Lexar Professional Workflow CR1 CFast 2.0 USB 3.0 Reader LRWCR1RBNA

This review is specifically for the "Lexar Professional Workflow HR1 Four-Bay USB 3.0 Reader Hub LRWHR1RBNA" and I've paid it with 2 of the "Lexar Professional Workflow UR2 Three-slot microSDHC/microSDXC UHS-II USB 3.0 Reader - LRWUR2TBNA" units for 6 micro SD card slots.I've long had a need to access multiple SD cards simultaneously, having tried a few other options and not been at all happy, or having a bunch of individual SD card hubs that can only access 1 maybe 2 cards at the same time (1xmicro, 1xsd, so you need adapters for 2xmicro). So I decided to try this big boy out, and even though I've only had it a few hours, I'm already very happy with the result.First, the actual 4 bay HUB is BIG. Much bigger than it looked in the pictures (it's 4.5"x3"x6"). It's not so big that I can't use it, but I wouldn't care to travel with the entire hub, it would be too much. On my desk in my office though? It fits in nicely. It connects with the supplied USB 3 A to B cable. The HUB supplies 4 USB 3 Type B male connectors and the cartridges (for want of a better word) each have their own USB 3 type A port. You CAN use these without the hub, they also come with their own cable for stand alone usage. I will probably travel with 1 of these and a cable by itself, for 3xmicro sd + 1 sd built in to my laptop for 4 card access on the go, but having 6 on my desk is more useful.As for speed, I tested it with 6 Samsung 32G EVO Plus cards that are rated at 80MB/s read/write speed. What I found was a single card returned a 96MB/s read and a 35MB/s write speed, and all 6 running at the same time brought that down to ~85MB/s read and the same 35MB/s write. I'm don't have perf data on these cards in another adapter handy, so I can't say if the low write speed is normal for them or not. But reading 6 cards barely budged the read speed which is what is important to me.The build seems nice, the HUB is solid and has a good weight to it. The cart cartridges seem fine, not so heavy. One thing to note, the micro sd slots are not spring loaded, and the cards go pretty deep, make sure you have some nails or a tool to get them out of the slots.Overall, I'm happy I picked this up. I was hesitant at the $99 price for the HUB but that is for the Thunderbolt 2 version, the USB 3 version I did get was only $35 and the cartridges were only $25 each, so it was less of a gamble. Aside from the hub being too big for regular travel, it'll be fine for what I need and the standalone cartridges will travel well.

Love this. Started out looking for Lexar Dual Slot USB 3.0 Reader for $33.00 but ended up with this system instead. How does that happen? Well because anything with this kind of speed and functionality, I'm a sucker for. So I jumped on this immediately. And I'm glad I did. No more waiting around for uploading images for endless minutes. This is, to me, worth its weight in gold.Admittedly I write a few 5-star reviews than any other. But that's because I generally don't write a review if I don't like something. Like my dear departed Mum said, "Don't say anything if you don't have anything good to say." So I'm old school like that. But I digress.My particular setup at present with this device is one 512gb drive (476 gigs actually available), a CF reader and two of the SD readers. I have it attached to a Windows 7 computer and slowly moving it to my iMac 27" (latest and greatest) and eventually a dedicated MacBook Pro 15" (latest and greatest). (Incidently, If you have Windows 7 and above, you will be able to upgrade for free to Windows 10 for up to a year after the date it is released, which, I think, is around April 2015).This thing is fast and very easy to install. I believe Lexar says this Thunderbolt 2 version is 4 times faster than the primarily USB3 version. I can believe it. It works for me. If you are installing it to a Windows 7 machine, you need to go to Lexar downloads for the Thunderbolt 2 driver to ensure Windows PC compatibility. They tell you to check your Device Manager, under the Universal Serial Bus Controllers tab , to make sure the driver was installed correctly. I did not find it there. There is a listing for the device under Portable Devices tab. But to find the driver, I did a search under the Program Files (x86) folder in Windows Explorer where I did find drivers. So it's there just not where Lexar says it should be. Hey, it works so I'm very happy.The other thing I like about this is that the 4 modules are very lightweight and, of course, portable. Easy to transport with my MacBook. Each module works on its own drawing power from the MacBook when you decide to disengage the module from the Base unit. The 512Gb module adds another SSD drive to my 512Gb MacBook Pro.Plugging the base uses a power 'brick' which I plug into one of several APC Pro Back-UPS 1500 batteries and their battery pack backups. Of course you can just plug it into the wall but I leave nothing to chance.Anyways, I am very happy with this purchase and if I was any help to anyone, please comment in the affirmative if you so choose. Sincerely, Richard