List of Top Card Readers (SDHC compatible, working manufacturer-provided drivers for Win98SE)ġ) MSI StarReader mini II (single-card reader) VID=04CF PID=9920 (Myson Century) The MSI card reader is a hybrid, it has several slots for different types of cards, but it uses up only a single drive letter, the best solution because drive letters get scarce if you use many partitions and USB mass storage devices. 32 GB SDHC cards, for example, are still substantially more expensive than 2x16GB SDHC cards, so using 2 single-card readers may save you money. You may want to own several single-card readers, but all different models/makes (exactly: different VID/PID), so that you can use them at the same time, as additional storage media. Single-card readers, on the other hand, use only one drive letter and usually have only one slot.
But careful: one card reader came with a mini-CD, but had only software on it, not a Win98 driverĤ) Multi-card or single-card reader? A multi-card reader has several slots and uses up several drive letters (in most cases 4), so you may only want to own one. The hama 55310 for example has V1, V2 and V3, each with a different chip inside.ģ) An included mini-CD, with the Win98 driver on it, is the best indication that the card reader works under Win98. When manufacturers started to switch over some time ago to SDHC-compatible chips, they may have put the new chips into the same old enclosures and boxes, which still said "Windows 98". It is amazing how many models come in boxes with "Windows 98" printed as system requirement, but then the provided driver doesn't work. SDHC is a different format, it is not SD 1.0 The websites usually do not indicate whether a card reader is SDHC ready or not, you have to look at the box in the store.Ģ) The box should also list Win98SE as system requirement, but this is not reliable: the manufacturer-provided drivers of most SDHC card readers described as for Win98 wouldn't work. The media wears out, maybe after writing 10.000 times the capacity of the card/stick.ġ) The box of the card reader MUST have the logo " SD HC ready", otherwise the reader will probably not work with cards >2GB. I don't expect large capacity USB-sticks with manufacturer-provided Win98 drivers to be available in 1-2 years, but SDHC cards for your Win98-compatible card reader will be around for many more years. Now is the last moment to buy card readers which have manufacturer-provided Win98 drivers, eventually they will be gone. SDHC cards are removable media, comparable to Jaz, zip and plain floppy disks, in sizes currently from 1-32GB. SDHC & micro-SDHC card readers are essential add-ons for Win98