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    M1530 and gigabit ethernet - options?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by swiego, May 28, 2008.

  1. swiego

    swiego Notebook Consultant

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    Pending some more info on the brightness of that WUXGA screen, this looks to be the laptop for me :)

    That said, I need gigabit ethernet. Hopefully we can spare ourselves the long discussion about whether it's needed; I do a lot of database and data warehousing work, and at least once a week I find myself moving tens of gigabytes of database export files, installation software (Oracle, SAP mostly) and other large components off gigabit networks onto my laptop (or vice versa). I love everything else about the XPS but the gigabit omission is a big one for me.

    So my question is - what are my options? I know there are some expresscard or smartcard or other slots on this thing. Are there any gigabit adapters available that I can purchase and plug-in? If so, does anyone have experience with these things?

    Would some kind of docking station help me out in this case? I know there are some Dell and aftermarket ones but I do not know if they support gigabit (for certain) or just 10/100.

    Any other creative options I might not have thought of?
     
    swiego, May 28, 2008
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  2. Jamaicanyouth

    Jamaicanyouth Notebook Evangelist

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    The NIC is integrated into the motherboard. Like you mentioned you can use an express card.

    They do have USB gigabit adapters but thats 480 Mbps versus 1000 Mbps.
     
    Jamaicanyouth, May 28, 2008
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  3. Khris

    Khris Yes I am better than you!

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    The m15130 does not have a specific docking station available for it. The only option would be a USB docking station which is no different than using a USB gigabit adapter.
     
    Khris, May 28, 2008
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  4. L.Rawlins

    L.Rawlins Notebook Evangelist

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    The upcoming Centrino 2 specification has GigE listed as a component part of its certification. If you can wait that is.
     
    L.Rawlins, May 28, 2008
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  5. Jamaicanyouth

    Jamaicanyouth Notebook Evangelist

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    100Mbps is pretty fast by the way. You can't even use the full bandwidth of 1000Mbps.
     
    Jamaicanyouth, May 28, 2008
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  6. swiego

    swiego Notebook Consultant

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    100Mbps was very fast for me back in the mid-1990s. I work with a lot of 10 gigabit infrastructure so no, I don't consider "Fast Ethernet" to be all that fast any longer :(

    Thanks for the advice everyone. I will look at expresscard options.
     
    swiego, May 28, 2008
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