Dell E1505 ExpressCard

I decided to look to find what I can fill this darn ExpressCard slot with. Anyone have any ideas? I don't need eSATA/SATA ports, I have enough USB/Firewire ports, nor do i need Parallel or Serial ports. I know that doesn't leave much, but maybe there is a gem out there for me.

One thing I was thinking about was "Lexar Media 4GB ExpressCard" because I am using Vista and could use it for ReadyBoost, but I have 2GB of RAM in there now. Also if I were to load an OS (like Linux or something that could boot from USB) would I be able to boot off of it?

So far I am really looking at the 4GB ExpressCard because it would be nice to have a lightweight OS for the times I just need to type up a doc or browse the net. So is there anyone out there that has one and knows if I could boot to it?

Thanks
~Fletch

P.S. I know I could just use a USB drive to boot a lightweight OS, and I know that the Lexar things do have a slower write speed, but I don't have to have something hanging out of a USB port.

 

Here is a 4GB ExpressCard

 

Thanks.. thats where i started, just went to newegg and searched ExpressCard. I'm wondering if I would be able to boot off that ExpressCard as if it were say a USB drive. Also I have read that these Lexar things use the USB 2.0 bus instead of the PCIe bus. Anyone know if there PCIe card out there that would yield better results?

The only other practical use of that slot seems to be a TV Tuner, but I dunno if I really need one. I was wondering if anyone found a unique use for the slot.. like maybe a cup holder

 

It shouldn't be any different that booting off as you say a USB drive or an ExpressCard powered eSATA drive.

 

yea thats what I was thinking.. I just don't like that "should" be able too.. cause to be honest thats probably what I would use it for, and I would hate to get it and find out the hard way.

Also I doubt I would see much performance increase if used it for readyboost.

 

Yeah, ReadyBoost is a bust. They seem to have larger ExpressCard drives up to 16GB but it seems the overall performance is disappointing. Realistically I think it would be better to just let it go rather than finding a reason to use the ExpressCard slot.

 

Yea i should probably save and spend the money on say food, or a gift for the GF.. but its soooo hard to let that slot go empty.. lol but thanks for the info!

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...oductdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=A1505325

Got the above parked and charging in the ExpressCard slot of my Studio when not in use...