Empty mPCI-e Slot/Turbo Memory Usage

Hi Everyone, so My D900F has a empty mPCI-e slot for a Turbo memory card and as far as i hear, they are 100% useless and If i DID buy one, I'd end up formatting it as storage and forcing all my TMP data to be stored on the card, but having an SSD already makes me feel as if that really is useless since my TMP folder is on the SSD. So my question? What should I do with it???

My First thought is buy one of the mPCI-e Dual Micro SDCard adapters in and using twin 128GB Micro SD cards as extra storage just because I can.(easiest lol)

Second thought is VERY work intensive but I could use a USB 3.0 mPCI-E card and then run the wires to the existing USB 2.0 ports, then remove the USB 2.0 PCB, design a PCB to keep 2 USB 2.0 ports and add 2 USB 3.0 ports where the other 2 2.0 ports. Add the ports, draw my 5V from the motherboard, and connect the 3.0 ports to the card, most epic custom USB 3.0 ports ever?

Third though, I could buy a WWAN card and add 2 WWAN antenna's to the back of my screen(now have 6 Antenna's x.x) and give my laptop the ability to have Internet Anywhere..... even though i have all of 1 hour of battery life x.x

Fourth though is I see these H.264 encoder cards made by qualcomm, do they do anything useful? Pretty sure my CPU outperforms it in every way?

Fifth, Second Wifi card?(Now i can connect to hotel/paid wifi and make the laptop also a hotspot for other devices cause 15$ per device = lame)

Anyone have any other uses for this port??? I wanna use it cause it's just "there"

 

Imo, the best use for those slots is a mini pci-e to usb adapter to house a nano receiver for a wireless mouse. Frees up a usb port and finally puts that slot to use.

Edit: Not sure about that H.264 decoder but if it's anything like the Broadcom CrystalHD card, then it's not necessary on newer hardware. Those were designed to help older netbooks with first gen Atom processors that couldn't handle HD content.

 

If it wasn't for the fact I only have and use wired mice, I probably would buy that >.>

 

@FlameHaze I vote WWAN or dual microSD. While putting a dongle is a noble idea, unless your notebook is mostly stationary you wouldn't carry a mouse all the time with you, would you? Moreover that, depending on mpcie port location, that usb thing may be hard/impossible to fit. Also, you should consider single full-size SD adapter - SD cards are much cheaper, I got my 128GB for less than $20.

 

A Single Card wouldn't be so bad, I just liked the idea of twin Cards for extra room, but yeah a single card reader also doesn't require and adapter since i can get them in fullheight. WWAN i thought would be nice BUT how do i use a WWAN card? I've never ever used one before? How does it work? I get the idea but windows/Linux/Software side of things?

 

@FlameHaze WWAN may be hard to implement - it will require SIM-card slot, too. It's basically mobile broadband; unless you know you need it - a hotspot from your smartphone is a better idea. I do use it on both my convertibles - but they are WWAN-ready, i.e. have necessary slots and antennaes from factory. Drivers are always a mess, at least for Sierra Wireless - but once you've finally installed the rights ones, it's very simple to use - you basically turn it on, and voila. I didn't try my cards in Linux yet, though.

 

Can't be too bad, Add two WAN antenna's to the D900F's screen in the bottom left and right corners(only open spots left), Pop the Sim Adapter onto a card, and pop the card in my slot. I'll have no hardware button for ON/OFF so it's driver control at that point. And rates and what not.

WiFi tethering is not a good option due to congestion of WifI bands here in Las Vegas

Sounds like Best Bet is to use it for SD storage or WWAN.

What WWAN cards work well in the US with 4G service? I am a Verizon Customer Primarily but my work account is T-Mobile. What do I have to work with?

 

@FlameHaze you need to choose LTE WWAN card depending on the LTE bands of your carrier; I personally use HSPA+ cards instead - they're cheaper yet provide good enough speeds. Check the datasheets here. In your case, I'd settle for m.2 WWAN module in adapter with integrated SIM-slot - if you have enough height to fit it, of couse.

 

Not enough height, as is, it physically rests against the keyboard, adding the simcard already is a challenge

 

@FlameHaze FWIW there is some WWAN module which has SIM-slot onboard, but AFAIR it's 3G and rare. But most people seem to just add SIM-slot. Also, all options we discussed in the thread use USB connection of mini PCIe slot - it

 

I have a old Samsung tablet, it has two mPCI-e slots one has the wifi card in it, I bought an Broadcom CrystalHD card as the cpu is single core and does not have hardware h.264, but the second empty mPCI-e slot does not see it, or any wifi card i have tried.

John.

 

@Tinderbox (UK) it may be wired for USB only, or whitelisted to certain devices.

 

I'm aware. There's a kit that does the same thing for any wwan card, issue is no room on top of the card, it won't fit