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Scythe Kama 18-in-1 USB Internal & External Card Reader |
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Written by Mikhail Ivanenkov
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Wednesday, 25 July 2007 |
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Page 1 of 2
Thanks to Scythe for the product sample.
Memory cards are about as prevalent as USB drives. Unfortunately there are simply way too many competing formats, which ultimately prevents them from having the same portable universality as flash drives. We're seeing more and more PCs and laptops with integrated readers, but they're still promoted as "big shot" features rather than the norm. For this reason, the majority of computers are still without one. This usually isn't a problem if you're transferring date from a device you own as you'll typically have a USB cord that connects it directly (barring some cell phones), but what if such an option doesn't exist or you need to use someone else's card? You'll have to invest in a reader. Today we'll take a look at Scythe's Kama, a USB internal/external 18-in-1 card reader.
The Kama Reader comes in the cardboard box shown above. Nothing fancy, just some pictures. The back lists the supported formats in several languages. It's available in black and white.
You can guess which one we got. The package contains the reader, four case installation screws, an internal USB cord (attaching to a motherboard header) and an external one. Both are roughly two feet long.
In the front you'll find four total slots. The top left for CF/MD cards, the top right for Sony cards, lower left for XD/SM cards (generally from smaller cameras), and the on the lower right SD/MMC cards (cell phones). To the right of all that is a blue power LED and red activity LED that turns on and stays lit whenever a card is inserted and flashes when data is being transferred.
The back is very plain and features only pins for the USB connector and a sticker. It would have been nice to see a more rugged construction here for external use, but other than that no complaints.
The case for the reader is made up of two separate plastic pieces. They're held together by hooks, though Scythe decided to further secure it by sealing the ridges between the two parts with glue. All it took was a knife to get past the thin layer though; after that it popped apart easily. As you can see, there's not much inside. It's a single PCB with a controller chip and various connectors (two at the top and two on the underside).
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 July 2007 )
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