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    Can the 3G PCI-e slot be used for anything else?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by JakeL645, Jul 19, 2010.

  1. JakeL645

    JakeL645 Notebook Consultant

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    I know I had a similar thread to this but it wasn't really dedicated to what's in the title. So can we discuss, "What else can the 3G slot be used for?"
     
    JakeL645, Jul 19, 2010
    #1
  2. philby

    philby Notebook Consultant

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    i think u will find this is not a not a normal PCI but a USB PCI specifically for 3G cards which means nothing much else will work.
     
    philby, Jul 19, 2010
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  3. MaxGeek

    MaxGeek Notebook Evangelist

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    Intel Turbo Memory cards works.

    WiFi Cards don't seem to work in the slot.
     
    MaxGeek, Jul 19, 2010
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  4. azazul22

    azazul22 Newbie

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    Hi MaxGeek,

    can i Boot with the Turbo Memory Card ? Make Win7 on it ?
     
    azazul22, Jul 19, 2010
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  5. patchseven

    patchseven Notebook Guru

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    This, if you want extra storage.

    MR-04

    Otherwise there is this

    R Cube Station - mini PCI-E to SATA + USB adapter (Powered by CubeCart)

    which will convert PCIe to normal SATA, or USB (although you will need to source 5V high and low directly from the motherboard)

    could be tight t squeeze any sort of SATA device in there after putting the card in, but a usb gps, wireless adapter or any other USB device could feasibly be made internal quite easily.
     
    patchseven, Jul 19, 2010
    #5
  6. PSYCHOTRON

    PSYCHOTRON Notebook Consultant

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    That mr-04 is pretty neat. So you could squeeze one of those in & put a 16 or 32gb SD card to put windows on it? Wonder how long the card would last.
     
    PSYCHOTRON, Jul 19, 2010
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  7. KevinL

    KevinL Notebook Enthusiast

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    From the description on the website, you can't boot off the MR-04 - but you could be used for extra storage +/- Readyboost.
     
    KevinL, Jul 19, 2010
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  8. MaxGeek

    MaxGeek Notebook Evangelist

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    No. The 1 and 2GB cards can be used for readydrive and readyboost or turned into regular disk space and the 4GB can only be used for readydrive and application pinning.
     
    MaxGeek, Jul 19, 2010
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  9. ebondefender

    ebondefender Notebook Evangelist

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    I stuck an extra PSP Memory Stick Duo (4GB) in my m11x for ReadyBoost. Anyone notice any better performance with that MR-04? Isn't it kind of a bottleneck? I own a 1st gen. m11x, so maybe I'm kind of at a disadvantage...

    looks cool though
     
    ebondefender, Jul 20, 2010
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  10. Thermogenic

    Thermogenic Notebook Guru

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    My understanding is that Readyboost will, at best, do nothing if you have sufficient RAM (i.e. it's not needed) and will often actually slow your system down. Since you have 4GB or RAM, Readyboost is definitely a waste.
     
    Thermogenic, Jul 20, 2010
    #10