The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Expresscard a future must?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Derawk21, May 23, 2006.

  1. Derawk21

    Derawk21 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    If so how important is it to everyone else for their next notebook?
     
    Derawk21, May 23, 2006
    #1
  2. TedJ

    TedJ Asus fan in a can!

    Reputations:
    407
    Messages:
    1,078
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I'm planning on keeping my next notebook for at least 2-3 years, so Expresscard is important to me for futureproofing purposes.

    If you've no major need for add-on cards I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it. PCMCIA will be supported for a couple of years yet.
     
    TedJ, May 23, 2006
    #2
  3. Brian

    Brian Working at 486 Speed NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    947
    Messages:
    8,970
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Right, it depends on how much you need in terms of accessories. I honestly don't see much coming our for EC though that won't be or isn't already available for PCMCIA.
     
    Brian, May 23, 2006
    #3
  4. Ervin

    Ervin Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    170
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    People said the same about Firewire: "a must". Or about Bluetooth. Or about S-ATA.

    I bet PCMCIA has at least 5 more years of life. EC is definitely not a priority for me.
     
    Ervin, May 23, 2006
    #4
  5. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

    Reputations:
    285
    Messages:
    2,834
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Dell made that choice for me but would perfer the PCMCIA for wider range of devices.
     
    hydra, May 23, 2006
    #5
  6. Arla

    Arla Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    35
    Messages:
    1,073
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I guess it depends on what devices they come out with, currently the main devices on PCMCIA (or EXPRESSCARD) are TV Tuners, WiFI Cards, Network Cards, Modems, USB ports, Parrallel Ports, Serial ports and "Specific" cards.

    Out of those the major one probably nowadays is TV Tuner,

    For a few specific uses Parallel ports, Serial ports and "Specific" Cards are required, very occasionally USB Ports (notably if your laptop doesn't have enough and you don't want a hub), firewire ports (if your laptop doesn't have firewire). Modem and Network I would say are pretty much redundant by now (almost every laptop on the market has a built in modem and network, I guess if they break you might get one of these cards).

    WIFI is useful if your laptop doesn't have it built in.

    But basically most new laptops have all these features (near enough) built in, except perhaps TV Tuner, so I guess that's the only card I'm thinking for expresscard slots.
     
    Arla, May 23, 2006
    #6
  7. carlislegeorge

    carlislegeorge Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    205
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    all i plan on using it for is tv tuner and broadband express...but the da*n cards aren't out yet...
     
    carlislegeorge, May 24, 2006
    #7
  8. Arla

    Arla Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    35
    Messages:
    1,073
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    What is broadband express? Is that broadband wireless card (ovewr cell phone network?) if so, yeah, I can see that one happening too.
     
    Arla, May 25, 2006
    #8
  9. Brian

    Brian Working at 486 Speed NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    947
    Messages:
    8,970
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Yeah, I think he means air card. Those are coming soon.
     
    Brian, May 25, 2006
    #9