Transcend USB 3.0 Super Speed Multi-Card Reader for SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/CF Cards (TS-RDF8K),Black

Pros :Very fast reader (and as Robert points out below, it writes as well)Multiple LUNCan connect micro SD without adapterSupports UHS-I for SD and UDMA 7 for CFSupports SDXCDetachable USB cable (easier to pack for traveling)Cons :Supplied cable is rather shortCannot access SD and micro SD at the same timeNo rubber feet to prevent it from slidingSD / micro SD slot not spring loaded, no eject button on CF slotIf 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.

I use this little card reader for just about everything. In fact, this is the 2nd one I bought due to a need to keep one on my desk and the other in my tech bag. I do IT work for local small businesses and my old one finally died several months back. I bought this Transcend model for three reasons - it supports USB 3.0, it supports a wide variety of card types and it was made by Transcend, a brand name I have grown to trust over the past 3 to 4 years.It is small, about the size of a TicTac box. It is self-powered via the USB connection, it does accurately transfer files at proper USB 3 speeds according to my benchmark tests and doesn't get hot like some cheap card readers do. Of course, the transfer speeds are also limited by the card's speed class too.I think the best feature of this is the fact that Transcend is offering firmware updates. This means that if there are compatibility issues in the future, Transcend can correct them via the firmware if necessary. All you have to do is check their website every so often and run their quick and simple update utility and you will have the latest and greatest once again.The only complaint I can honestly see someone having is that it comes with a short 12" cable so be sure to buy a longer one if you need it. But this is a PORTABLE, EXTERNAL device and the short cable keeps in line with that purpose so complaining about that would be like saying your toothbrush isn't long enough to reach your neighbor's mouth. It's not meant to. lol You can easily buy a 3ft or 6ft USB 3.0 cable here at Amazon for around $8 and it never hurts to have a spare one laying around anyway.I have seen a review or two in here about 64GB cards not working. I have used a couple of different brand 64GB cards and they work for me just fine. I am in the IT field. I can tell you from experience that it might not be the device - though your device could be defective - you must also consider the following -#1- Is the card bad/defective? Try the card in another reader and make sure it works very well. Try copying over a few large folders/files (1GB or so) then deleting them.#2- Bad cable? Try swapping cables.#3- USB port? Try another port and try a USB 3.0 port even if it works for your other, smaller cards.#4- The age of the computer operating system and/or motherboard you are connecting to? I know for a fact older OSes and motherboards have issues with these new cards. This could be for various reasons like bad drivers, the need of a BIOS update, the format type you are attempting to use - FAT, FAT32, NTFS, etc.Also, keep in mind that Transcend does offer firmware updates for this device. The latest version as of this writing is TS22. You might have been sent one that was sitting in a warehouse and has outdated firmware. Don't forget to keep this in mind for later down the road, say in 6 months or a year. It is nice to know Transcend is going the extra mile to even bother with firmware releases because many other card reader manufacturers do not.Overall, I highly recommend this card reader and I recommend you consider Transcend products in the future.