The worst CF card is a A-data card. It is slow and unstable. The best CF cards I used are Kingston and San disks as hard drive.
The PCMCIA card readers I used are from SAN Disk. I just bought another one.
When I use to transfer files, I use the Sandisk Ultra II or III of 2 GB. I cannot get a 4 GNb CF card working with CFD driver.