IOGEAR GFR304SD USB 3.0 SuperSpeed SD/Micro SD Card Reader / Writer IOGEAR GFR304SD USB 3.0 SuperSpeed SD/Micro SD Card Reader / Writer

Pros: worked at first, inexpensive

Cons: cheap case fell off quickly, then quit working

Manufacturer Response:

First, thank you for choosing IOGEAR and we apologize for your experience. The product should not behave as you described. Since the unit is backed by IOGEAR's 3 year warranty feel free to contact our customer support at 1-866-946-4327 or email us: support@iogear.com. Again, thank you for choosing IOGEAR.

Pros: Small. Works with microSD and SD cards. USB 3.0 is very fast when combined with fast cards. Inexpensive.

Cons: USB 3.0 stopped working after several uses. Before it failed it was quite warm. It still works with USB 2.0 ports.

Construction is cheap and the cover does not fit well and is easily lost.

Other Thoughts: I should have known it was going to fail when I noticed how warm it got. Something is clearly wrong with the design.

Manufacturer Response:

First, thank you for choosing IOGEAR and we apologize for your experience. The product should not behave as you described. Since the unit is backed by IOGEAR's 3 year warranty feel free to contact our customer support at 1-866-946-4327 or email us: support@iogear.com. Again, thank you for choosing IOGEAR.

Pros: This unit has USB 3.0 and exceeds the speed of all of my cards. I bought one to test it before gifting it to my daughter in law, who is a photographer. Having used several others to transfer high res photos of my own, I was looking for speed without errors. This things works great and was very fast. I used it for 2 months, then shipped it overseas to my daughter. She loves it, and I missed it right away, so I ordered a second. I am about to order a 3rd to add some memory to a Sony Bluray player.

Cons: At first I was concerned about the durability, which has not been an issue. The unit looks good, but I really was looking for one that I could close with the card still installed. I was also concerned that the card slots are always open. This could allow for dust and pocket fuzz to enter.

Other Thoughts: Many of the cons I have seen listed for this model are things that I had concerns with when I got the first one. The most common seems to be durability. Granted, I do not take mine everywhere I go, nor am I rough on my possessions, but in having mine a year now, I only see slight signs of wear on the corner of the rear label, No scratches or any other signs of wear. Basically this thing is durable and should last a good long time for anyone who is used to taking care of their equipment.

Pros: Compact. Took SD and Micro SD.

Cons: It stopped working within 5 months and started giving me issues within 3 months. I started to have to hold my SD card in tightly for it to stay mounted. now, it sees the card, but can't do anything with it. The MicroSD slot may still work, but I don't use it for that size. It is for my DSLR chip. I've owned IOGear items before and had better luck, but this one, not so much. I'll stick with a more name brand reader in the future.

Pros: Reads micro and standard SD cards from separate slots on the end and side. Fast, reliable.

Cons: Casing began to separate after a few weeks of use. Fixed easily enough with a drop of superglue, and is now fine.

Other Thoughts: With a growing collection of micro SD cards, I needed a USB 3.0 reader/writer I use use these in. This one, while not particularly elegant, does work, and in a USB 3.0 port, file transfers are fast IF you are using a Class 6 or above card.

Pros: Extremely fast and reliable.

Cons: Removable cover for the USB plug snapped a little after I got it. Not critical, just irksome. Also, microSD sticks out of the back when in use (or SD out of the side); previous model (microSD only) had a hinged cover which closed over the microSD, protecting it, and making it easier to use as a thumb drive (leaving the card in place while throwing the whole thing in a backpack or pocket).

Other Thoughts: This is my second iogear reader--I got this one because I loved my old one so much, but wanted one that supported USB 3.0 when I got my UHS-1 microSD card. Generally I wind up using the old one more, because of the protected microsd slot and since I'm generally not transferring much at once, but I use this one when I'm transferring really large files, because it's so much faster. Very happy with it.

Pros: FAST, i'm using it with my SanDisk Extreme & Extreme Pro UHS-i cards (32gb and 64gb).
When importing to a Sata2 240gb SSD, i get avg speeds around 65MB/s

Cons: my two issues with this device are

1. seems very cheaply made. It rattles and looks cheap.

2. gets VERY warm when plugged into USB 3.0, even if its just idling. USB 2.0 doesn't cause the same problem

Other Thoughts: I keep this in my camera bag as an emergency and i'm looking at another one for my laptop bag, however i think i'm going to try a different model to compare better.

I've always seen this advertised as an SD & MMC reader, NEVER a Media Stick...

even though my SD cards are rated at 95MB/s, consider that its slower to transmit 100 files at 1gb vs 2 files at 1gb & as the card reaches capacity, the speeds tend to dip a little.

as always, feel free to gmail my nickname with questions or comments

Pros: None for me, got plenty of non Memory Stick card readers

Cons: This item says that it supports Memory stick (see below) but it does not at all.

•Memory Stick: MS, MS-Magic Gate, MS-PRO Magic Gate, HS-MS-PRO Magic Gate, MS-DUO, MS DUO Magic Gate, MS-PRO Duo, HS-MS-PRO Duo, HS- / MS-PRO Duo Magic Gate, MS-PRO Duo-PSP, MS-PRO Duo-Gaming Memory Stick

Other Thoughts: Even their own web site says supported media includes Memory Stick, but actually look further down it is not in the supported cards list. How can it be supported media but not supported card

Pros: When it worked

Cons: It got hot and started to smell then stopped working when plugged into a Pogoplug

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for choosing IOGEAR and we apologize for your experience. Please email us with a phone number to contact you at support@iogear.com. We will be more than happy to contact you with quality service and process an RMA. Once again, thank you for choosing IOGEAR.

Pros: USB 3.0

Cons: My fault but doens't have all the slots i need.

Other Thoughts: I don't use my camera much so i didn't think about the sd card in it but this doesn't support the sd card in my camera. Make sure to see if it supports what your looking for. I don't use sd cards often so i haven't tested the speed but it works, i put in the standard sd card and it read it.