PQI USB 2.0 CompactFlash (CF) Card Reader

This device is the exact same device Sterling Tek sells for twice the money and twice the shipping costs.It has been reported that this device is flimsy and made cheaply. This is not true. The quality of construction is as good as a stick flash drive. (I'm comparing it to a SanDisk) Someone said they dropped it and it quit working. This is hard to believe unless they dropped it into water. This device is so light I bet I could drop it all day with no ill affect. SanDisk makes a single slot CF Reader for about $70. This device is ideal for the new DVR and DVD players that let you jack your camera card into it and plug directly into the USB port. These devices won't work with multi-card readers making this a very smart buy for folks using CF cards in their camera's and want a simple and quick solution to display them on their video equipment. If you're looking for a single slot CF reader, this is arguably the best way to go on the Internet.

1) You carefully PUT the CF card into the slot of the reader.2) THEN you put the reader into the USB slot of your computer.3) Transfer files in the way you want.4) Eject/Unplug the device from your computer.5) THEN you carefully remove the CF card.Really its that simple. You cant go wrong. I donno how some of the folks manage to BEND pins in such a simple operation. If you are transferring multiple cards then it might get a bit cumbersome (in that case you should be using a portable photostorage devices like a Wolverine/Hyperdrive in the first place)It works pretty well, you don't have to carry around one of those 64,000 in 1 card readers if you only work the CF cards. I shoot with a DSLR so this is a handy tool to plug into my laptop to review or transfer images from the CF card.

Very happy with this device. You need to be careful you don't bend any of the pins the first time you insert your memory card. Insert the card with the label side UP and it will line up perfectly. If you insert it label side down, it won't fit properly and you may bend the pins. I did this the first time and then straightened the bent pins out with a tweezer and then inserted my card properly and it worked like a charm. I have used this device about 10 times since purchasing and it works just great. Great price too!

This thing was able to save an entire album I recorded on a Boss BR 900 that caught an error and wouldn't work. So glad I found this thing.

If you happen to ever use any Type II CompactFlash media, you can forget reading all the other reviews of this product: this is the only one you'll need to read in order to make an informed decision. In fact, not a single other review (at the time of this writing) even mentions what I describe here. The title tells the whole story, really, but if you need prose here it is:The very first item in the product "Technical" description very plainly states that it accepts both Type I and Type II media. That is half true: it only accepts Type I. This product is misrepresented: it does not allow the use of Type II CompactFlash media. Well, it might IF I CUT THE TOP OFF OF IT.Addendum, 2017: I confess that I did in effect cut the top off of it, and I was able to use it with a Type II CF card. What I actually did was more refined that simply prying off the top; I "modded" it. It wasn't my most aesthetic work, but it was effective... unlike the original design and description of the product.

I would agree with most of the other reviews; it certainly isn't a premium quality card reader. It is well worth the price though. If you insert the card carefully (i.e. not forcefully, and don't bend it once the card's inserted) and then insert the reader into the USB slot, you'll never have a problem. I prefer it to other card readers I've used in the past because it is a very compact reader. Works great in my opinion and fast enough to keep up with my CF cards.UPDATE: I've been using this for 2 years now, and probably use it about once a week on average. Not a single one of the pins has bent or broken. The design isn't great, as it would be easy to bump the card and there's enough wiggle room to bend pins, so it's not the most rugged, but I've been very happy with it; the size and price make it a good card reader to buy!

I had a couple of CF cards that were no longer appearing on my old CF adapter and it even corrupted one of the cards. I bought this one as it was cheap to see if I could recover the cards. It worked perfectly. Excellent

This card reader is cheap and not well made. It ruined my CF card for the first use. Then I threw it away and will never buy one with the same brand name.