I had and have those card readers
they are very handy, small and very much portable, nearly as small as Logitech mini reciever too ( less than 1mm smaller, I'll make some measurement when return home with my caliber along with some pics too.. )...
the problem with these is the less physical support for the reader, this it make it unpractical for real usage as a microSD card reader ( lots of inserts )... + if you think if putting the microSD card forever will prevent the reader from damaging then you may consider not to use those very hard and tough USB port that wich does have some difficulties inserting any USB plug on them coz they may put physical stress on the reader + the card...
I had two before, one was completly fault as I used it as usb flash + microSD card reader... the other I just lost some where !!
now I had another two... one with 8GB class 6 in my car's Sony stereo ( with front USB port ) it's small enough so I'm not worried about accidental damage like in any regular size USB drive wich it already had several hits and already had a twisted USB plug for these...
the other is my main file move USB flash ( I have another regular flash for portable apps ). I have it with brand new Class 10 8GB microSD and I'm telling you it's fast... faster than any USB flash I had before, reaching up to 15 - 18MB/s writing and 19.5 - 20.4MB/s reading...
all of these comes with a cover to cover the USB plug.. but the cover is completly seperated from the reader.. so yes it is easy to lose.. and trust me with this !!
I bought all these from Amazon.com they are branded as Elago from elagodesign.com.. the problem is cost... amazon have two buying options.. one from JowJow wich is cheap.. about 3.99... but they have expensive shipping as they request 4.49 per item... so practically these things will cost you 3.99 + 4.49 = 8.48 each, and yes they will charge you 4.49 shipping charge for each one you buy !!
the other option is amazon them self... but they already cost you a little more at 9.xx thingies range for each I don't remember... you can have shipping free if your total order is quilified for free shipping ( total order from amazon is over $25 )...
the first two I had was cheap as amazon was selling them for 4.49 each without shipping cost if it quilified for free shipping... but now they are just expensive !!
these prices does not include the actual microSD card, you have to buy them seperately...
I tried some other brands from dealextreme.com.. cheaper and faster to fail too.. not to mention they were not compatible with some USB devices I have ( like the Sony stereo, the stereo didn't recoginze it at all )
so from my experience with Elago ones and those china made dealextreme.com ones ( even thought those Elago are already china made too )... these LaCie might be better choice.. cheaper and the cover is attached to the reader... but I have two concerns
1- Which class the microSD card is ? I mean if it was class 2 then it doesn't worth it... class 6 maybe but hard with this price.. and class 10 perfect but I know they will not be at this price... so are they class 2 or even 4 ? they don't tell the actual speed... but they tell the fastest USB 2.0 can have.. which is not fair here !!
2- Will they be compatible with major CE's that have USB ports ?? as from my experience with some other non-Elago china made ones...