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    External esata drive help, pcmcia or expresscard used together?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by lucino, Aug 10, 2008.

  1. lucino

    lucino Notebook Geek

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    Hi,

    So I got my SSD which is 32gb and it's amazing, however I'm now finding transfers to my exernal usb HD very slow and annoying.
    Most of my files/music etc are stored on the external and takes forever if I'm transfering/burning off the external.

    My laptop has both pcmcia and expresscard and I think from what I've read, esata is the fastest way for data transfer for an external?

    So a couple of questions-

    1- can I use both the pcmcia and expresscard slots at the same time?

    2- does anyone know if there is an expresscard extender, or a very slimline expresscard(as from the attached pics you will see the top pcmcia slot is taken up by a soundcard, all the expresscard esata I have seen will be too large to fit at the same time)

    3- does anyone have any other suggestions for using an external drive?

    Thanks in advance ;)
     

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    lucino, Aug 10, 2008
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  2. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    I understand your problem but the only solution I can offer is for you to remove the audio card when you want to use the Express card slot. I don't think the computer designers expected both ports to be in use at the same time.

    The next best option is for you to use the firewire port, if you have one, for the hard disk. That should be faster than USB.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Aug 10, 2008
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  3. lucino

    lucino Notebook Geek

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    Hmm, not what i wanted to hear, but I thought that might be the case :(

    As the lappies mostly on a desk I need to have the external drive connected continuosly, maybe I should replace the cd drive with another hard drive, I'm guessing this is possible?

    From what I understand (I could be wrong), firewire isn't that much faster than usb? I don't think my firewire port is the faster flavor thats available nowdays

    Thanks for the reply
     
    lucino, Aug 10, 2008
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  4. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    The USB 2.0 interface hits a ceiling between 25 and 30MB/s (see these results). This performance may be reduced depending on what else shares the USB hub.

    The table here suggests that Firewire 400 can run at up to around 38MB/s, which is a useful boost compared to USB.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Aug 11, 2008
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  5. lucino

    lucino Notebook Geek

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    True, thanks John, I may give that a try also.

    Out of curiousity I'm going to grab an expresscard esata adapter and try and mod it to fit and see if it will work alongside the soundcard, they're pretty cheap so if it fails its no biggie ;)
    Will let you know if it works
     
    lucino, Aug 11, 2008
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  6. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Yes, it may be possible to get the black plastic cover off the socket end and thereby give yourself the necessary clearance.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Aug 11, 2008
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