Vantec GO 2.0 UGT-CR820H USB Card Reader

     Selecting a card reader can sometimes get somewhat complicated. ClubOC probably reviews at least six readers a year, which makes it tough for us to really pick one or the other, so we tend to leave the competition out of it and just concentrate on the features of each one. Just a few weeks ago, I was building a new machine that had a motherboard with a very vague manual on pinouts, so the previous card reader I had that was internal posed more of a problem to use. I ended up using a USB cable to connect my camera to instead of the reader, which made keeping track of all my data a bit difficult due to assortment of CF cards. Luckily Vantec came to the rescue with their external reader, which is not only more convenient to use since its on my desk and not in the computer, but I didn't have to lose any of my USB ports since the GO 2.0 gives you 3 additional ports. Lets take a look at it shall we?

Specifications

Dimensions: 103x63x14 mm

Weight: 185 gm

Compatible With:
Compact Flash I
Compact Flash II
Smart Media Card
Multi Media Card
Secure Digital Card
IBM Microdrive
Memory stick Card
Memory stick PRO Card

Supports:
8MB ~ 1G
8MB ~ 1G
8MB ~ 128MB
8MB ~ 128MB
16MB ~ 512MB
340MB ~ 1GB
4MB ~ 128MB
256MB ~ 1GB

Features

An attractive box makes it easy to find in your local computer store..

The Vantec reader is very complete with power supply cable, usb cable, 98/ME/2000 driver disk, and instruction manual.

     One of the nicer things about the Vantec Card Reader is it size. It takes up very little room on any desk. You also get a few extra USB ports, that also happen to be 2.0 and WinXP compatible. One of the nicer things that I noticed was that there were no drivers for Windows XP, so I went to plug it in and I couldn't find it in my device manager. So I plugged in one of my CF cards, and there it was in my device manager along with the three ports. Of course some may not agree with the 6v power, but I also found that it wasn't needed to use the CF port or the USB ports. Interesting part of the card reader was that it didn't require power for the usage I put it through. Perhaps for those out there using longer USB cables may need that option, but it was nice that it wasn't needed. The Vantec GO 2.0 CF Reader/USB hub comes as a ClubOC recommended product...