SanDisk Express/34 USB 2.0 SD/MS Adapter
As expected, the
SanDisk Multi Card ExpressCard Adapter SDAD-109
only uses the USB 2.0 link of the ExpressCard interface.
The adapter is supposed to support regular size SD and MMC cards,
as well as Memory Stick Duo - regular size Memory Stick are not supported.
Although the adapter is a very recent model, and the package
explicitly mentions MS PRO-HG support,
there is no true MS PRO-HG support in terms of speed, these cards simply run in
MS PRO compatibility mode. This is not an achievement of the
adapter, the cards are designed to support regular MS PRO modes
as well.
Another thing worth mentioning is the fact that neither of the
cards sit flush with the adapter, MS Duo stick out about 5mm,
while SD or MMC stick out about 12mm, but the slot is too deep
to support RS-MMC or MMCmobile without snap-on adapter.
The performance with SD cards is good. Given the fact that
the adapter does not support MS PRO-HG speed, the performance
with MS PRO Duo is good. The big surprise is the fact that
unlike other adapters of this type, the SDAD-109 has a fully
featured 8-bit MMC slot with 30.9MB/s read performance.
That could have been the speed for MS PRO-HG as well,
if they had used a current controller.
Taking
into account that MMCplus is definitely not a core business
of SanDisk, the presence 8-bit MMCplus support,
but the lack of 8-bit PRO-HG in their most recent
card reader product is very strange. However, SanDisk
does not offer any Memory Stick PRO-HG yet, so the
adapter fits at least their current memory card product line.