As we continue down this path toward ultimate geekdom, we will get buried deeper and deeper in our gadgetry. It seems that every portable device that I have needs a different charger and a different memory card, so it helps when someone comes up with something a little more convenient. Marrying the functionality of a USB flash drive with a memory card reader is the DataTraveler Micro Reader from Kingston Technology. Convenience is great, but are you sacrificing something as a result? This review aims to answer this oh-so-pressing question.
Included in the Package
To the untrained eye, the Micro Reader looks like any other budget-minded USB flash drive, but that little flap reveals a memory card reader. Aside from the somewhat nifty design, you really get nothing else in the package but a small lanyard-like string. Well, I shouldn’t say lanyard. It’s the same string that comes with the DataTraveler 150. Nothing too exciting here.
Convergence in a Different Kind of Way
For those of you not hip to the terminology, a convergence device is one that combines the functionality of two separate products. For example, a camera phone is a cell phone that happens to have a digital camera too. That’s convergence. The Kingston DataTraveler Micro Reader carries on this kind of philosophy, but it’s not nearly as exciting as the world’s first MP3-playing mobile phone. That’s not to say that it should be ignored though, because its dual functionality can come in very handy.
Despite having the same size as a regular Kingston DataTraveler USB flash drive, the Micro Reader is also capable of reading microSD, microSDHC, and Memory Stick Micro (M2) memory cards. If you’re going to carry around a flash drive anyway, you may as well have one that can read the memory card inside your smartphone too.
That’s Some Mighty Cheap Plastic
I’m not all that impressed with the overall build quality of the DataTraveler Micro Reader. I do prefer metal (aluminum) over plastic for flash drives and the same applies here. There is a certain ruggedness that you get with metal over plastic. There are some USB flash drives on the market that use some very nice plastic though, so I can forgive them, however the plastic used here feels quite thin. I do appreciate that the “hinge” part for the memory card reader isn’t remarkably loose and there’s enough stiffness there for you to hold the “door” at nearly any angle.
A Dynamic Duo?
For the purposes of this review, the Micro Reader was paired with an 8GB microSDHC kit, also from Kingston. The kit comes with the microSDHC card itself, as well as adapters so that it can be used as a miniSD card and standard SD card. The small USB adapter works as a card reader too, somewhat negating the usefulness of the subject of our review. The Kingston microSDHC card is rated as a Class 4 product, guaranteeing a minimum data transfer rate of 4MB/sec.
Some Assembly Required
To pop the microSDHC card into the Micro Reader, you first open that plastic hatch. Doing so reveals the place where you would insert the card. There is a small slider in place that is supposed to be used for ejecting the memory card after use, so you’ll want to ensure that it is retracted when you insert the card. Otherwise, you may cause some unnecessary damage to some of the components.
After doing so, the card will go in almost all the way. Only that raised fingernail portion should be exposed. We’ve heard that some samples only accepted the card about halfway and doesn’t allow the card to make contact. Make sure you test yours before taking off on a world tour.
After Closing the hatch, I plugged the Micro Reader into an available USB port on my laptop. Giving it a second, Windows then recognized two external drives: the internal memory of the Micro Reader (USB flash drive) and the “external” drive of the microSDHC card. It may not be immediately obvious which is which, so it’s probably a good idea to name the volumes accordingly so you know which is which. On with the performance tests!
Performance Benchmarks
Because you are using two separate memory modules, the performance with the DataTraveler Micro Reader will depend on what memory you are using. If you’re using the USB flash drive end of the equation, you’ll get one set of figures. If you are using an inserted microSDHC memory card (or M2 Memory Stick), you’ll get another set of figures.
Putting it through its paces on HD Tune, I came up with the following benchmark scores.
If you’re expecting some blazing speed from this economically-minded convergence device, you’re going to be quite disappointed. The average data transfer rate was an abysmal 12.4MB/sec. To put this figure into perspective, the Kingston DataTraveler 150 produced an average data transfer rate of 29.6MB/sec. That’s almost three times as fast!
Dumping a 700MB file from my laptop to the flash drive took 90 seconds, representing an approximate real world write speed of 7.8MB/sec. Sending that same file from the flash drive back to my laptop’s 5400rpm hard drive took 51 seconds, representing an approximate real world read speed of 13.7MB/sec. That’s pretty slow.
Is the “external” memory of the microSDHC card any better? According to the HD Tune test shown above, the benchmark scores are about the same as the USB flash memory. However, putting the memory card reader through its paces in a real world test revealed some severe shortcomings. The write speed worked out to about 4.1MB/sec, whereas the read speed came out to about 11.7MB/sec. That write speed is about half as fast as the internal memory, though the read speed isn’t that much worse.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
As with most instances of convergence devices, sacrifices were made in the creation of the Kingston DataTraveler Micro Reader. As a USB flash drive, its performance is nowhere near what you would be able to get with most of the standalone memory products in the market. Trickling along at a mere 12.4MB/sec, the drive will leave you twiddling your thumbs for quite some time as you try to transfer files to and from your computer.
I appreciate the ability to use the Micro Reader to read microSDHC memory cards, but there also appears to be a bottleneck here as well. When I took the same 8GB microSDHC memory card and used the mini-reader that came with the microSDHC kit, I actually got better performance. Instead of an HD Tune benchmark of 12.4MB/sec, I was able to get about 18.4MB/sec. The card is capable of a higher speed and the Kingston Micro Reader slowed it down.
Yes, the DataTraveler Micro Reader USB flash drive and memory card reader is able to perform the two functions that it’s advertised to do, but you really shouldn’t expect much in terms of performance. If you’re as impatient as I am, you may be better off using the provided microSD-to-SD adapter instead.
If Kingston provided this product with an included MicroSDHC card, it could become a valuable asset for backing up and archiving those photos and video clips off your cellphone if you’re travelling around the world without a laptop. If the performance and build quality could be improved, it has the potential to become a valuable product in your convergence arsenal. But for now it’s a pass.
Pros
- Dual functionality is interesting in concept
- Card reader hatch hinge is reasonably stiff
- 5 Year Warranty
Cons
- Card reader creates performance bottleneck
- USB flash drive is quite slow
- Low quality plastic
- Not cheap enough at MSRP of $40.99
Overall Rating: 6.0 / 10.0
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