I had a cheap generic card reader work fine for 7 years getting used several times per week (gave away the system, sure it's still going). I've never come across a 'bad' card reader although evidently they do exist. FWIW I've had nothing but trouble with anything Transcend related, one of my companies to personally avoid.
There's a much better selection going with a 3.5" reader and 5" adapter. Currently using an Akasa ICR17 which seems very solid. SD cards go in upside down which is rather strange, the unit is definitely the right way up too.
Better luck than I've had.
- MicroSD --> SD adapters. Roughly a 50% success rate of even being detected, or else the card shows up as unformatted. I think Sandisk was the most functional of all of them.
- USB SD-card adapters: Usually detect ok. Some need reseating before the PC sees them.
At work, I use SD and MMC cards primarily. Some SD readers don't work with MMC. (Legacy products, hopefully to be replaced by proper SD cards in the next year or two.) This Transcend one does work with both types, but it's just really flaky.
Although I didn't get any recommendations here, I did quite a bit of research and decided to avoid the dirt-cheap readers and get the NZXT Aperture M. Search for "AA-APMU3-B1" on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KEPWMY
Although it includes a USB 3.0 port, the reader slots are only at USB 2.0 speed, which I don't mind.
I'll see if they make an external one.
This is for work, and my PC's somewhat inaccessible beneath my desk. (Or if not, I might just slap that one somewhere on top of the desk. It'll blend right in.
That Akasa one has a standard USB plug on it too. That might be the way to go.)
Oh, as for why the SD card goes in upside-down on the one unit: The slot hardware itself can be bought in normal-mount and reverse-mount styles. The one style may have been a lot cheaper and that's what they went with. I've seen that on cameras too: It depends on where the circuitboards are inside, and what type of slot hardware that company tends to use on their other products.
"This isn't an
ideal match for this application, but we're already buying 400,000pcs of this card slot for other products. I guess it'll work."
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