SM card reader for Windows 7

[lori_ball]

<p>What is the best smart media card reader to use with Windows 7? I have a MediaGear usb reader, but I can't get it to work.</p>

[walter_degroot]

<p>when I first needed one I got one at walmart that OROISED it would read everything.<br>

it would read 2 kinds and needed adapters to read the<br>

rest. $8.00<br>

it takes a while But I ordered some from honk kong thru ebay<br>

log on, search on card reader. then either cameras or computers<br>

search<br>

then change BEST MATCH to price and shipping lowest first.</p>

<p>the simple one sometimes fail or will not read or work with a 8 gb card so selevct one that does.<br>

MY favorite is one that is smaped 2 x 4 inches black with an attached cord.<br>

it has several slots. you plug it in to one of the rear ports. usually connected direstly to the computer motherboard. and leave the blach flat pod on the desk.<br>

expect to pay about 2.00 sometimes shipping is free.<br>

also bid a few cants on some of the siimple ones<br>

that JUST take a sd card. sometimes a few cents and free shipping.<br>

possibly 5 - 35 cents. free shipping.<br>

does this sound like a plan?</p>

<p>Buy a few different models.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Nearly all of them should just work. I use a Lexar USB2 cardreader which supports only CF and SD, small simple and very fast (as it supports CF and SD at maximum speeds).</p>

[chris_letts]

<p>If you only use SD/SDHC then the easiest and cheapest by far is a USB/SD adapter - it only costs a few pounds, and small enough to carry anywhere, works in any USB socket.<br>

Problems I've had in the past with the multi readers (8-in-1 etc) is that they take up lots of drive letters, and can cause clashes with network drives.</p>

[meissner]

<p>I don't use Windows, but the last time I tried to buy a multi-card reader online that advertised smart media (I still have a C-2100UZ that I use occasionally), the unit came and it didn't have any SM drive. I would say go to a store that sells the multi-port readers, and buy one with the SM slot, and hope for the best. I would suspect that as the manufacturers redesign the readers for whatever new media flavour of the month, they will drop SM and xD.</p>

<p>I suspect you may want to avoid SM-only readers (particularly those that come with SMPREP). The early SM readers did not use the normal removable USB disk interface, and depended on loading specialized drivers into Windows. Unfortunately Windows XP service pack 2 changed something, and these drivers would no longer work. I think the reader I had was branded Zing!</p>

<p>An alternative would be to find a SM to CF adapter, and use a normal CF card reader. I have one of those, and it works, but I did a quick check on ebay, and I didn't see any for sale.</p>

<p>If you have a laptop with the older pcmcia slot, you can pick up Fujifilm SM/xD pcmcia readers on ebay.</p>

<p>The only other thing I could think of is getting one of the last Olympus (maybe Fuji or Toshiba) cameras that supported SM and also supported being used as a removable device to use it to upload to your system. My C-2100UZ is too old for it to support being a removable disk, but something like a C-4000 might do the trick.</p>

[meissner]

<p>Wouter and Chris: Note the original poster asked about SM or Smart Media (not SD or secure digital). SM cards were used in Olympus, Fujifilm, and Toshiba cameras from about 1995 to somewhere around 2004, when those manufacturers switched over to xD. Eventually they saw the light and now use SD or mini-SD (well Toshiba doesn't make cameras any more). SM cards are about the same size as CF cards, though much thinner.</p>

[lori_ball]

<p>Thanks for the information, everyone. I just noticed that the information on the card reader said it t was for 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128 mb cards, and the card I have with the camera is only 2 mb. Could this be the problem with the reader?</p>

[meissner]

<p>Lori: Yes. According to Wikipedia, there were two types of SM cards. The first type used 5 volts, and the second 3.3 volts. I suspect you may have a 5V card. If you haven't used the reader before on other systems with that card, you may have a 3.3V reader with a 5V card.</p>

<p>If you have used it in other systems, Windows might not be supplying a full 5 volts to the card reader. Using a powered USB hub may help in this case.</p>

<p>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmartMedia</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Michael, thanks, good point.... I completely forgot about the actual SmartMedia cards (had them in the past, but that was a while ago). I mistakenly took it as the "collective" name for flash media cards...<br>

Lori, sorry for the confusion!</p>