I must allow for a slightly smug feeling, given that some other reviewers have had difficulties getting this product to work with Windows. I had no problems using the card reader on my linux system (SuSE linux 9.1).

For the benefit of other linux users: When I plug the card reader in, the system detects it as a usb mass storage device. The four slots on the device are detected as /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, /dev/sdc and /dev/sdd. These devices can be mounted onto the filesystem once a card is inserted into the corresponding slot. For example, I stuck an SD card in the appropriate slot and issued the following command to mount the device:

mount -t /dev/sdc1 /some/folder/

All in all, a good cheap product that does what it says on the tin.

I needed a memory card reader fast, and this one was the only one available at short notice, so, despite my misgivings after reading some of the reviews, I placed the order.

First of all, there is no paper manual, and the accompanying disk, supposed to contain the manual, wouldn't work for me. It kept trying to load it but either stopped completely, or asked me if I wanted to view some Chinese characters, and then wouldn't proceed further. OK, possibly my PC at fault here, but a paper manual - even a single sheet of grainy A4 - would be more professional, I think. Then we could have diagrams showing which way up to insert the cards, without needing to guess. And I reckon a PC novice would have no idea whatsoever how to actually use the unit, and find and manipulate data on the desktop, etc. Bad show.

The read/write function itself is as simple, speedy and unproblematic as I could have wished for. I copy lots of DVDs to watch on my PDA, and had grown tired of waiting up an hour or more for the data to transfer. This reader does the job in a couple of minutes or less. Despite the reservations this is a very good purchase, and great value for money.