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08/08/2004 |
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Dazzle 6-in-1 Flash Memory Reader Don Bradbury brings PPC readers up to speed with the latest all-singing, all-dancing card reader
No facet of the computing scene is advancing quite so rapidly as flash memory card readers. Every passing month seems to bring a new and potentially better design onto an eager market. The Dazzle unit from SCM Microsystems would appear to feature all, or most, of the helpful aspects of design that users of devices featuring flash memory could avail themselves. And there are plenty of such devices now, of course, including the digital camera, MP3 player, mobile phone, PDA etc. Installation is a breeze under Windows ME or XP (which require no external drivers), and a CD bears drivers for Windows 98SE or 2000. When installation is complete, My Computer shows just two additional drives, rather unhelpfully labelled as ‘removable drive E:’ and ‘removable drive F:’ (or whatever drive letters come next on your particular system). As usual, you’re better off creating shortcuts and renaming them. Card points The top slot of the Dazzle unit accommodates CompactFlash cards, including the IBM Microdrive. The lower slot accepts SmartMedia (SM), Multimedia Cards (MMC), Secure Digital (SD), and Sony’s Memory Stick (MS).
I say all current types, but annoyingly I have to report that the Dazzle unit would not read my, admittedly rather ancient, 3.3V 2MB SmartMedia card. Apparently, there have been so many modifications to the SM spec in recent times that support had to be dropped for 2MB cards. Everything above that should be fine, according to the maker’s representative I spoke to. The Imation FlashGO unit did read my 2MB SM card without a hitch, and I checked that again to make sure the card had not failed in the interim. Copying You can copy files from the upper slot card to another in the lower slot, though not between cards that use the same slot, of course. So that’s not as versatile as Sitecom's multi-memory card reader, but better than the Imation FlashGO unit. But you have to ask yourself under what circumstances you’d want to transfer data between cards. You could always do it via the hard disk if you wanted to, after all, though with somewhat reduced facility. The Dazzle unit features a card insertion block to prevent incorrect orientation of all types of card, though you may think that SmartMedia insertion might feature a block that was a little more indicative (there’s almost the same depth of insertion either way round). Secure Digital cards could, at a pinch, be pushed in facing the wrong way, though probably with sufficient resistance to put you off trying. On the CD Dazzle OnDVD software lets users of digital devices organise their pictures into a slide show, burn them to a CD, or view them on a DVD player (for the PC only). There’s also a full user manual in PDF format, though I doubt anyone will need to refer to it. The quick start printed guide is probably all you’ll need. In conclusion With hot-swap capability for both device and media due to the use of a USB port, entirely bus-powered of course, and Windows XP-ready, I liked this Dazzle unit. By a short head it now assumes pride of place among flash memory readers in this writer’s opinion (provided you don’t have to cater for 2MB SM cards). It offers a neat compromise between the number of new drives involved and the number of slots without using adapters. At £70, it’s not cheap, but it could be the only card reader you’ll ever buy - if you believe SCM Microsystems’ promise of upgrade compatibility. |
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So
with just two slots and new disk drives (rather than the Sitecom’s
four) and no adapters (unlike the Imation FlashGO’s eminently
loss-prone three in a single drive), the Dazzle unit covers all
current flash memory bases nicely. What’s more, the makers say they
can upgrade for any future card types that may appear.