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SanDisk USB SmartMedia Reader (SDDR-09-01)

SanDisk USB SmartMedia Reader (SDDR-09-01)

List Price: $49.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Speedy and Cute
Review: Mine works great. I have transferred thousands of photos to my PC without a hitch. It is so small it sits on top of my monitor and is known to my system as device G. All the folks that have reported problems with installation undoubtedly had those problems. I didn't. And I have a Zip drive, a CD/RW drive and 4 devices total hooked up to my USB ports, including a printer and DSL modem. Before this mess would work on my 2 year old Dell, I had to download new BIOS for the machine. Anytime you add stuff to a PC, there may be conflicts that need resolving. But I don't believe this SmartMedia card reader is the total cause of anybody's problems.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: No Problems with XP
Review: Not giving this five stars merely on the premise that if some people are struggling with it, then it can't be that easy. Despite all the negative reviews, and information to the contrary, I am currently running this device with NO PROBLEMS on Windows XP. The SanDisk site specifies they will not support XP with this product, and suggest a 3rd Party Device Driver. I couldn't get this to work however.

My method was simple. Plug in the device before you insert the cd. XP will eventually ask for a driver. Point it towards the 2000 driver on the supplied CD. Do not install the program supplied on the CD. XP will complain that the driver is not signed compliant with XP. Ignore it. It works. It's a simple as that.

Some people may be having conflict problems with other USB devices. I cannot account for that. All I can say is, it works on XP. I am happy.

Like I said at the start, only 4 stars. Would be 5 if it wasn't for other people struggling.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: SanDisk SmartMedia Card Reader and older iMAC's
Review: Purchased this item to facilitate transfer of photos from my new Olympus C-700 with Sandisk 64meg SmartMedia card. The technical specifications posted on this site claim compatibility with Mac OS 8.1. I was running OS 8.5, and the documentation that came with the reader states that Mac OS 8.6 is necessary. I upgraded to Mac OS 8.6 with difficulty. Little help from the Apple people. They no longer provide the CD disc for the easy "free upgrade". A 34 meg file for upgrading is posted on their support site. Now that is daunting in itself. Look for an Apple devotee with the upgrade CD. I found one and my problems did not end there. An iMac Firmware upgrade is necessary to alter the flash memory containing the BIOS information on the motherboard. Finding this small 1.5 meg file on the support site is nearly impossible. Got that from a friend also. The instructions to install this BIOS fix are a little intimidating. You must depress the reset button with the end of a paper clip on rebooting after running the small installation program. The documentation warns you that any interruption during this process will corrupt your ROM BIOS chips and require replacing the motherboard! I completed the upgrade to OS 8.6 with fear and quaking and no power failures during the process (a real danger here in California).

The Sandisk reader now shows up as a "untitled" disk on the desktop when inserted into a USB port with a smart media card inserted. Transfer of files is very fast with a simple drag and drop operation.

Worth the trouble and aggravation? Yes, my Olympus C-700 USB port is not supported in the upgraded version of MAC OS 8.6 and its USB implementation of mass storage devices. Apple of course would you rather junk the old computer and buy a new one. They get zero stars for their support.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Works great on Macintosh
Review: Rather solid little reader. I have been able to use this device to read the photos from my Olympus D-340R camera quickly (which came with a pathetic serial-only, read SUPER SLOW, connection). Transfers are fast, and operation is rather simple. I've used it on several Macs and had no problems.

Only negative is there are WAY too many drivers (6) to install for ONE (1)device. Why not one extension, and call it quits?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: SanDisk SDDR-09-01 USB SmartMedia Reader
Review: Running Windows 2000 with USB PCI card. Horrible time with the reader. Still not set up. Technical Support in my opinion non-existant although a couple of nice guys there. In fairness to Sandisk problem could be my Windows 2000 or the USB PCI card. Even thinking of going back to Windows 98 to see if solves the problem. NOt sure if sorry I bought device or not.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: No driver for windows XP !!
Review: SanDisk does not support this reader on XP !!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Simple Reader For The Desktop
Review: The unit is sligtly large but un my opinion thats the advantage of it, its sit comfortably on you desk and doesn't slide or get knocked around like other readers. Its a little odd looking though, with an LED on each side of the slot your friend might mistake it for some kind of toy animal!

I purchased the reader to work with my Handspring Visor, through the use of a MemPlug SmartMedia Adaptor, and it works fabulously. Setup was very easy on my desktop running Win2000 and I've had no problems. One thing to remember though, you should always right-click on the drive icon (I made a shortcut on my desktop) and choose eject from the menu or else you can end up with corrupt databases that have not been completely transferred.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: No drivers for Windows XP
Review: There are currently NO drivers available for this product for Windows XP.

The SanDisk web site simply says "this device is not supported in Windows XP" There is no promise for creation of new Windows XP drivers.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: No drivers for Windows XP
Review: There are currently NO drivers available for this product for Windows XP.

The SanDisk web site simply says "this device is not supported in Windows XP" There is no promise for creation of new Windows XP drivers.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Product Trouble Free
Review: There have been previous reports of conflicts with this product and CDRW drives, and Zip drives, but I had absolutely no trouble at all and I have both. I also have a USB scanner, but have had no trouble at all. It only took about 2 minutes to install the software, reboot my system and plug in the reader. It is very easy to use. Just insert the smartmedia card and click on the reader drive icon, the pictures just pop up, no load time at all. I am very pleased with this product.


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