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    express port?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by imhungry29, Mar 28, 2007.

  1. imhungry29

    imhungry29 Notebook Evangelist

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    im just wondering what it is and what the benefits (if any) are over pcmcia. any comments would be appreciated. :D
     
    imhungry29, Mar 28, 2007
    #1
  2. NetBrakr

    NetBrakr Notebook Deity

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    The ExpressCard slot uses little bit less power then the PCMCIA. That is the only I can think of.

    JC
     
    NetBrakr, Mar 28, 2007
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  3. Calum

    Calum Notebook Consultant

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    Doesn't it also have more bandwidth?
     
    Calum, Mar 28, 2007
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  4. CalebSchmerge

    CalebSchmerge Woof NBR Reviewer

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    It has a lot more bandwidth, and while there aren't many devices right now, the Asus XG Station is an example of why you would want one. In the future, the devices will be amazing. Think, add anything via external card, like graphics, sound, memory (at blazing speeds), anything (almost)
     
    CalebSchmerge, Mar 28, 2007
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  5. calaveras

    calaveras Notebook Consultant

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    correct me if I am wrong on this, but isnt the pcmcia card standard a bastardisation of an ide channel?
    The express card I believe is a flavor of PCI express. There are already some pro audio cards for this and some disk controllers.
     
    calaveras, Mar 28, 2007
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  6. fabarati

    fabarati Frorum Obfuscator

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    Cardbus - a newer, 32-bit version of pcmcia which was introduced in 1995 - is basicly a pci bus in the pc card formfactor.
     
    fabarati, Mar 28, 2007
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  7. imhungry29

    imhungry29 Notebook Evangelist

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    thanks for the info guys. so ur basicly saying its kinda like how AGP went to PCI-E?
     
    imhungry29, Mar 28, 2007
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  8. fabarati

    fabarati Frorum Obfuscator

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    well, AGP is a version of PCI made solely fo graphics cards, but actuallly it's how PCI went to PCI-E. AGP to PCI-E just consolidated graphics and peripherals into one standard again.
     
    fabarati, Mar 28, 2007
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  9. feeder77

    feeder77 Newbie

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    ExpressCard = BAD NEWS for mobile data users

    Right now, ExpressCard is a real pain if you're looking to add a mobile data card to your laptop for internet access etc. ALL of the big mobile networks (in the UK, and it seems most other countries too) offer PCMCIA cards but NOT ExpressCards. So if you've got a very new laptop with ExpressCard you can't get mobile data easily!

    Alternatives:
    * You can use your existing 3G mobile, but it won't run as fast - only about 350kbps instead of 1.8-3.6Mbps via a card.
    * Vodafone are offering a USB version which isn't as good as the cards.
    * You can get a separate ExpressCard 3G+ card at huge additional cost (a Novatel Merlin XU870) but this adds over £200 to the price and the mobile companies give you a PCMCIA card free anyway!

    There seems very little support from the cardmakers, but laptop manufacturers are slowly replacing PCMCIA with ExpressCard anyway. I'd stick with PCMCIA laptops if you have a choice until there is more support for the new standard (which does obviously offer technical benefits).

    Dave
     
    feeder77, Mar 28, 2007
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  10. TedJ

    TedJ Asus fan in a can!

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    I'll agree that the number of ExpressCard peripherals (especially WLAN cards) is pretty low at the moment, more than a year after notebook manufacturers started replacing PCMCIA slots on their products.

    A very similar thing happened when USB was first introduced to PCs... for around 2 years every new PC had USB ports and next to nothing to plug into them... this, of course, changed as will the current situation with ExpressCard. It has to, the advantages of the new format are too compelling to ignore.

    1. Lower power consumption
    2. Much greater bandwidth
    3. Lower manufacturing costs
     
    TedJ, Mar 28, 2007
    #10