Expresscard 34 to 54 Adapter

Hi Guys,

I am hoping that some of you may be able to guide me in the right direction here. I recently bought an eSATA Expresscard 34 adapter for my laptop (which has an expresscard 54 sized slot). I am concerned that when the express card is plugged in, and I accidently hit it laterally (i.e. when typing), the card will jostle and break. Thus, I am wondering if there is an item like an expresscard 34 to 54 adapter exists (much like those adapters they have for microSD cards which can fit into miniSD and regular sized SD card readers). I would appreciate your suggestions.

And for those who would question why I bought an expresscard 34 card for a 54 slot - well, it was cheaper than the 54s and I didnt anticipate having this problem. I don't think I can send this back either, unfortunately.

 

Are any of these what you are talking about:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839328009
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820185005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839158018

I am sorry I cannot help more, I do not really understand what you are asking.

K-TRON

 

K-TRON,

Thanks for the response. The item you have in the first link is something like what I am looking for. That item actually does expresscard 34 to PCMCIA (pc card).

I want an adapter just like that, which does Expresscard 34 to Expresscard 54. Basically, both are express cards, its just the expresscard 54 is 54 mm wide as opposed to 34 mm wide.

Thanks for your help!

 

The EC slot is shaped in a way that you physically should not be able to move a 34mm card in a 54mm slot like you think. At least it should not, is that happening to you?

 

Greg,

Yes this is hapening to me. I accidentally hit it the other day, and the card does move. I think part of the reason is that the card juts out a little more, allowing it for more rotation around the pivot (i.e. connection). I am wondering if I can just use the Dell dummy card to custome make a brace or adapter.

 

Hmmm...first I've ever heard of it but I guess its obviously possible. Hacking up the Dell to make a brace might be a good idea, though you'd have to have a fine cut and sand it down to make sure no plastic garbage got into the computer.

I cannot really see a 34 to 54 being sold anywhere, there would basically be no market for it. It would be (1) difficult to fit due to size constraints, (2) have no benefit because it would be an EC to EC adapter, and (3) most notebooks ship with a 54 slot with almost everything being available for 54. I think you're going to have to either make a custom solution or exchange the 34 card for a 54 card.

 

Greg,

Thanks for the reply. The custom brace might be the only solution for now. I was also thinking that I have seen many of these external adapters which convert PCMCIA/Expresscard 54 to expresscard 34 slots. I wonder if a similar solution is available for PCMCIA/Expresscard 34 to Expresscard 54 slots. If I find something, I will definetly post it here for future reference.

 

You are sadly mistaken about everything being available for a 54 slot.
I want a ExpressCard 32GB SSD for the new HP 2133 Mininote computer. The only ones on the market are 34mm. These are also called expresscard memory, or flash drives. The only alternative at this point is buy the 34 and fill in the gap left in the 54mm slot with "something".

See little point in cutting down the dummy in the slot now. It would have to be wedged in some way or it would fall out.

Does anyone have a solution?

 

I've seen these provided in kits like the Targus Expresscard Docking Station. Targus calls it a 34/54 mm spacer adapter. But I've never bothered to see if these were sold on it's own merits. Can try googling for it.

 

From one chemist to another, Thanks.
The Targus adapter is what I need. However, they do not sell them separately, and I could not find them elsewhere.
Booji above emailed that he had cut the dummy plastic insert and glued it to his 34mm card.

 

I saw something to fill the gap yesterday.
I was at my work so I will let you know tomorow, OK?

 

i just took the dummy card and cut it up so i could stick the extra piece right in between, although after using the express card i realized that there isn't really any need to worry, it may move a little but thats about it.

 

Filling up the gap Expresscard/34 in Expresscard/54 Slot

Hope this is helping somebody ;-))

 

VERY GOOD FIND!! although, after some searching I found this forum thread which discusses it and it only really offers horizontal stability, and not protection from accidentally pulling the 34mm card right out of the slot.

They conclude that the Expresscard standard is a joke because of this problem. They did mention another clamp-like device though, but it does not fit all laptops. I've just resorted to making a scotch tape fortress for my 34mm device.

 

New here and the owner of a new Dell 1525 Inspiron, which has the ExpressCard/54 slot...... and I have the same issue that's been discussed here, i.e., lack of lateral support for a 34mm wide device is a 54mm wide slot.

Dumba$$ design if I ever saw one and totally useless....... and have told Dell exactly that... especially if they don't offer a spacer/adapter of some sort to fill in the gap.

The above link was exactly what I was looking for and have sent them a note. Hopefully they'll see fit to respond before the 21 days is up, or this machine is going back. Also hope that they'll point out someone in the States that carries their device.

 

Sorry if i'am not posting in the right topic...but what's the differnece between expresscard 54 and 34.

 

the number is the size, expresscard 34s are 34mm wide and 54's are 54mm wide (at the widest point, they taper down to 34mm at the connector to allow a 34 to be used in a 54 slot) the 54 just has more room for "stuff" on the card. I don't have experience with it but the consensus is that using a 34 in a 54 slot sucks due to the lack of support on the side where the slot tapers out.

 

Erhm.. expresscard 54 has 34mm of wide space on the bottom, so i don't really see the problem. The 34mm card should fit without a problem straight into the 54mm expresscard-slot as it's made to take them both without any adapter.
The gap isn't something you would normally need to fill out (when using a 34mm card) as it shouldn't move around because of the size in the bottom of the expresscard54-slot is only 34mm wide as the expresscard34's are.

As you can see from the picture below (click for larger image), 34 and 54mm expresscard has the same width at the bottom


Also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExpressCard

I guess some users are rough to their notebooks though..

 

Not rough. The Broadband card I have (Kyocera KC680) is 34mm wide its entire length. There is no real 34mm wide guide in the slot of the Inspiron 1525 to keep the outside end of card from being nudged towards the rear of the machine. When that happens, it disconnects. The pressure from the sleeve of a coat hitting the card is enough to dislodge it.

 

Startech does have an adapter by the way. The only problem is that it's about $4 but the shipping and handling is an additional $10; that's about 250% of the cost of the product itself!!!

I would like to know who the MORON was that developed these "STANDARDS". You would think that after 20 years of laptop ingenuity they would take the time when establishing a new standard to make sure the hardware actually works. This is a giant leap BACKWARD for laptops. When will these manufacturers wise up? We went from a wonderful standard of PCI to this lousy "hold the card in the slot with duct tape" solution; what next; a new type of USB with 19 different configurations? Wow...have we ever progressed!

 

National Instruments markets a strain relief adapter for cables attached to PCMCIA devices. It works great for holding EC cards firm - pulling out cables without pulling the card is no problem.

See it here:

http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/11950

(I don't work for NI - I'm just a user)

 

Search on Ebay for expresscard stabiliser..

eg This one:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-pcs-Stabili...opAccessories_PCMCIACards?hash=item33537fddb1

a fiver for 3 of them...

David