I just wanted to post a quick note -- I had an older USB 2 memory (camera) card reader that was acting a tiny bit flakey occasionally, and replaced it just recently with an equally cheap ($14) new card reader (
this one), also USB2, and the speed improvement is substantial.
I don't think there is anything special about the new card reader i just purchased, but i thought i would let people know of my experience that some card readers seem to be a lot faster than others.. in case you are plagued with a slow one and assume they are all slow.
Edit: I see other reviews on that amazon page for the product saying how fast it is, so maybe this should also be considered a recommendation for this particular $14 card reader. 
