Whether you are copying your holiday photos from a digital camera to your computer, downloading music files to and from an MP3 player or shuffling information between a PDA and the hard disk of your PC, this card reader from Memorex is designed to make your life a lot easier. While most PC-related gadgets come with a cable to connect to your PC, using a card reader can eliminate the hassle of plugging in and unplugging different devices.

Much like a mini disk drive, you simply plug the Memorex Reader into your PC's USB port, pop a memory card from your digital camera or PDA into the slot and off you go. SmartMedia memory card users beware, however - this reader is compatible only with CompactFlash cards, albeit in both Type I and Type II varieties. The USB connection is easy to set up and should make data transfers both convenient and fast.

You'll really notice the speed difference if your camera or MP3 player currently hooks up to your PC via a serial or parallel port. However, when we tested the Memorex Reader's data transfer rates, we didn't find it to be a great deal faster than a straight USB connection to a mobile appliance.

It isn't just speed that's important here, however, and convenience is the real issue with this product. Rather than going through all the hassle of getting your computer to recognise different mobile appliances, the Reader simply acts as if it were another drive.

As an added bonus for the gadget freak, it allows you to transfer large chunks of information from different CompactFlash peripherals without fiddling about physically connecting each one in turn. With the appropriate card in the Reader's slot you can drag and drop whatever it is you need from the reader to your hard disk.

The Memorex Reader is a very useful piece of kit for anyone with lots of different mobile devices and a growing collection of CompactFlash cards. Since the memory cards themselves cost a small fortune, however, it's hard to see a home user ever amassing enough of them for the Memorex Reader to be anything more than a mini-luxury.

Contact
Memorex 020 8990 6600, www.memorexlive.com Minimum requirements: Windows 98, USB port Features: - USB port connection lead - Up to 900Kbps data transfer rate - CompactFlash Card Type I & II slot - Software CD-ROM & user guide.