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Best This article written 2/14/11 |
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A REVIEW OF HIGH SPEED FLASH CARD READERS Comparing the Addonics Pocket eSATA/USB DigiDrive, model AEPDDESU, and the Pretec P240 USB 3.0 Multi-card Reader
After a long day's shoot, we're all anxious to download our images, as
well as maybe grab some sleep. As the resolution on today's dSLRs
increased in size, so did our download time. I often found myself
staring at the progress bar on the computer for an hour as I downloaded
a day's shoot. There had to be a better way!
Until now, almost all card readers connected via USB 2.0. Recently,
however, card readers using other, faster interfaces, began to appear.
In order of theoretical speed from top to bottom are USB 3.0, eSATA,
Firewire 800, and USB 2.0 and Firewire 400.
USB 3.0 is gradually becoming more common on desktops and laptops, and
offers speeds much greater than USB 2.0 (up to ten times faster). Firewire 800 (IEEE1394b) is about two times faster than USB 2.0 or the
older Firewire 400, but is not built into
many computers. eSATA is a
relatively new external interface that, although not exactly common, is
generally more readily found than Firewire on
both desktops and laptops PCs.
Until recently, there were no card readers available in USB 3.0, and I
didn't have Firewire 800 on either of my desktop or laptop computers.
While you can add a Firewire interface by putting a card in your
desktop, or via Express Card slots on your laptop, I didn’t want to do
so because there are few other peripheral devices that actually use
Firewire. But I noticed that both my new desktop and laptop had eSata
ports already installed, and that my desktop also had USB 3.0. So began
my search for eSATA and USB 3.0 card readers.
eSATA
is an interface that provides fast data transfer for external storage
devices. At 300 MPps (MegaBytes per second) it is bit over three times
faster than USB 2.0 and nearly twice as fast as Firewire 800. It is
often used as an interface for external hard drives, and in fact is the
external counterpart of how your internal hard drives are connected.
USB 3.0
is advertised at burning up the track at 625 MPps, so theoretically it
is twice as fast as eSATA. Real life, however, isn’t always that simple.
That’s because many factors determine how quickly you can download
images, including the max read speed of your flash card, the
quality of your card reader, the program you use to download (more on
this later) and whether your flash cards are UDMA enabled. I'm not going
to get technical here, because most of us, including myself, get very
confused when it comes to bytes versus bits and all of those terms.
Suffice it to say that the speed at which you can download images is
limited by all of these things. If you're not using super high speed
cards, then upgrading your card reader or the type of interface probably
won't make any difference. But if you are using cards of at least 300x
and that are UDMA enabled, then download speeds can be increased. Having
said that, at the time of this writing, NO card can download at the
maximum speeds provided by eSATA, Firewire 800, or USB 3.0. But UDMA
enabled, high speed cards can be read at much faster speeds than USB 2.0
or Firewire 400 can provide.
The Card Readers
I found two different card readers to test. At the time of this writing
(February 2011), each is the sole card reader available in its
interface.
The eSATA reader I found was the
Addonics Pocket eSATA/USB DigiDrive, model AEPDDESU.
This drive can read multiple kinds of flash cards (I use Compact Flash,
so that was a must), and can be connected to your computer via either
the provided eSATA cable, or via USB. I wasn't concerned about the USB
feature, but I figured it wasn't a bad idea since you might be forced to
use a computer other than your own someday to download images, and USB
is ubiquitous. But what I found out in testing the USB function of this
reader was a bonus nice surprise.
Although they call it a "pocket" drive, the people at Addonics must have
large pockets, since it is 4 inches wide by 5.25 inches long, and 7/8ths
of an inch thick. Nonetheless, though it is larger than my old card
reader, it is still small enough to fit in a briefcase or camera bag.
I ordered this reader directly from Addonics and paid about $75 USD with
shipping. I've used other Addonics products in the past, and have always
found them to be of high quality, so I wasn't too concerned about buying
sight unseen, or without reading any reviews on this product (there were
none available online...this may be the first!). The reader was shipped
quickly and arrived four days later. The reader came with an eSATA
cable, a USB cable and an additional USB power cable (when used via
eSATA you must power the unit by plugging the power cable into a USB
port).
The other card reader – and the only USB 3.0 reader available as I write
this – is the
Pretec P240 USB 3.0 Multi-card Reader. It too reads virtually every
type of card out there. Unlike the Addonics reader, it is tiny – 2.5 x
1.5 x ¾ inches. Unfortunately, the reader does NOT come with a USB 3.0
cable (and these aren’t same as USB 2.0). Instead, it has a little
one-inch long dongle that plugs into the unit, then into a USB 3.0 port.
This works fine on a laptop, but the majority of USB 3.0 ports on
desktops are on the BACK of the tower, so to use this device, I had to
steal a cable from one of my external hard drives, which are also
connected via USB 3.0. Be aware, if ordering a cable for this device,
that it uses the new male “micro B” connector.
I ordered this device from
ptiglobalusa.com
for $24.95, plus shipping, for a total of $34.00.
To test the two devices, I used three different compact cards: an older
Lexar Pro rated at 133x; a Transcend card rated at 300x; and a Transcend
card rated at 600x. On each card I placed the identical 100 high
resolution images.
