Express Card Gigabit adapter

The one dissapointment I have with my 9400 is the lack of a integrated Gigabit NIC. I couldn't justify the extra 1000 or so for the XPS, just for the Integrated Gigabit. I had to go with an Express Card Adapter.

Anyway...I have a Linksys Gigabit Express Card (EC1000) which I have a couple issues with and look for advice.
1- This 34mm express card slot leaves little to be desired. It's a very loose fit (when using a 34mm card), because the slot is for 54mm and 34mm, so the 34mm card is mostly supported where it mates with the connection, several inches in the slot, with no support where you connect your Network cable.
2- Why would they put this slot where on the right side, where most of us use the mouse? It's totally in the way, especially wen you add the Network cable.

Sorry for the rant!

Now my questions:
1- Does anyone know of an Express card the utilizes the full 54mm of the slot so it fits nicely into the slot?
2- Does anyone know of an Gigabit Express Card adapter that slides in the slot with a dongle to plug in the Network cable?
3-Any other alternatives? Is it possible to replace the integrated 10/100 with a Gigabit?

note- I tried the Belkin USB 2.0 Gigabit adapter. The concept was perfect, the speeds where terrible. There are obvious reasons for speed issues but, I would have hoped I had enough headroom with 2.0 that my speeds would be the same as with PCI. I got about 7MBps per second transfer speeds across my network. I average 25MBps so it was pretty much on par for a 10/100 connection.

I appreciate any advice or help.

thanks