Buffalo's "28-in-1" card reader

It looks like Buffalo hasn't met a memory card it didn't like, finding room for just about every format under the sun in it's new MCR-C12H/U2 series card reader, although they sure know how to stretch the definition of individual card types. Still, marketing hype aside, the so-called "28-in-1" reader packs support for most everything you could ask for, including seemingly every variation of SD, mini/microSD, xD, CompactFlash, and Memory Stick -- and, with the aid of a fresh firmware update, SDHC cards up to 4GB as well (making it a 29-in-1 reader if you follow Buffalo's logic). Our friends in Japan should be able to pick the reader up now, in their choice of four pretty tame colors, for ¥2,960 (about 25 bucks).

[Via Akihabara News]

[x23 @ Jul 21st 2006 6:52PM]

if they really want to stretch it they should differentiate between capacity as well. 4MB CompactFlash, 8MB CompactFlash, 16MB CompactFlash.... etc etc etc.

[Scutter @ Jul 21st 2006 7:07PM]

Does it create 28 drives in Windows?

[cycomachead @ Jul 21st 2006 7:10PM]

nah- they don't need to do that, they just need to upport the tons of different kind of each memory, esp. MemoryStick

[Michael @ Jul 21st 2006 7:36PM]

How many of those 28 formats are from Sony?

[Jonathan Keim @ Jul 21st 2006 8:16PM]

good point scutter. I bet it would

[jsis @ Jul 21st 2006 8:19PM]

Let's see....
Magicgate Memory Stick
Memory Stick
Memory Stick PRO
Memory Stick Duo
Magicgate Memory Stick Duo
Memory Stick PRO Duo
Memory Stick High Speed PRO duo
Memory Stick M2
Memory Stick Select
Hi-MD

Did I miss anything?

[Alex @ Jul 21st 2006 8:40PM]

hahah scutter, that'd be ridiculous, and problematic considering the mere 26 letters in the alphabet

how about expresscard?

[Red Hot Chili Pepper @ Jul 21st 2006 9:04PM]

Duuuudes... that's laaame... they sell a 35-in-1 card reader here in Germany for 10€ at Mediamarkt. I was gonna buy one but they were in one pile with the 19-in-1s and were the same price so I didn't notice 'till like 20 days after I'd bought it =(.

[Rick Bowman @ Jul 21st 2006 9:14PM]

It wouldn't make a ton of drives in Windows, a new drive only shows up when you insert the card.. at least that how mine works.

[Jac @ Jul 21st 2006 9:43PM]

If you need more than 26 drive letters, I believe that AA, BB, CC, etc opens up.

[cycomachead @ Jul 21st 2006 10:06PM]

I dunno if you missed anything, Sony has waaaaaa...aaaa (and on and on)y to many Memory Stick forats

I don't think I coulda come up w/ all those
I think SD is starting to get annoying w/ 4 different kinds, but at least 3 have different form factors, which count a 3 different card IMO
And I accept SDHD, as a different format, I'm not sure why, but it just seems right too

[jsis @ Jul 21st 2006 10:10PM]

I missed one... Memory Stick High Speed PRO...

doh

[h0mi @ Jul 21st 2006 10:30PM]

I just want 1 of these where I don't have to disable the entire device in order to remove the card.

[Beanie @ Jul 21st 2006 11:18PM]

Is it just me, or is it sad that we have 28 different card formats? Someone think of standard.. narrow it down to at least maybe 5?

[Oddmanout @ Jul 22nd 2006 2:12AM]

Agreed "Beanie". 3 - 5 should be plenty. Micro SD / SD / CF. CF is cheap and good for devices as well as dtat storage (mechanical or flash). SD is trim and ubiquitous. Mini SD is good for the tiniest of devices. The rest are either obsolete, redundant, or proprietary (to the extreme).

"Does it create 28 drives in Windows?"

Heehee, wouldn't that be amusing ? Mine has something like 17 formats (it was only $12), but only 5 physical slots. Thus it creates 5 drives and doesn't bother trying to deliniate between media that is physicaly the same or at least similar.

"I just want 1 of these where I don't have to disable the entire device in order to remove the card."

Did you install the drivers your reader came with ? I didn't for mine at first, since the windows drivers got me access to the card, but I had the same problem with mounting and unmounting media. Then I had to rebuild my system (I think I was tinkering with something else and I messed it up) and ended up installing the drivers my reader came with. Bingo! Now I can just right click the drive and select eject and I rarely ever get the "That drive is busy...try some other time" message. And I never have to stop the entire device unless I want to physically unplug it...

Just a thought...

[AndrewNeo @ Jul 22nd 2006 3:13AM]

Jac: No, it's hard lettered from A-Z. No more than 26, it's a hard limit. (Due to DOS's limitations.. why NT (NT, 2000, XP, etc) are still limited is beyond me) This is why *nix doesn't have drive letters, just mount points. And it likely will only allow you to have one card plugged in at a time (even though you could probably physically plug four or so in) so it'll only show one device. I doubt it'd only show the drive letter when a card is plugged in, that'd be annoying.

[Ypoknons @ Jul 22nd 2006 4:03AM]

I've been using this series for a year. It works good, haven't done any benchmarks, but it does need an adaptor for miniSD - which means I'm shopping again, having a miniSD phone and DS Lite and all.

[James @ Jul 22nd 2006 4:37AM]

FYI, mini and micro (Transflash) SD are different things...

And you can have more than A-Z drives using a method similar to *nix style mount points but it's not supported by most programs, defeating the point...

[Roy Hui @ Jul 22nd 2006 8:31AM]

I got a 32-in-one from a local chinese computer store for $10(AUD) which is about $7USD...

[ric helton @ Jul 22nd 2006 8:53AM]

The one they always overlook: SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) smart cards for mobile phones, used to store user ID (phone number) data and related communication setting as well as user data storage--phone book storage, short message storage, MP3 files, etc. I picked up a Dazzle 990 card reader that includes SIM--very handy to backup phone numbers, etc.

[Nick @ Jul 22nd 2006 7:32PM]

The article said:
"Our friends in Japan should be able to pick the reader up now"

Anyone near a Fry's Electronics in the USA can pick one up right now too. A generic equivalent is in Fry's advertising flyer this weekend. All Buffalo does is rebadge stuff.

[Galley @ Jul 23rd 2006 9:17AM]

Does it create 28 drives in Windows?

No, since it only has four slots, it will only show up as four removable drives.

[Aaron @ Jul 23rd 2006 6:19PM]

I don't think this is anything new... I remember seeing 40-something card readers before. Do 50, then I'll be impressed. (Are there even 50 different types of memory card? I'm not sure.)

[Jymbob @ Jul 25th 2006 6:22AM]

h0mi:

You just need to use 'eject' from the My Computer screen rather than the 'Safely remove hardware' gubbins.

'Safely remove hardware' is for USB flash drives, not card readers, as once you've finished with a flash drive, you'll probably want to take it out of the machine, (removing the hardware).

with something like this, the card reader is the hardware, and the media you put in it is like a disc, hence 'Eject' on the menu. It should more accurately be 'dismount' but people tend to be happier with eject.

[Jim D @ Jul 25th 2006 5:02PM]

Instead of claiming 26, 27, 28, or n+1 varieties of cards, they should just make a vertical-monolith style reader and market it as being, my god, "full of cards."

That said, I want one already. My 5-in-1 can't read the cards my new camera uses. Or my dad's memory sticks. It reads 5 kinds of cards that I don't use! So really, the more cards the better.