Card Readers... as a general rule they are not an item that fills me with any ‘zing’. Until I can’t find one. Or worse still, I find a Memory Card so old that it seems nothing will read it... oh, the frustration!
With perfect timing, as I was doing my Spring Clean (the first one in 10 years, I fear) I found an old MS 16MB card and I so wanted to know what the content was! However none of my card readers would accept the MS stick. Argh! Taking a break, I checked my emails and there was one from PI begging me to review a Card Reader. Not just any card reader at that but the Conceptronic “All-In-One” – boasting of being able to read up to 50 different types of card (with a sneaky side note that some cards would require further adapters...) Still, checking down the list, without the need for any further adapters, this reader took on a hefty 13+ cards right off the bat – including the ancient MS card that I was curious about.

The Conceptronic All-In-One CMULTICRSI (it’s a mouthful but perhaps worth logging somewhere in geek space) is a small tidy white box with nicely rounded edges and a matching USB cable for computer connection. The moment you plug it in, a reassuring blue LED confirms the connection to your laptop and when you pop in a memory card, a red LED glows to let you know everything is running fine.

It transpired my MS 16MB card was from my now defunct Dictaphone. A quick surf around on the web and voila, I found what I needed to listen to my much younger voice... Uh yes, the less said about that the better ...
Moving on, I was delighted to note that this card reader gives each card slot a unique ID, ensuring there’s no confusion about which card you are accessing. Further, you don’t need to install any software to get the system up and running – a real bonus if like me you frequently hop from one laptop to another.

Without need for further adapters this card reader will take on the following: -
- Micro Memory Stick (M2)
- MS, MS-Pro, MS Duo, MS-Pro Duo
- SD, SD-HC, MMC, RS-MMC
- Micro-SD / Transflash cards
- Compact Flash / Micro Drive cards
- A further slot for other cards (think ‘XD’ etc)

Overall, I am delighted to have had opportunity to trial this card reader. My eyebrow remains slightly raised at the claim of being able to read 50 different cards – not the most admirable bit of marketing and an unnecessary and misleading boast when what it does do right off the bat is sufficient to make it a good product. At £11.90, this Card Reader with no requirement for software, LED functionality so you know what’s going on and basically taking on almost every form of memory card I can think of, is good value for money!

Conceotronic's Website for more information.