SD carry case/USB drive

UnknownVT

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Like many I use SD flashcards in my digicams.

Normally to be on the safe side I like to carry a spare SD card - that is despite using a SD card of high enough capacity that I would not run out of space - a spare/backup is a good thing.

Occassionally I also want to have a USB flashdrive/thumb-drive.

That's when I came up with the idea of combining the two things.

Get a compact USB 2.0 SD card reader and carry the spare SD card in it and use as a thumb drive.

sdhcUSBcls.jpg


sdhcUSBopn.jpg


the spare 2Gb SD card I carry in the USB reader is actually quite a fast one at a claimed 150x (150x 0.15Mb/s = 22.5Mb/s) - and the combination in the SDHC class 6 USB 2.0 reader is almost twice as fast as the Kingston 1Gb DataTraveler (which is pretty fast to begin with)

Now flashcard readers used to be relatively expensive...
but recently I found some USB 2.0 SDHC (class 6 - the fastest class) readers at very low prices.

Hi speed SDHC Class 6 memory usb reader at an eBay buyItNow price of $1.98 with free shipping -
even better is to bid on Hi-Speed SDHC Class 6 USB 2. Card Reader bid starts at $0.10 with free shipping - I got two at $0.81 and $1.01...... that might be cheaper than the typical plastic carrying cases for a SD card!
 

Illum

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the SD "thumbdrives" aren't meant to be used as readers...

I have one from PNY technologies. If a empty disk is inserted it can be used directly as a USB drive, if the disk is occupied by any form of data the disk will show up as "not formatted" and requires you to format in order to use the disk [SD]

I lost wedding photos like that before:ohgeez:
 

UnknownVT

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Are these good readers Vincent? I have an 8 GB SDHC card and no reader for it, so this could be very helpful...

From my usage so far they seem to be fine - speed/performance is good they are literally the fastest readers I have.

At the price I paid it's ridculously cheap (probably as cheap as a non-functional carrying case) - since they are the "best" performing SD reader I have - I would simply say they work great for me.
 

UnknownVT

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the SD "thumbdrives" aren't meant to be used as readers...
I have one from PNY technologies. If a empty disk is inserted it can be used directly as a USB drive, if the disk is occupied by any form of data the disk will show up as "not formatted" and requires you to format in order to use the disk [SD]
I lost wedding photos like that before:ohgeez:

Ouch!

No I don't have that problem -
I have used SD/reader as a thumb drive many times without problems of losing any data -
also any data I have "saved" on the SD card is also preserved when I use that card in my digicam.

I have not encountered any offers to format or auto-formatting when I plug the reader(s) to a PC -
this would be absolutely UNacceptable behavior -
since simply using them as Readers would then run the danger of having files disappear when attempting to upload them on to the PC...
nope, I do not doubt your experience -
but something sounds VERY wrong there.

Also don't forget the SD card I have in the reader is a spare/backup card - that I am not using in the digicam.

There are MANY ads for SD readers that claim the ability to use as a thumbdrive......

But thanks for the warning though, I'll be diligent and keep my eye on possible problems
 

Illum

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well, it wasn't autoformatting, but after I tried using the "USB drive" the files come up as "drawing failed" on the camera [I.E. after it tries to be read its no longer readable by the camera]

Camera: Canon powershot SD630
Memory card: Sandisk 1GB

funny thing too...this "USB drive" of mine is only $10 and it only runs well on PNY SDs, apparently the engineers between Sandisk and PNY just didn't like each other. :nana:

I have 2 PNY 1GBs and one Sandisk 1GB, two canon 16MBs
Everything else works, just not Sandisk...do you think it may have been a defective SD?
 
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UnknownVT

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Camera: Canon powershot SD630
Memory card: Sandisk 1GB
Everything else works, just not Sandisk...do you think it may have been a defective SD?

Can't say for sure -

I only have that one Sandisk 512Mb which I have used in these cheapo USB readers and it worked fine - including several benchmark tests (theoretically probably more "demanding" on the SD card).
 

paulr

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DX has some SDHC readers in the 2-3 dollar range. Plus there are those sandisk combination sd/usb cards. Frankly for a digicam I don't see much point to carrying a spare card, now that 16gb and even 32gb cards are available, unless you're shooting a lot of video. I travelled overseas for a month or so last year and shot several hundred pictures and my 2gb card was only about half full. These days an 8gb card is only 20 bucks or so, and it's difficult for me to even comprehend the idea of filling it with photos before getting a chance to upload to a hard drive.
 

UnknownVT

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Frankly for a digicam I don't see much point to carrying a spare card, now that 16gb and even 32gb cards are available, unless you're shooting a lot of video. I travelled overseas for a month or so last year and shot several hundred pictures and my 2gb card was only about half full. These days an 8gb card is only 20 bucks or so, and it's difficult for me to even comprehend the idea of filling it with photos before getting a chance to upload to a hard drive.

No argument about SD capacity from me -
I already agree with you, and use a SD card that I hardly ever reach half capacity even on my longest session.

The idea is to carry a backup/spare in case something goes wrong with the SD card in the digicam - pretty unlikely - but not impossible
- for example I had a SD card on which the write lock tab became loose causing the camera to say the card was write protected, so I would not have been able to continue to shoot - if I didn't carry a spare/backup.

Having a USB reader is useful so I can upload to a computer when away from home - plus it serves dual purpose as a USB flashdrive with the spare/backup card.
 

mina

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I'm also using the same/similar SD card reader. It gave a new "life" for my old memory cards. Instead of sitting around gathering dust or getting lost in the drawers, now, they're being used as flash drives. :grin2:
 
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