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Computerworld - The Memorex TravelLink falls into that category of  "gadgets I didn't know I needed" until one showed up for review.  Designed to make it easier to transfer files between USB devices and memory cards without a computer, it's a handy addition to the travel bag, despite a few minor annoyances.

If you're on the road and need to off-load pictures from a digital camera to an external drive, or you're looking to copy a presentation from your flash drive to a colleague's, this transfer device can conveniently do the deed.

The TravelLink's rounded design and pocket size makes it easy to grip and operate. There are two standard USB and one mini-USB ports along the bottom edge. Two card slots along the top edge accept a variety of memory cards.

The face of the device features a four-way button pad, with a power/control button in the middle, which is used to navigate the menu that appears on a four-line LCD screen. The device runs off three AAA batteries.

In addition to a simple menu for browsing filenames and folders on each connected device, the screen displays a battery indicator and icons showing the type of device connected, such as USB, Compact Flash (CF) and others. The TravelLink will also display the total capacity and amount of used and available storage on a connected device.

An included mini-USB cable connects the TravelLink to a computer, allowing it to function as an 8-in-1 card reader. It accepts CF I and II, Secure Digital, IBM Microdrive, SmartMedia, Multimedia Card, Memory Stick, MS Pro and MS Duo (adapter required) cards.

TravelLink will transfer files between USB flash drives, memory cards, MP3 players, digital cameras that are USB mass storage and Picture Transfer Protocol compatible, external hard drives and most USB mass storage devices. Only two devices can be attached at a time.

If you're hooking up a digital camera, MP3 player or external drive, note that they'll have to have their own power supply to work with the TravelLink.

To transfer files you simply plug in two storage devices, say a Flash drive and a CF card, then select files or folders and hit the transfer command. Transferred files appear in automatically numbered folders (MSync001, MSync002, etc.) to prevent overwriting existing files.

You can transfer, copy and delete individual files and folders or use the “copy all” or “delete all” commands to move everything.

The TravelLink does not support Windows NTFS or Mac OS formats as a USB transfer device. To hook up the TravelLink to a computer for use as a card reader, you would need Windows 98SE (requires a driver download)/ME/2000/XP or Mac OS 9.x or above.