ExpressCards

Just curious, but do you use your ExpressCard slot? If you do, what do you use it for?

 

DIY ViDock: external desktop video card for accelerated graphics/hdmi/gaming.

 

Sprint Mobile Broadband Express Card

 

I use mine for a POS Lexar 16GB SSD that is used by eBoostr as a cache for my Hitachi 7K500.

 

I use my ExpressCard slot to hold the plastic placeholder specifically designed for it that came with my laptop.

 

Mastershroom, loving it!

+1

 

Haha, well, I guess I do use it for that! But otherwise, I've yet to use it. Not sure if I ever will, either. Maybe for USB 3.0?

 

Fortunately, I don't have to use that plastic placeholder because alternatively I can place the mini-remote that came with my laptop on that expresscard slot.

 

I voted never - although I do have an SD card reader for it, however, since I use an EOS since I have my Vaio I don't need SD cards any more... resulting in a "never".

 

YES! Same here.

 

Am I allowed to vote if my laptop doesn't even have an ExpressCard slot? That'd put me in the "never" category wouldn't it? XD

 

There is a "my laptop doesn't have one" option.

 

I voted "never" anyways considering I had a laptop which had an ExpressCard slot, but never used it in the lifetime of the laptop. My new one has a PC card slot rather than an ExpressCard slot and that one will just as likely never be used also

 

Who uses ExpressCard anyway? PCMCIA card FTW!

 

I have a Creative sound card that I usually use, and a bluetooth remote that recharges there too.

 

this is what I'm using it for LOL





*it's a crappy naked 256MB flashdisk

 

Haha... Then I should have voted on a regular basis option since my Studio 17 came with Infra Red remote controller that sits nicely in the ExpressCard slot.

Other than that, I use it on a few occasions with Delkin ExpressCard 54 Compact Flash Adapter to deal with files from my DSLR.

 

I use my for collecting dust samples.

 

a really big LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Are there no avid photographers out there? Isn't an expresscard slot the only way to support CompactFlash cards on modern laptops without using an external reader?

I was surprised to see how few manufacturers are making CF expresscards, especially the 54 variety.

 

Or a USB cable to the camera did that until I ended up buying an external reader in Poland after leaving my charger in .de - got a new chrager in Poland too though...

 

cup holder! anyone?

 

eSATA adapter for external hard drive.

 

I'm searching for an usb3.0 adapter. I can't find any yet but I known they are manufactured... anyone knowns where to buy one?

 

Voted yes, on a regular basis, but I don't think my vote should count, haha, because all its doing is charging my MoGo mouse

 

you can get one with a seagate drive:
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/external/blackarmor/blackarmor_ps_110_usb3/




i'm sure there are some vendors that have released adapters with CES.

 

There are advantages to not having to use the camera to download images. But I guess everyone is moving to USB readers, besides the /34 ones (that stick out) for the macbook crowd.

 

There are USB 3.0 express cards son ebay.

If using it only for external storage, short e-sata cards on ebay provide a compact and cheaper solution, so long as are using an e-sata enclosure/cable.

 

Never. I just left the placeholder in my Acer Ferrari. My Thinkpad's slot is empty. Dunno what I can do with it. TV tuner? USB 3.0? Memory Card Reader?

 

Mine has a spring loaded flippy door that I do like to play with when bored, so I guess it does have it's functions...

 

Toshiba A135-S2326 (P/N PSAD6U-01800D)... there's a little box with "CB" embossed on the side, next to the slot - assume this means CardBus (vs. ExpressCard)... could this be used with an adapter and SD card for ReadyBoost or OS (Vista) booting? (CSR @ Toshiba says will boot from PCMCIA)

 

Usually hard drives are much faster than SD cards, but yes you probably could if you had the right adapters. It'd make sense as a readyboost item more than anything.

 

One of the uses for an older laptop would be broadcom's decoder card.

http://www.broadcom.com/press/release.php?id=s387287

Anyone ever see one in expresscard 34 form? I have been trying to find one, but no luck so far. My guess is that it was only produced in miniPCI-express form for netbooks.

 

Me too, DELL Inspiron 1720

 

I use the Expresscard on my XPS M1530 for holding the remote and will occasionally use it for a Firewire card. I have the ADS Pyro 1394a because it is compatible with my recording interface. The only downside is that it still won't deliver bus power like I get on my Macbook or from a desktop. It is a great little card, though.

My laptop has a 54mm slot, making it hard for the 34mm cards to stay stable. Luckily, I found these ExpressCard Stabilizers. I put it on and used some scotch tape to keep it secure. Now it stays in the slot without any trouble (though it will come out if I pull straight out)!

