Why no internal USB ports?

I was just curious why there were no internal USB ports in laptops? There's ample use for them like a Logitech darkfield adapter, or Bluetooth if your laptop doesn't have it, possibly extra storage, wi-fi adapter to free up the mini PCI-e for other things (like WWAN adapter perhaps?)...

Anyone know of a laptop that ever offered this?

 

This makes too much sense.

 

Gimme a break. You know full well OEMs only put 40% of what we need into them's notebooks. The other 60% of stuff is just fluff to drive up the price tag. And, to add something like a USB header which allows the end user to install 3rd party peripherals instead of going for a new rig, well that's just bad for business.

 

Ahhh...

limited space?

 

Sure, plenty. Minicard slots are pci express x1 along with a usb port, in a space saving format that makes sense for a portable device with mostly embedded components. Some of the bigger laptops have two or three of them, I've even got an old core2 duo dell from 2006 with 2 full and 1 half.

Extra storage would be the msata capable slots, although if you really want I've seen minicards with dual SD slots.

Also seen many a bluetooth module using usb over a small ribbon cable, though its not "standard". There are a lot of flush or close enough bluetooth dongles out there if you can give up an external port.

 

Psh what are you talking about? My laptop has an internal USB port.. Although.. not originally.
And do you really have to ask? It's the same reason ridiculous BIOS limitations are set in place, the same reason Intel doesn't stick to their own specifications, the same reason they don't include all the headers for ports on a motherboard, etc.. They don't want us to upgrade so they can shove new crap down our throats every year or so with "new" features/updates that should have been supported properly 2 years ago.
On the other hand I guess this kind of trickery is needed for manufacturers to stay afloat in this economy.. But what do I know

~Aeny

 

I can understand the "reason to upgrade" but seriously though I always have a Logitech Darkfield USB adapter connected as well as my wireless headphone USB adapter. It would be nice to shove those inside and free up two USB ports. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I have a mPCI-e to USB adapter, but I lose my wi-fi then because only a single mPCI-e slot. I know I'm living in the clouds, but it seems this would be a popular accessory or laptop even if it were designed with this in mind.

I've considered soldering in my own USB ports tied to the external USB, but that isn't a good solution because it shares power with them, so it may not be sufficient to power an external HDD if two devices are drawing power off the same port.

 

Because OEMs cater to what will sell the most, and this apparently has not topped the list.

 

Well technically you could split your mPCI-e because it should carry USB and PCI-e. If I'm not mistaken Intel cards for example run the WIFI over the PCI-e while running the Bluetooth over the USB. So you'd potentially lose Bluetooth. But if you really really want then there's a way to do it I guess. And I know what you mean... I hate those little adapters taking space and if you're in college like me throwing your laptop in a bag 10 times a day 5 to 6 days a week puts wear on the little adapter too and therefore the USB port it's connected to.

I use a Bluetooth mouse to get around this... But I want internal USB too! We should just start manufacturing our own laptops

~Aeny

 

Exactly. That how entrepreneurs are created every day. When mainstream drags their feet padding their pocket some enterprising new venture is started up and gobbles up all their business.

The recently ravaged auto industry with their built-in obsolescence should be a testament to that, and a warning to all business that consumer are not as stupid nor gullible as they think. For now, nobody's forcing you to upgrade just for the heck of it.

Our consumer dollar is ultimately what controls the system, and what will dictate what gets built, and what business will fall by the wayside when they fail to recognize and satisfy the consumer's needs. Never forget that.

 

Considering how hard laptops can be to open, I don't see it happening.

 

To be fair, the workstations are coming around -- albeit very slowly: The Dells are pretty easy to open. And HP and Clevo (and its derivative) give you a wide gaping hole to work within.

 

Unless they have an access panel for it.

 

Most consumer notebooks aren't the easiest thing to open. To remove the HDD from Inspirons, the 15R (N5010, N5110) had them under the palmrest, you had to disassemble basically the whole notebook to get to it. Now Dell, HP, Lenovo all have service manuals you can readily get, but not every manufacturer makes it easy to open their notebooks.

 

I think you're missing the point. If it were a standard feature, it would be easily accessible.

