I use the card readers to download cam pictures to my phone. I just find that easier because then I can come back home, plug in my phone, and transfer 10 cameras worth of pictures from my phone to my media drive with one click.
I’ve been using various card readers for about 10 years now and what I’ve found is to buy them 2 at a time. They last anywhere from a couple of months to 2 years, it’s totally random. So eventually you’ll need the spare.
Here’s >the one I’m currently using. I bought 2 of these last April and I’m still using the first of the two. Works great.
It can take a little while to download while in the field, especially if you have over 500 pics on the cam or if you do video. Today, for example, I had to sit and wait while a cam I hadn’t downloaded for a while spooled off 512 pictures. It took about 3 minutes, so not too bad.
I found swapping chips got to be a hassle after I got more than about 5 cams. Remembering the chips, keeping the chips organized, downloading the chips, making sure the chips got back in the truck… Too much faffing around.
To me the big payoff is it’s so easy to get home and dump all the pictures to my media drive and then view them from the comfort of my laptop.