I would like an eSATA adapter but I don't have any eSATA storage devices. USB 3.0 would also be really cool but not quite practical for me yet.

 

Agreed... it is a compromise, but I'm maxed @ 2Gig RAM... also, I noticed a bit of a difference between using my Toshiba "ReadyBoost" compatible 8Gig USB pendrive (using 4Gig) and and old SD card reader (Scandisk MobileMate SD+) stocked with an old beater Scandisk 4.0GB SD card (tested out a little faster
Also, as far as I understand, USB uses a little more CPU overhead, particularly when more than one USB unit is plugged into the same bus(?) socket... my thinking was to try to utilize the CardBus to PCI connection (actually, I'm not sure which CardBus standard or "mode" is useable... again, from what I understand, PC Card 32 bit (CardBus) DWord mode should give me a max potential "speed" of 133.33MB/s (comparable to PATA UDMA133? - my HDD is SATA - not sure if 150, 2, etc.) and I've never come even close to USB claims of max 480... typically will top out at about 19 to 20 with the SD/Card Reader)
The other idea was to cut down on HDD activity... this notebook tends to cook HDDs (yes, it's been disassembled and physically cleaned)...
Maybe a CardBus adapter and either a 4-8Gig fast(er) SD card or (possibly better?) CF card?? (SDHC is cheaper, CF is "faster"?) or larger (8 - 16GB and load a few other things to cut down on HDD activity)
Would appreciate opinons... haven't found much difinitive info on this subject (yet)

 

I will eventually use mine for a USB 3 card. On the Asus G51, the plastic placeholder has space to store two memory cards, so I use it for that.

 

It's 480Mbps, not MBps (megabits, so divide by 8 to get theoretical max speed of 60MB/s). But you're right, even hard drives have a problem sustaining >25MB/s over USB.

I believe SATA 150 has a theoretical peak of 1.5Gbps, someone correct me. SATA 300 is 3Gbps, and there's a 6Gbps spec coming out soon.

CF and SDHC are comparable in speeds until you get to the mid-high end, which is probably what you want. If you can find a compact CF to Cardbus reader, go for it.

There exist Expresscard SSDs, but afaik they're kind of crappy in terms of read/write speed.
I think the best readyboost option would be to find the fastest (not necessarily highest-capacity) SD or CF card with adapter for your computer's slot and just leave it plugged in there. One word of caution: often times manufacturers will make the adapters for laptop cardslots to be a USB controller + memory card reader, so you might not get the speeds you want. I know the expresscard standard actually has USB all ready to go in it already.

 

ooops (re: Mblops...) got it... kinda-sorta had a feelin' about CardBus/CF (from a not-so-qualified-as-to-really-have-a-clue perspective)... will stuff the bugger in there and forget about it... may even leave it in there when I eventually ditch vista and install 7...

 

I've yet to find a use for mine, because my laptop has more ports than I really need (I've yet to use the FireWire port and doubt I'll ever need to, and the docking station connect does seem useful, but).

Wish I could throw in a 1 Cell battery or something~

 

I use mine on a near-daily basis ( I don't use my laptop every day, so be default I can't use my ExpressCard slot every day).

I have a Merlin XU870 HSDPA modem - it's similar to the one linked-to by nando4 in the second post of this thread, except I only paid £20, not $180 and the XU870 is unlocked to any GSM-based network and supports speeds of up to 7.2Mbps.
Absolute bargain IMO.


Also, I'm considering getting an ExpressCard TV tuner as well, so I can watch the likes of the IPL or the World Cup when I'm away from home.

 

How much do you pay for the data?

Mobile broadband sounds awesome, but a mere 500 MB of cellular data would cost me more than the price of your HSDPA modem.

 

I don't.
Currently I have access to a SIM that is paid for by my work, so there's no cost to myself.

If/when I get round to leaving this job, then I'd probably be looking at £25/month for an 10GB mobile broadband package.
That's with Orange, so I'd possibly be eligible for a discount (potentially 40%), meaning it would be a bit more reasonably priced.

 

Does anyone know of a wireless adapter expresscard that doesn't extend out?

 

I don't believe there is such a thing.

 

Like everybody else, I'll eventually use the express slot for a USB 3.0 card =D

 

I despise expresscards that either don't fill the gap or extend out. It looks so ugly.

 

By their very nature, a lot of them need to extend out because of how thin the ExpressCards are - if you want something like USB ports, you need something thicker than an ExpressCard slot to plug into, so it needs to stick out a bit.

 

i have been waiting till i get a x200 or x201 get a firewire expresscard. ive always wanted to find a powered one, or figure out a way to power it.