 

Why would manufacturers standardize something if so few people wish for an internal USB port? You would still need to disassemble something to get to an internal USB port, ie a door or taking apart the palmrest. Alot of manufacturers put void warranty stickers over everything, so would your average consumer want to open up their notebook?

I recall opening up an ASUS G73SW at work, and put over the CPU ZIF and the actual CPU was a void warranty sticker, if you removed the CPU for whatever reason, you would void the ASUS factory warranty.

 

I think Apple has undeniably confirmed that the average user isn't the least bit interested in doing anything under the hood. Otherwise, they would not have soldered and sealed everything to pacify their rabid like desire for thin and light above all else.

 

You mean like Firewire, eSATA, and VGA ports? Not internal but I'd gather to say those are used oh almost never, Firewire being the least used.

How do you know so few people wish for it? Has a study been completed? And if users knew they could pop open a panel throw in their wireless mouse adapter, close it up and not have to worry about it again, they'd probably like it, keep the exterior of their system clean and svelte since people tend to prefer form over function. People aren't that ignorant or lazy, or are they?

Sheesh, such closed minds.

 

It doesn't need a seperate door to access. Why not make the doors that houses the HDD/RAM one centimeter wider and put a USB header in there? Well it would require manufacturers to go back to sane designs. Sometimes when I see laptops I can only imagine how hard it is for machines to put it together and therefore drive up production cost.
Anyways, I'm pretty sure chipsets support more USB ports than are connected to it so running the traces over the board and adding an extra USB header would cost them what? Probably under $0.1/laptop if they take it into consideration when designing the thing. I don't see the problem..

~Aeny

 

Well if you wish for it so much, create a brainstorm or an online petition and get 100k people to petition for it, better than posting and complaining on a notebook forum...

 

We already have internal usb. Practically every mini pcie slot offers it. This thread is whining about something that already exists but few take advantage of.

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Take advantage of it how exactly? Existence is one thing, practicability is something completely different. Like the OP suggests, we're not seeing a lot of that in this case.

 

That't exactly what I was thinking. The original MacBook Air had a foldaway USB port and the Samsung Series 7 ultrabook has a foldaway ethernet port. I don't see why they couldn't make a recessed USB port that can fold away, or a small access panel on the bottom of the laptop similar to the way RAM can be accessed through the bottom of some machines.

I have a handful of Logitech unifying adapters for the various devices around the house, and would like to be able to leave an adapter in every machine and carry my peripherals with me. Without a recessed USB port to protect the adapter, I refuse to stress the port and adapter by tossing my laptop into my bag each day with it plugged in.

I'm all for recessed USB ports.

 

Well the rear port on the Precision does recess if only and eighth of an inch. And the structure of the case does add some rigidity to support the drive as well. That is provided you're using these super small devices like the Logitech transmitter or flash drives.

Why even the drives I position on the side have stayed in from day one. But yes, I've advocated for more range and flexibility here for some time now.

 

I already said mPCI-e at the expense of losing wi-fi. Not even a consideration.

 

Pins are included on the motherboard. In fact notebook motherboards get their design from desktop ones. By design I mean during the engineering phase not the final optimisation phase where component placing and shape are chosen. The problem is (as stated) that they are not so easily accessible. The webcam most notebooks have is routed to an internal usb port. It's connector however is a proprietary one. Same with the touchpad.
I too would jump in if they included something like a hidden compartment with at least 2 usb ports for bluetooth/mouse recievers. I have a G700s wireless mouse with it's unique reciever. If I ever had to loose that I'd have trouble getting a new one. Shove it in the hidden compartment and there you go, peace of mind

 

I think bigger notebooks like the Clevo, MSI, Asus, etc should have no problem. Thin and light they're trying to make so thin you barely can fit a fan in there, I wouldn't expect it there, but that's where you'd want one the most probably with many only offering 1 or 2 external ports to begin with. Heck I'd be OK if they offered a second mPCI-e slot because you can get USB adapters for that, albeit only a single one I've found so far, and I own one, and it works perfectly, but again, with only one available, lose the wi-fi card.

 

You can always add a usb3 expresscard adapter, possibly a flush adapter that could be slightly recessed, you could call it internal, I guess. I had to get one since I only have two external usb ports which is unacceptable. Expresscard slot is left out anyways, take advantage of it.

 

That's fine for the moment (since we have no other choice), but manufacture can do a lot better, particularly with desktop replacements.