Testing the devices consisted of timed downloads using eSATA and USB 2.0
with the Addonics device, and USB 3.0 and 2.0 for the Pretec card
reader. To download the images I used
Downloader Pro from BreezeSystems.
This is the downloading program I use every day, so it made sense
to use it. For what it is worth, not all downloading programs operate at
the same speed. In past tests that I’ve done, I’ve found that using
Photoshop’s Bridge import to be the quickest (by a couple seconds),
followed by Downloader Pro (which I much prefer for other reasons). The
slowest, by far, is Windows built in “Import Pictures” function.
Here are the results:
600x card via USB 3.0 (Pretec): 18.9 seconds
600x card via eSATA (Addonics): 21.1 seconds
600x card via USB 2.0 (Pretec): 32.5 seconds
600x card via USB 2.0 (Addonics): 32.9 seconds.
Obviously, when using a very high speed card, there is a huge difference
between the old USB 2.0 interface and either of the newer interfaces,
with USB 3.0 getting the edge. Keep in mind that this was only a
download of 100 images (about 1.8 GB). When downloading a full 8 or 16
GB card, the time savings over USB 2.0 would start to become
significant.
The difference in download times between the faster interfaces and USB
2.0 was less impressive when using a 300x card:
300x card via USB 3.0 (Pretec): 27 seconds
300x card via eSATA (Addonics): 27 seconds
300x card via USB 2.0 (Pretec): 32.4 seconds
300x card via USB 2.0 (Addonics): 34.5 seconds.
As you can see, with a slower card, there was no difference between
eSATA and USB 3.0, and not much of a difference between either of those
and the older USB 2.0. It is at about 300x that we begin to see that the
actual read speed of the card “clogs” the pipeline.
What about the old 133x card? As you might be able to guess, there
was essentially no difference in download times no matter which card
reader was used, or which interface connected it to the computer. Download times averaged 56 seconds.
Conclusion
Clearly card speed has a dramatic influence on download time, and
there is little advantage of
moving to USB 3.0 or eSATA unless your cards are rated at least 300x.
Secondly, both devices worked as advertised, and it is clear that card
speed has yet to increase to the point where USB 3.0 gives much
advantage over eSATA. In other words, even though USB 3.0 can deliver
faster speeds than eSATA, card speeds at this point are still the
limiting factor. With a 600x card – about the fastest currently
available – it is pretty much a toss up. However, as card speeds
increase, the USB 3.0 interface will likely prove to be the fastest.
As far as which device I prefer, I would give the nod to the Pretec
device.
It is half the cost of the Addonics card reader (although if you need to
purchase a cable, that price difference quickly erodes), and it has
proven to be more reliable.
While the Addonics’ download times were excellent, I have
one qualm with their device – it will not consistently erase images when
connected via eSATA (but will when connected via USB). Ninety-percent of
the time, images remained on the card after deleting them.
This may seem like a small deal, but I routinely clear my cards after
downloading images. They are then stuck back into the cameras, or in my
pocket if they are back-up cards. On several occasions, I’ve grabbed a
card, stuck it into the camera, and started shooting, only to find that
within a few frames, I was told the card was filled. The choice at that
point is either to manually go through and protect the recently shot
images and delete the rest, or to format the entire card, and lose what
you just shot. Neither is much fun when your subject is prancing around
in front of you and you need to keep shooting. Having to remember to
reformat cards every time you stick one in the camera is a pain in the
butt.
I contacted technical support at Addonics, and they suggested I flash
the firmware, which I did per their instructions. Once I did that, the
reader would not work at all via eSATA (but continued to function via
USB). They sent me a second device,
for which they charged me
shipping, and that had a bent pin in the flash card slot. Rather
than send it back, I fixed the bent pin myself. This device also would
not consistently erase images via eSATA. I further contacted them, and
got the distinct impression that they thought I was some kind of a dolt,
and did not know what I was doing, and suggested it was the downloading
program I was using.
I told them that I had tried four different download programs, including
just highlighting and deleting the photos in Windows Explorer, and the
images would remain on the card no matter what I did, and, that this
happened not just when connected to my desktop, but also to my laptop.
In other words, this problem was not due to the computer or the program.
It has to be the device, and it has to have something to do with the the
eSATA interface, since connecting the card reader via USB eliminates the
problem on both copies of the device.
They offered me no further solutions, and said “they don’t have this
problem.” Well, whoopty-do. I do. Addonics suggested I just live with
it. I will. But I’m not happy. Although they did allow me to return the
original card reader for a refund,
I spent nearly $30 in shipping --
$10 to get the first unit to me, $10 for the second, and the same to
return the one that quit due to their instructions. I do not call this
very smart customer service.
It is possible that you won’t have this erase problem, depending upon
your computer setup -- different device controllers, different BIOS
settings, etc., may cause the device to function as it should. But if it
doesn’t, don’t expect Addonics to help you trouble-shoot beyond the
first couple obvious steps. If I am ever able to resolve this issue, I
will update this review.
One thing is certain – both eSATA and USB 3.0 will speed up your
download times significantly if you use very high speed flash cards.
That is good news. Whether you’re a wedding photographer who has clients
anxiously awaiting a first peek at their big day’s images, or a wildlife
photographer weary after a long day afield and need to get that first
quick edit done so you can hit the sack, being able to halve your
download times is a real bonus.
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