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Continued from page 1: The Setup: The first thing I took a gander at was the anemic manual for this product. At first I thought “great, another skimpy manual” then I realized there wasn’t a software interface (GUI) or drivers needed for Windows XP. This is when I turned my frown upside down. The driver CD is basically there if you plan on installing this product on an older OS such as Windows 98, ME, or 2000. Installation is very simple, you just plug one end of your USB cable to the Go 2.0, and the other end to any USB 2.0 compatible port on your computer and Windows XP will do the rest. This is if you have XP installed of course, if not, then you will need to load the Driver CD and install the drivers per your Operating System. Once you jack in the USB cable to your computer, XP will automatically install the proper drivers for you. You will then have four “Removable Disks” that will be added to your drive letters as seen here.
The reason there are four instead of eight is because each flash port will share the data lines and double, even triple up with similarly shaped flash disks. The upper left hand port will be home to three flash cards, the Compact Flash (CF I/II) & IBM MicroDrive (MD). The port located in the upper right will welcome only the Memory Stick (MS/MS Pro). The port in the lower left hand corner will accept Secure Digital (SD) & Multimedia Cards (MMC). The port in the lower right hand corner will only take Smart Media (SM) cards. I only wish that Vantec would make this product a 9-in-1 reader card, adding a port for the very popular xD Picture Card made by Fuji Film. I own a Fujifilm FinePix A303 Digital Camera now and it uses the xD Picture Card. This is still the only device that I will have to continue using my USB cable to transfer pictures from the camera to the PC and completely bypass the Go 2.0. Very frustrating indeed. Possibly in a future model (crossing fingers).
Functionality meets form: I wish I had all of the flash cards that the Go 2.0 takes, but for this review, I was only able to test it with a Memory Stick (64MB); a Secure Digital (16MB); and a Smart Media Card (64MB). When you place a flash card into any of the ports, the Power LED will turn orange to signify that there is media in a port. Once you start to push or pull data through any of the ports, the Power LED will alternate between orange and green flashing lights to show activity through the device. On top of the Reader, there are three USB LED lights to alert you when you plug in a USB compatible device. The LED will illuminate green depending on which port you access.
The way that I tested this reader was simply by loading each flash card to it’s capacity with different size and types of data. I would then copy that data back to the harddrive. I was debating on whether or not it was worth the time to drum up some fancy benchmarks to show transfer rates and the like, but when it comes right down to it….why? USB 2.0 is fast, if your used to transferring things with your old USB 1.1 devices, you will fall back in your seat when you see how much faster life is when you try it with USB 2.0. Sorry, no graphs for this review, just pure unadulterated speed between all interfaces with the Vantec Go 2.0. It is possible to have each one of those ports filled with an appropriate flash card and copy, cut, and paste data between them at the same time. That is due to the high speed USB 2.0 bus and the bi-directional data lines that will allow you to multi-task between all appropriate flash cards as well as passing data through the USB hub. Simply amazing! I cannot begin to describe how efficient this product is by allowing you to accomplish all of the above aforementioned without ever having to hook up another external device and cable to transfer data to or from your computer. If you plan on trying to send as much data as I did through the Go 2.0, I would recommend using the supplied AC Adapter. Vantec recommends that if you use more than 100mA (Milla Amps) you will need to use the Adapter, and I agree 100%. There were a couple of times that trying to transfer vast amounts of data without the Adapter would cause the reader to “drop” the data transfers all across the flash reading ports. All of the data reached the required destination when using the USB hub which leads me to believe that the USB hub might have priority over the flash card ports. I have not found any evidence to prove this, but it is interesting nevertheless. So if you can afford the space in that ever increasingly popular power strip for one more AC Adapter, I would strongly recommend using it to avoid any loss of critical data.
Conclusion: Price at the time of this review: $28.95 There is no doubt in my mind that the Vantec Go 2.0 external 8-in-1 card reader and USB hub is worth every cent that you will spend at time of purchase. There are just so many things that can be accomplished via one tiny external device that can be housed on the most crowded of desktop environments. With the low profile of the Go 2.0 and the lightweight 6.5 ounces, this product can easily travel in your front shirt pocket or your laptop carrying case with ease. This device is the perfect addition for the person that has many different digital cameras and would like to do away with all the transfer cables or docking stations in lieu of one do-it-all component. Transfers are crisp and speedy due to the high speed USB 2.0 transfer rates and it is completely backwards compatible just in case that old printer, 1.1Mbps USB hub, or digital camera was made before the USB 2.0 technology was introduced. There are a couple of things that I would like to see a little different on the Go 2.0, and that would be the inclusion of a FujiFilm xD Picture Card port on a future model. I would also like to see some rubber feet on the bottom of the device for gripping the desktop surface. As it is now, the Go 2.0 has a tendency to slide when you try to pop in a flash card or plug in a USB cable. You must either pickup the device or apply some pressure down on it to insert what you need without the component sliding away from you. Overall, I think this is one solid multi-function product with ease of use; compatibility; and speed written all over the Go 2.0. Vantec definitely has a winner in their vast stable of top quality products, and the Go 2.0 does not disappoint. I would like to give this tiny product a huge 5 out of 5 Extreme Stars!
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