Pros: one cable
metal
features

Cons: cheap components
stability

Other Thoughts: This died after about 3 years of ownership, being used maybe once every 2 months, so after 18-22 uses, and took my flash drive with it. Since it is out of any replacement window i tore it apart to see what happened. turns out the USB 3.0 ports are made with significantly smaller pins than any I have ever seen and they had bent all over the place.

The SD slot was always hit and miss on registering the card, microSD always worked great.

I can't recommend this to anyone.

Pros: USB 3 speed on card reader, lots of card types compatible, USB 3 hub

Cons: Light that stays on in sleep mode (may bother some), wore out (SD card slot) with relatively little use

Other Thoughts: I reviewed this item after I first bought it about a year and a half ago. I'm amending it now to reflect that the SD card slot has almost completely failed at this point (the MicroSD slot works fine; I don't own any media to try the others).

I don't use it that much... maybe a few times a month at most (and not at all in others). I can sometimes get it to work by removing and reinserting the card many times until it finally registers. I've tried it with multiple SD cards and even installed the unit in another computer with another operating system; same results. I tried cleaning the contacts with glycerin-free isopropyl alcohol, and it did not help.

It did make it past the one year warranty period before it started giving me reasons to question it, but barely. I've been having intermittent problems with SD card reading and getting external HDDs plugged into the USB3 ports on the front of the reader not being recognized since about then (though the ones on the back of the computer, attached directly to the motherboard with no hub, work fine in every case), and this near total failure of the SD card reader is a new thing.

I don't consider it a triumph that a piece of hardware makes it to the end of its warranty. I don't think of the warranty as the useful life of the item! I expect good hardware to last longer than this. My Asus F8SP laptop I bought from Newegg in 2008 (IIRC) has a built-in SD card reader that has seen far more use than the Silverstone, and it works flawlessly to this day.

I can't give the unit one egg; that is what DOA items get, and it did work for a while, and it works now if I only use the MicroSD slot. Three eggs would be average, and most electronics devices I use last longer than this, so I give it two.

Pros: Worked great until upgrading to Windows 10.

Cons: USB hubs are not recognized in Windows 10.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you very much for using a SilverStone FP56. Please double check to make sure that everything is connected properly and then manually remove Windows 10's card reader and/or USB driver. Then reboot the system again to let Windows 10 reinstall the drivers. If you still have problem or questions, please feel free to let us know at:

support@silverstonetek.com

Pros: New warranty unit works as advertised. Great and painless warranty service from Silverstone... (As it should be!)

Cons: My first unit had malfunctioning USB ports. Was fixed under warranty by Silverstone.

Pros: Loved the configuration with the high power charge port. The silver face plate was a perfect match for my aluminum Lian Li case.

Cons: The order was placed 6/15/14...

Plugged a brand new USB thumb drive into one of the ports today and ZAP. Port stopped working. Tried another slot and same result. Now I have 2 NON-working USB 3.0 jacks. WaHoo! BTW- The previously mentioned thumb drive works fine on another computer.

I wonder how the warrenty service is on this product?

Other Thoughts: I wish they made a USB 3.0 version with Headphone/Mic connectors.

Pros: 4 USB 3.0 ports, a phone charging port, the card reader itself is a USB 3.0 device . Has silver and white faceplates as well as the installed black one. It connects to the 20 pin header on the motherboard (or add-on card) rather than those readers with regular USB plugs that go out of the back of the case and plug in back there.

No adapter is needed for a micro SD card.

The mounting location for the SSD (or other 2.5 inch drive) is a nice touch. I moved mine to this card reader when I installed it... that plus a Molex to SATA power adapter allowed me to remove one of my modular PSU's cables (the Molex one, no longer needed) from the case.

Cons: Nothing major... just a few irritations.

That power light... the other comments show people's frustration with it. On my system, it remains on while in standby (sleep) mode, and no combination of settings would change that. It does turn off when my computer is off, though, which is better than what some have reported. Silverstone's FAQ for this device does mention having to change settings in the BIOS (actually UEFI these days) to make it turn off, but while my Asus motherboard has settings for just about everything, that's not one of them.

Really, this light does not even need to be there. Why do I need to know my card adapter has power? There is no power light on my DVD writer... just an in-use light. That's all that's really needed. If Silverstone would just get rid of it, many of these negative reviews might not be there.

Still, it's just a light. It doesn't really matter.

As you can see in the picture, the text indicating which port is which is difficult to read. It would be better if it were printed in white (on the black faceplate) rather than simply molded into the faceplate.

I would like it if the standard SD card went in deeper. It only goes in about 3/8 of an inch.

Other Thoughts: The red power light has a cylinder symbol next to it (meaning access light) and the green card-in/access light has a sunshine symbol next to it (indicating power). They're reversed, Silverstone. You can't really see the symbols, though, in normal use. All you see is the lights.

Pros: Layout and interface is exactly what I want.

Cons: It didn't work twice. When I power up my psu with it plugged in, my fans and fan leds come on (this is with the computer turned off. Just the psu switch is on). Another reviewer mentioned a similar problem that killed his keyboard so I immediately shut down the psu and removed the card reader. I get it replaced and the new one does exactly the same thing. This time I tried plugging it into different USB 3.0 headers and different molex plugs. If only one is connected, nothing happens. If both are connected though, the fans start up. It seems to be sending power from the USB to the molex (or vice versa). I could see one having an internal short circuit but two is too much. This time I getting a refund.

Other Thoughts: Neweggs customer service has been excellent through this. 5 minute phone call each time was all it took to get the rma done. I also recommend the Premier membership. If you're going to spend more than $50 a year in shipping, it will save you money and if you have to rma, they pay for shipping.

Pros: Does everything I need. I built a custom case and need front usb 3.0, the high powered red usb charges my phone and tablet no problems, I just wish the devices themselves were 3.0 compatible, but is no fault of the FP56.

Cons: Since I made a custom case power switches would have been nice. Again, not the product's fault as it was designed to be used with silverstone cases. If I had waited a little longer I could have saved 4 bucks.

Other Thoughts: Besides the usb 3.0, the actual main purpose for this was to mount my ssd and laptop hdd. I had planed out putting together various other adapters and front panels to achieve the same thing, but I read an announcement for this front panel and patiently waited for its release and bought it before any pictures were posted on newegg.

Pros: Fast, matches my silverstone case well

Cons: With regards to staying on during sleep/off, I also had this problem at first. You have to go into your bios and enable the USB power off/selective power saving or whatever that feature is called. On my ASUS Maximus, it is called ErP.

Other Thoughts: I egg off for being confusing with regards to the power off setting. Nothing is mentioned in the manual about this but Silverstone does mention it on their website.

Pros: Review update: Looks nice. Has all the card I need.

Cons: Newegg Replace Unit. Thank you Newegg. But Unit still does the same thing. This card reader would benefit from an ON/OFF switch. If I plug in the Molex for power and hte 19 pin USB 3.0 included cable, 2 of my fans start to spin and the pump of my Corsair H100 lights up even though the computer is in off state. If I unplug the USB 3.0 cable then all is good no fans or pump start. It seems this Card reader sends power to the board from the molex. Why this would power fans and a pump on different rails and connections makes no sense. Somehow it is completing a circut. Why???

Other Thoughts: A nice on/off switch would help here. Why would I want my fans and pump to run when the computer is in an off state?
Newegg shipped the new unit quickly. They are the best.