Silverstone SST-FP37B USB 3.0 USB 3.0 Card Reader, Support SDXC Format with Extra Silver Front Panel (Black)

Pros: Well, I can make it work, but that's just because I am a computer technician....

[[ Also I have the latest firmware ]]

Cons: Blue Screen of Death
Computer freezes
Something is wrong here... I have tested all the parts of the computer and this is the source of the problem. 100% sure of it.

Now what are my options here? I can return it to get a similar unit ??!

Also who is going to pay for the countless troubleshooting hours I went through.... oh thats right, nobody cares!

Hey silverstone.... if your **** doesn't work with specific hardware, maybe you could tell people that or maybe you could stop selling it ???? Whatever

Pros: it is really fast (a GB just takes some seconds); their RMA service is fast and good. I received an RMA number within a day and the new piece within a bit over a week inc. shipping

Cons: the first one had a flaw with the card reader (the USB port worked) and i had to return it. therefore 4 eggs only.

Other Thoughts: Since the first one had failed (the first time ever a component failed on me in 10 years!) i was disappointed. but their RMA service was really great and the new device works great. On the one had failure is not acceptable, on the other hand I'm glad to know they really provide good service.

Pros: Its 20 pin connector plugged right into the GA-970A-UD3 motherboard's connector. Much faster transfer of photos from CF and SD cards than with my prior USB2 card reader. Front panel USB3 port provides USB3 speeds for my WD 1TB My Passport portable HD; much more convenient than plugging it in the back of the PC in the motherboard's USB3 connector.

After install, I saw no problem with bootup or anything else using Windows 7.

Definitely provides USB3 speeds for unloading memory cards and connecting USB3 portable hard drives.

Cons: CF port is a little shallow and doesn't provide enough guidance to the card when it is plugged in; I took off 1 egg for this. Would be better if deeper; given the product is not very deep into the case, I don't know why they didn't make it with a deeper and design a better CF port. If they had, this product would be a slam dunk.

I read the other's comments regarding this problem before I bought it, so I have been very careful each time I plug in a CF card to make sure it is going in straight and I don't bend a pin. However, if the product was better designed a user would not have to be so careful.

I agree with the other reviewers that the front panel green LED is a waste. I already know my PC has power. I don't see any purpose for it; maybe for PCs that power down the USB ports when idle??

Other Thoughts: I don't find the "upside down CF port" much of an issue (once you know it is that way). I think they did that on purpose so you can read the user label on the backside of the CF card when the card is plugged in. Which is actually a feature :)

Pros: Pin arrangement out of sync with usb3 spec. Will not work no communication from company when asking for a replacement. Silver stone use to make decent stuff

Cons: Use is in the past tense for all you english majors. They got the last of my american dollar

Other Thoughts: new egg sent on time but why would i want to replace this with another piece of junk from silver stone.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you very much for purchasing a SilverStone and we apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced. The FP37 uses standard USB 3.0 pin-out so if you are having problem making it work, it is likely a firmware issue or the unit you received maybe defective. Please contact us again directly at our US office location for quicker service:

909-465-9596
usasupport@silverstonetek.com

Pros: It looked nice and seemed to work well - Before It Died.

Cons: The unit died the other day. Before it died, it sucked up 4 more drive letters (for a total of 8), and that did very bad things to my OS. I would have expected better quality control from Silverstone.

Other Thoughts: Since I have purchased other Silverstone products in the past and had good success with them, I opted to buy their USB 3.0 card reader, even though it was the most expensive reader of this type that was then available. I would like to have this defective product replaced, but the combination of the high initial cost and return shipping costs to Newegg makes this a no-win proposition. I will have to think seriously about purchasing Silverstone products in the future if this is the best they can do.

Pros: Fast CF Reader. Wife liked silver bezel. USB 3 header cable fit in ASUS Sabertooth X79 with no modification.

Cons: Card feed for CF is not very long, caused bent pin. Would buy again if guide/feed was replaced by something longer.

