awaiting an answer to any of my
> questions.
>
> If you are thinking of updating your computer, do check the Card Reader is
> not a useless obsolete USB 1.1 version.
>
> What else should we expect from a Multi National. There will no doubt be
> some "Smart Bastard" in their HO, who thinks these threads are very amusing.
>
> Roy G
>
>
I agree that putting a slow card reader into a fast machine is pretty
stupid. I WILL remember it next time I go to buy a new computer. Let
the buyer beware!
I can put the card in the card reader in my wife's 2 year old computer
with internal card reader, read the card, and move the file across the
LAN much faster than I can read it on my much newer, and faster machine.
This is faulty thinking on HP's part!
If they want to blow out those old readers, why not put them into the
budget priced machines where people aren't expecting the best of everything.
 >> Stay informed about: Built in Media Readers 

On 2006-08-16 21:35:29 -0400, Dave Cohen said:

> Some questions on newer machines with built in card readers.
> 1. Are these usb devices.
> 2. Are they as fast as an external usb 2.0 card reader.
> 3. I assume they all take a separate drive #, that's a lot of numbers.
> Dave Cohen

Also beware.. a lot of these built in USB ports are connected to an
internal hub, in otherwords they are not directly connected to the PCI
bus. This is likely more true on inexpensive machines than more
expensive ones. It cost pennies for a manufacturer to put in 15 USB
ports on two hubs. Expanded that PCI bus to support 15 direct connect
USB ports and the costs climb exponentially. Even more hideous is that
some interanl devices in the computer may be connected to the same
hub... ie, keyboard, mouse, sound, network etc.
--
Jim <jen....not....home..remvdots...@....yahoo
 >> Stay informed about: Built in Media Readers