Memory card speeds from the built-in card reader

A friend of mine owns a DSLR, and wanted to offload some shots and fullHD videos from his memory card onto my VGN-Z as he was running low on space. The memory card in question is the Sony MS-HX32B. This is the second generation high-speed HX series Memory Stick Pro Duo that Sony is currently marketing.

The question is, what sort of speeds should a VGN-Z owner be expecting from the built-in memory card reader and such a high speed card? My friend was rather surprised at how slow the file transfer was taking place (peaking at around 6MB/sec write AND read). Doing quick research off the net shows this card can peak at 40MB/sec read and approx 28MB/sec write (50MB/sec and 30MB/sec respectively according to Sony). More specifically, does the VGN-Z's card writer support UDMA?

I was assured the card isn't counterfit (the DSLR in question seems to burst-shoot and save RAW images without lags).

And if anything, I've got a Class 6 16GB microSD in a SD adapter, which manages approx 4.5MB/sec read AND write (1MB/sec less than the Pro Duo); in other words not performing up-to scratch that a class 6 classification demands. Hence why I'm thinking there is some sort of limitation on the card reader connection to the motherboard.

I ask this question as I dropped my beloved VAIO the other day (long story, having missed a crucial flight at an airport and running around here and there trying to find out what happened took its toll on me bags).

The drop was quite significant as it happened while I was running. Though fortunately enough for me my Vaio was in two bags, and at worst suffered a slightly bent-in power-button barrel and a very minor crack at the right-side hinge; taking my Z apart seems to show that damage due to this drop was kept to a minimum. And my CPU and GPU temps seem to be reading normal.

Though curious if this could have affected the memory card daughter board, which could then be affecting speeds? (I doubt it, but had to ask...)

...So yeah... Almost two questions, and any ideas / sharing of valuable knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

 

What kind of speeds do you/ your friend get if you try to access the card while it's inside the camera via a USB cable?

 

Mate owns a DSLR-A560. He has no idea what speeds he gets when a USB cable is connected to his camera; not a big fan of wires and the "mess that subsequently ensues". Another way of putting it; he can't be bothered searching for a cable... And knowing him he's probably never used it before.

He did tell me that his Buffalo BSCRA49U2 (a UDMA-enabled memory card reader he always carries around with the camera) gets around 37MB/sec read and 8MB/sec write. So I'm curious as to whether the memory card reader on the VGN-Z is lacking the UDMA support, hence resulting in the dismal read speeds.

Mate's desktop specs (a custom built / unbranded machine):
- Core2Quad Q9300 (2.5GHz per core)
- 4GB DDR2 RAM
- 500GB Samsung 7k2 rpm HDD
- nVidia 9600GT (GDDR3 - 512MB, outputting 1080p via DVI)

 

Although I don't have any numbers or scientific proof, I know that when I transfer photos from my built in card reader on my VPC Z1, it's noticeably slower than if I use a USB 2.0 Sony card reader to transfer photos. The card in question is a Class 6 SDHC from San Disk.

 

I too noticed this. So in the end this looks more like a bottle-neck by the controller (in the VGN-Z's case a Ricoh) or the interface to which the card reader is connected to (from the looks of it, it's not connected to a USB interface).