Other Thoughts: My wife, a professional photographer, recently upgraded her workstation. With the upgrade came the installation of the SST-FP37, she had used it to import photos from five compact flash cards and commented on how fast it was (compared to her previous firewire reader), but she was concerned about the alignment when placing the cards.

Her concern must of been justified, she called me into the room to check on a non-responsive Sandisk Extreme IV 8GB Compact Flash Card, I removed the card and examined it to find a slightly enlarged hole where I discovered pin 40 went into pin 39's socket (bottom right of socket).

Silverstone and newegg both offered to RMA, neither offered to cover shipping costs.

Pros: USB 3.0 device. Supposed to support many forms of memory cards*.

Cons: To upgrade the firmware you get the message Please Plug into a USB 2.0 connection. Well, USB 2.0 is inherent on a USB 3.0 header. What I finally did was get pinout information off the Internet and manufactured a cable and connectted VBUS,GND, D1-, D1+ Pins 1,4,8 and 9 to a USB 2.0 cable which I plugged into my USB 2.0 connectors on my motherboard and then flashed. DON'T Try this if you are not experience with electronics, you could easily damage the card reader or even your motherboard if you short circuit wiring. None the less Now that I am at firmware 0D04 I can reflash the firmware while plugged into a USB 3.0 header.

Secondly, I have a Kingston CF 133x speed elite pro memory card. If I try to write to it the card reader locks up Windows Explorer and requires a forceful reboot. However if I just want to remove pictures from the CF card it works very well.

Finally, after the firmware upgrade the power LED is fine but the Drive activity LED never functions when writing or read

Other Thoughts: This would be a better product if more types of compact flash were fully supported.

The hack to update your firmware via USB 2.0 when you're already on a backwards compatible USB 3.0 header is obnoxious, to say the least.

Pros: Media Cards worked
Looks good in my case
No longer have to reach around to back of case to use USB 3.0 plug (if it worked that is)

Cons: USB 3.0 plug DOA... Silverstone tech support is useless and firmware update is annoying to get to and doesn't work causing more problems... now LEDs do not work.

Other Thoughts: Bought because it had what I needed in the front of my case... now I need some aspirin.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you very much for purchasing a SilverStone and we apologize for the misunderstanding and the inconvenience you have experienced. From your description, the USB 3.0 plug for your FP37 is maybe defective so firmware updates will not make it work. Please contact us again directly at the following and we will help replace your FP37:

909-465-9596 (ask for David)
usarma@silverstonetek.com

Pros: Fast USB 3.0 reader with a native 20-pin connector. UHS-1 and SDXC card support. The connector cable is quite long for use in full tower cases. The power LED is green and the I/O activity LED is orange. No cheesy looking logos or brandings. Also comes with a silver faceplate if the black faceplate doesn't match your case.

Cons: Upside down CF and USB 3.0 port, not really a huge con but I had to note something.

Other Thoughts: I am using this card reader in combination with the Syba SD-PEX20122 PCI-E USB 3.0 controller card. I had no issues at all with booting problems as the controller card is not hooked into the BIOS.

Pros: Use the dual internal USB 3 headers on newer motherboards for the card reader and a single USB 3 slot.
I put it on an ASUS Rampage IV Extreme and never had any issues with boot or its use. I'm not saying discount other people that have had issues because I've had card reader cause the described issues even when USB2 so the problem ones could be bad.
I really like mine, super fast with Compact Flash and USB3 flash drives.
The silver front allowed me to more easily read and see the card slots. Black blends easily for old eyes.

Cons: The USB3 motherboard connect is very wide, too wide to really be used even on Silverstone USB3 PCIe cards!
I had to snip off a portion of the sides plastic to make it fit on the system board. Others complained of this too.
This is why I am taking two eggs, it works but this would be a show stopper for many people. No excuse really.

Other Thoughts: I probably should have given it two eggs since it will not easily fit onto their own brand PCIe internal or external USB3 headers. Very annoying.