Card Reader Problems

When I purchased my XPS 210 with Windows XP in 2006, it came with a TEAC 13-in-1 media card reader. If I inserted an SD card, I could transfer photos to the Photo Gallery. After removing the card, my card reader drives were no longer available. At that time, there were posts back to early 2000 that documented numerous problems with TEAC media card readers. The consensus was that very small static charges were dropping the drive out of the system. A Dell tech finally suggested that the flea power should be drained. We did that by shutting down the system, unplugging the power cord, holding in the computer's power button for 10 seconds, plugging the cord back in, and then restarting the system. That resolved the problem with that reader.

I recently helped a neighbor purchase a new Dell Inspiron with Vista Premium, and was surprised to see the same apparent problem with his TEAC 19-in-1 media card reader. That CA-200 reader would transfer photos from an xD or SD media card, and then would no longer be "found" after pulling the card. Dell tech folks played dumb about this long-standing issue. After running all of the typical checks for loose cables, etc., they decided to send out a new reader. I asked them if ESD could be a factor, and they said no. However, after the call, I applied the same technique to drain flea power (described above), and the drives returned. Extensive use with 2 different media cards did not cause loss-of-drive problems. I should note that since ESD might be involved, I started placing my left hand on the rear of the case to ground any static charge from inserting or pulling media cards. However, I did not do a soft stop (eject) of the card drive before pulling cards, since that was not needed with my 13-in-1 reader (according to Dell tech support).

So far, the neighbor's card reader is working fine. I did call Dell back to inform them of the status. Their comment was that the technician needed to replace the drive, because that would ensure than "necessary" software and firmware updates were applied. I asked them why a new system that was shipped around the first of the year should require updates - no answer. I saw numerous posts on this issue around the middle of 2008. I did not see a final resolution, even though one thread ran for 103 pages. Draining flea power did apparently permanently resolve loss-of-drive issues on my 2006 system. I do not know if it will permanently fix the same problem on my neighbor's system. Is there any new information, concerning TEAC media card reader problems? I'm amazed that Dell continues to install hardware that has such a history of performance problems.