SYBA SD-PCMU2-VIA USB PCMCIA Card Two USB Type A connectors

Pros: only way up old laptop

Cons: none

Pros: They didn't harm my peripherals when they burned out...

Cons: SPEND ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE $ AND GET SOMETHING ELSE!

They fizzle and supply you with an unpleasant odor after about 2 months. I was using an 8GB flash drive and an optical mouse when one died and an external hard drive with a USB wifi adapter when the other died.

Other Thoughts: I think the issue is power consumption. Any device that pulls power from USB overloads the card. You'd figure the manufacturers would have built in a safety feature? No... that would have cut into their profit margin.

Pros: It looks like an USB card.

Cons: It totally can't work; even only a flash drive can overload its current. Using external 5V power source doesn't make any difference.
Only some flash drives can be used on it; using USB powered external hard drive on it is a joke -- even with dual-head USB cable and distributing current source from the USB 1.1 port built on my laptop.

Other Thoughts: It never mentions the maximum current capability provided by its USB ports with or without external power source. I think it must be significantly lower than USB standard. They either too shame to test or too shame to show the test result.

Pros: It's what it's supposed to be; a PCMCIA to USB 2.0 adapter.

As always, Newegg supported me with the first defective unit quickly and painlessly.

Cons: The first unit worked for about a day, then died. The 2nd unit still seems to be working, but I have fingers crossed.

Pros: Still cheap!

Cons: Now it won't even run a mouse, even WITH an external power supply!

Pros: Great price! Worked great the first time I plugged it in! Copied lots of files to external self-powered disk drive without any problems.

Cons: Second time I plugged it in, it shut down my laptop instantly! Now, with card plugged in during power-up, it gets to Windows logo, then dies. If I power up, then plug in card, it instantly kills my laptop. All of this without ANYTHING plugged into the USB card!

Other Thoughts: I'm not the first reviewer to have this problem with this card. It seems to work in some laptops, but not others. Some have had success with external power adapter, but this shouldn't be needed just to run the card with nothing attached. Manufacturer's reply is they have 3 year warranty, but time lost & shipping costs aren't worth the effort. Cost of power adapter is same as ground shipping, so make sure you get the adapter with this card!

Pros: Nothing.

Cons: Card was recognized by my old A21P IBM thinkpad but anything 2.0 plugged into the card didn't read. 1.1's read fine through card.

Other Thoughts: Tried the card in my Dell m65 laptop and it locked it up. Sending back for replacement to see if it was just a faulty card. NEWEGG Rocks!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Customer, if your laptop couldn’t read any USB 2.0 devices, it could be a driver problem, you might need to update your operating system with the latest service pack. Your Dell laptop locked up might be related to the CardBus slot doesn’t provide sufficient current to the card. In this case you can always add an external power adapter to solve this problem. All of our products come with at least 3 years warranty. Please don't hesitate to contact us at support-us@syba.com if you have any problem or question.

Regards,
Syba Customer Service

Pros: Plug and play. Great value for extending useful life of an old laptop.

Cons: Not quite as fast as I had hoped, but there's only so much you can hope for through a Cardbus slot. My built-in Firewire port is twice as fast as this card. Maybe the pricier cards are faster?

Other Thoughts: A little over 3x faster than my USB 1.1 ports on large file transfers. Great time saver for loading large flash drives, ipods, cell phones etc. For $15 this card has already paid me back in time saved. If you don't have USB 2.0 and regularly transfer files, get a card like this and you will wonder how you ever did without.

Pros: Worked right out of the box. XP loaded drivers w/o a hitch. Construction more sturdy than I expected.

Cons: No power adapter. Had to hunt for it but the shipping was more than the product. When I need to I will just use a 5V 2A from powered hub and hope it doesn't start smoking.

Other Thoughts: Needed 2.0 speed on older HP laptop I use for diagnostic and utility. Have no idea why it came with 1.1. Have not had any issues with plug in devices.

Pros: Worked well when it actually worked

Cons: Died after just a few months of casual use, sticker started to come off and made it annoying to get into the slot

Other Thoughts: Wouldn't recommend this to anyone

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Customer, all of our products come with at least 3 years warranty. Please don't hesitate to contact us at support-us@syba.com if you need a replacement or have any question.

Regards,
Syba Customer Service