What is a memory card reader and which memory card reader is the most suitable for you?  With modern technology, most entertainment and media laptops are equipped with internal media devices where one can take their SD card out of their digital camera and put it directly into their laptop to export pictures from one device to another.  Older laptops do not have this capability and the user will have to extract their photos using a USB cable.  Sometimes extracting your pictures from an USB tether is annoying and can be a burden.  Also, if your external media device, such as a camera, runs out batteries, you will be able to save battery life by not turning on and off your camera when transferring pictures.  There are other options to transfer digital media from your media device to your computer or other storage unit via a memory card reader. 

Memory card readers come in a variety of “fashions” and are used to transfer your memory card data from the card to your computer.  So instead of transferring your pictures with a USB tether from your camera to the computer, you can simply plug in your camera memory card into the memory card reader and transfer files.  The perks of memory card readers are that they are able to take in different types of memory cards.  So instead of having to plug in individual USB cables from your Sony Digital Camera, or Canon Digital Camera, or MP3 device, you will simply have to take out the memory card from each device and stick it into the memory card reader.  However, there are different types of memory card readers that you need to look out for.  Some multi card readers can read up to twenty different types of memory card devices and can accept multiple cards within one slot.  This will vary depending on the card reader.  There are three types of card readers, the first one being a single card, the next being a multi-card, and the last being a series card. 

 If you have many different types of memory cards such as Sony memory sticks, SD cards, and Compact Flash cards, then you will want to get a multiple card reader.  There are single card readers if you only have one type of memory card, but usually card readers are used for convenience when you have multiple devices.    Multiple card readers might have one slot that can accept multiple types of media cards or multiple slots; it will depend on the card reader.  Digital card readers can be compact or large depending on the brand.  This will all depend on your personal preferences.  Personally, I prefer a small card reader as they are portable and do not take up a lot of room.  If you do not already have a media card reader on your laptop, then your best bet is to get a USB memory card reader.  If you have a PC, your desktop might have a digital card reader already installed, if not, then you will have to purchase an internal card reader and install it in one of the empty slots.  However, there are also USB memory card readers for personal computers and they work just the same as ones for laptops.  Just a word of warning, make sure that the card reader is compatible with the media device that you have or you will have to take an extra trip back to the store to exchange your device.  These devices will usually cost the user from around five dollars to sixty dollars depending on the brand and type of features it has.