This card reader supports older formats which these days are hard to find (Smartmedia, CompactFlash II, Memory stick, etc). The build quality is pretty cheap feeling and some of the plastic cutouts don't exactly line up properly with the pins (e.g. it took several attempts to insert a type I CF card). In addition, don't expect the fastest reading of modern SDXC cards. although they appear to be supported (it is USB 2 HS only).

This is the second one I've purchased after my wife pilfered the one I kept on my desk. She likes it too, which is why she took mine. So I guess 5 stars from her too.

I have tested this on my oldest card format, SmartMedia, from a circa 2000-2001 era Olympus D490Z digital camera. It reads those 8MB and 16MB cards just fine with photos dating back that long on them. Yes I back up all smart card photos to CD/DVD but I still want a universal reader.

So far, all smart cards read well with this reader used from both older digital cameras and smart phones (SM, SDXC, Micro SDXC). I also checked all four last recent Windows releases for compatibility from Windows 11 to 10 to 8 to Vista between my desktops and laptops (yes I have an 8 and Vista laptop & PC used only offline as offline backup portals).

I did have sporadic issues that were not exclusive to one machine where it would not read the USB reader when connected before inserting the media card. I'd get the Windows chime that a new drive was connected, but no new drive would pop up in Explorer nor would Windows even see it even though the powered green light was on the reader. However, *after* plugging in the reader to the computer and *then* inserting the card, the reader never failed to be recognized again. So try that before you think you have a bad/failing reader.

All in all I'm happy we still have reader options out there for smart cards that are now a human generation old!

The best part about this reader is that I was able to get the photos successfully off of a couple of old SmartMedia cards. However, the operation with SmartMedia was not consistent. With other cards, I just slid them in, the reader's LED would flash and the card appeared on my desktop. I never did figure out how to get SmartMedia to work consistently. I just left the cards in the reader for a while and would periodically slide them out and in just hoping that they'd read. Thankfully, I only had two cards to work on. Granted, it DID eventually let me get the photos off, but I wish I knew what the trick was to get the SmartMedia cards to read the first time.

I have had so much bad luck trying to find a smartmedia card reader that actually has a smartmedia card reader! Too many companies/products out there claiming that their readers work with smartmedia. Product after product, nothing worked on a newer Windows OS. 6 years later I've finally recieved an answer to my prayers from the smartmedia gods!! If you own ANY Korg music equipment, that use smartmedia cards for uploading/saving, this is exactly what you need. Uses a micro usb cable, loaded right up into windows 10, I was able to load samples into my korg electribe es-1 and es-1 mkii, and hear their glory in my favorite music production samplers. I am beyond happy with this card reader. The price is right, the product is 100% functional for my needs, and I am forever grateful that Indmem made this reader. I'd give 10 stars if I could. THANK YOU!!