Digital Trends

Silverstone SDP01 Multi Card Reader

April 5th, 2004 | by Jeff Fila

Interestingly, when the Silverstone external reader was used, its read times were much faster than all of the other devices, while write times were similar. For instance, writing our 61MB file to the Compact Flash card from the Abit, Chaintech, Biostar, and our laptop readers consistently took between 1:02 and 1:13 on each device. Reading that file from the device to the computer generally took about the same - around 1:10. However, when we used the Silverstone reader externally with the USB 2.0 port, the read time was significantly faster — only about 16 seconds. Write times were the same as the other devices. We tested and re-tested this on each of our three test machines to make sure that we weren't getting these results because of the file being in cache and it consistently scored around 16 seconds. We're not quite sure what to make of this dramatic speed difference, but we do like it.

Even more puzzling was the fact that the Silverstone even outperformed the other internal devices (both internal and external) while being hooked up to the USB 2.0 port on those very devices. Again, we're not quite sure what about the USB 2.0 specification makes the external connection faster than the onboard internal connection, but the speed difference was much faster. For example, reading the same file on the 64MB Compact Flash card to the test computer through the Abit media reader took about 1:10 as it did on the others. However, when we connected the Silverstone reader to the test computer, through the USB 2.0 port provided by the Abit reader, our read time averaged only about 28 seconds.

The SDP01 card reader shown with the external reader ejected.

Minor Improvements Suggested

Performance-wise, the Silverstone reader stood up to the other readers and either matched or beat them in most tests. It is an easy to setup and use product and very convenient to use both internally and externally, but there are a few areas in which we would suggest improvements.

Our main problem is with cable length — with both the internal connection and the external USB connection. Most PC cases have the external 3.5-inch drives located near the bottom of the case. In this design, the internal cable included with the SDP01 should be plenty long enough. However, some computer cases locate the 3.5” external drives at the top, in which case the included cable is too short. We'd like to see Silverstone lengthen this cable by a few inches.