For my env are these the same thing ? thx
No, a card reader you can carry it to anywhere you want. But an adapter always stay on the computer.
An adapter can be a USB plug-in or something that mounts in the case. A card reader is the part of the adapter that the card slides into. (There can be a few card readers in one adapter.) Different manufacturers use the words differently. Just see that the device you're looking to buy will do what you want. Portable if you want, or internal mount if you want, and will handle the kind of cards you have (SD, microSD, etc.)
