No matter how much capacity your digital film memory card has, eventually you'll fill it up, and you'll want to do something with the pictures you've taken. The most widely used way to transfer pictures from a memory card involves tethering your digital camera to a computer with a serial or USB cable. However, this method can be slow, cumbersome, and a drain on your camera's precious batteries.

There is a better way but it requires a small investment in a peripheral device known as a card reader. Card readers are available for all digital film formats (CompactFlash, Secure Digital (SD Card), xD-Picture Card, Memory Stick, SmartMedia and MMC). They are typically small and don't take up much space on your desktop. Some, like Lexar USB card readers, are Mass Storage Compliant so no drivers are required for your XP operating system.

The specific technique you use to transfer your images to your computer doesn't affect image quality. With digital images there is no degradation in the transfer, so it doesn't matter how you accomplish the task.

Most cameras allow you to flip through the stored images in the camera and delete the ones that you feel aren't worth keeping. This saves a lot of transfer time, because you only wind up transferring pictures you want to keep. This technique does not, however, allow you to evaluate fine details in shots, such as relative degrees of focus or shadow detail. You can also make up for some of the limitations of a smaller capacity memory card by selectively discarding unwanted pictures. Also remember that higher resolution images, or those with less compression, not only hog more of the digital film card's capacity, but also take longer to transfer to a computer.

Using a separate card reader is highly recommended. It's the most convenient way to transfer images to a computer and you can transfer from one memory card while taking pictures with another. There is no camera downtime while transferring, and no drain of your camera's batteries. Just more time to shoot great pictures.