I'd give a kings ransom to have a second mSATA (or internal USB) instead of that slot be wasted on a configuration I neither want nor use. And now with mSATA up to 1TB, its painful to think of all that wasted space.

Anyway, expansion should be the new wave of laptop and portable device development. That's what I will be looking for when I decide to upgrade.

 

Lots of computers come with three mini pci-e/ usb slots. I wish mine were mSata as well, but as they are, I don't know what to do with them.

 

Eh? Please list them because I'm not aware of any except maybe a few business class laptops. None of the consumer/gaming machines have them.

 

I have one of these in my laptop with a unifying receiver plugged in.
Works very nicely. hopefully some of the people in this thread find it useful.

 

Would work wonders if you soldered in the 2nd mpcie slot where Dell decided not to include the actual plastic slot. (THANKS, DELL ).
But if you had read this thread then you'd see it's been suggested about 3 times already. For most of us this would mean trading wifi/bluetooth/wan for 1 usb port.. not an option.
However, it would be an option if manufacturers included 3 to 4 mpcie slots, but that seems harder to me than just adding in an usb port. But maybe better since we get to decide what we populate the slots with? And they don't want us to decide that would they? small upgrades would be too easy then

~Aeny

 

Already done that; but its not recessed. In fact, it stick out an 1/8". If you know of one that recesses, please let me know.

The one I have was added for two additional USB 3.0 as the 5 ports provided by the notebook were insufficient. For example, the two USB on the left side are permanently occupied by a Logitech transmitter (A perfect candidate for internal internal USB, don't you think?) and a micro flash drive.

 

My USB 3.0 expresscard 54 adapter doesn't stick out at all. Bought it on Ebay.

 

Must be a Dell thing: short express card slot?

Two ports or one? Brand?

 

Two ports. Brand is AKE.

 

+1 to that.

There are all sorts of flush install expresscard 54's out there.

 

However there are very few ExpressCard slots in laptops any more.

 

This thread makes me want to do something useful with mine, but I really only use one (of three) USB port(s) regularly. Anything else I should be considering?


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It is going the way of the Firewire. Hence my reluctance to part with my R2.

Maybe an engineer can come up with an optical to express card caddy?

 

EXCELLENT Idea. Now we'll all *want* a laptop with an optical drive. Or just an optical to USB port adapter. You could probably fit four USB dongles in a single optical drive bay. Just need a controller to convert to SATA. Or two if power is a concern.

 

I would think three ports. would be pushing it for USB 3.0's power requirements.

 

I used my eSATA once to transfer my OS to SSD. In the year I've had my laptop I have yet to use its Firewire port for anything other than a speed test. As I suspected, USB 3.0 was much faster which is why I need more, more, more.

Anyway, most if not all of the audio hardware manufacture have moved on to Thunderbolt connections. Although to be fair, there are still a good many firewire dependent audio device around in schools and institutions that can still utilize them. I'm sure they won't upgrade until its definite that Thunderbolt will be the only alternative. Right now, it seem like it will be.

 

That's too bad, because that's the greatest appeal of Thunderbolt: open universal connectivity to virtually unlimited external devices. PC designers should be looking for ways to increase and expand the utilization of this port, not eliminate it.

 

I've internal usb in my notebook.
and yes there's a need for that. There's many reasons. for example I use this with a modded usb hub to connect gps, 3g modem RF reciever from keyboard and bluetooth. works great. all notebooks should have. it's not that hard to make.

 

I have one of those too, but again, most laptops have a single mPCI-e slot and it's usually housing the wi-fi card. Now if wi-fi cards came with a USB header even (just pins), then you could just get a connector or solder to the pins on the wi-fi card to do your own. But that would still be for the select few that would bother messing with it. I guess then though there could be third party adapters for individual laptops.

 

The Precision has the space and the connection. Just not the function. Then again if it were available fort universal use I'd just us it for another storage SSD.

 

Well, in a M6700, you have 3 mPCI-E connectors, two half-height and one full height. Remove one for wi-fi and that still leaves two. That is not counting the expresscard slot...

 

Very intelligent of them. Granted it is a business class laptop, and I do see multiple mPCI-e slots in a handful of business class laptops, but no consumer or gaming laptops.