What are you using your ExpressCard slot in X2xx for?

I am just curious to hear your thoughts about that.

Also, do we know which standard it supports? The old 1.0 (I would presume) or the latest 2.0 (USB 3.0-like speed; I doubt)?


“Nothing” is my own answer!

A 3G modem is the first thing that comes to mind, but only if no internal (Qualcomm) is installed.

Solid state drive for file storage…? Ok, but I don’t really see the point unless you have a small internal SSD to begin with… I still believe SSDs have quite some ground to cover in terms of reliability and size/capacity- I am waiting for the new Intels before I decide whether I’ll take the plunge. What would be really nifty is if the ExpressCard supported the latest 2.0 standard and could be set as a boot device… we could then use a small (e.g. 30GB) SSD in the Express slot as the bootable/OS and an internal large HD for storage (the same would hold true for the SD card reader, now that I am thinking about it... with a fast SDHC card, although current transfer rates from the reader suck, I believe). Or, make up an X2xx with dual SSDs! But I don’t even think we can boot from the Express or the built-in SD reader, can we? I'll keep dreaming... Has anyone ever tried?

Card reader… not really, since we have the built-in.

Adapters for eSATA/USB3.0/FW400-800 and the like?

What else….?

 

As I understand it (though I could be wrong) is that using a USB 3.0 expresscard adapter is pretty well useless given the limited bandwidth. I know atleast the T410 has only an expresscard 34 slot so it's pretty limited in terms of throughput for a USB 3.0 device.

 

What's limited about SIIG, Inc. : SuperSpeed USB 3.0 2-Port ExpressCard/34 - (JU-EC0112-S1 ) ?

 

It's what I am not sure about... Don't all these adapters require the PCI Express std 2.0 to put out their full potential? And I have no idea which standard the Express in X2xx supports... although I would presume 1.0 rather than 2.0.

 

the X200 supports PCIe 1.0 (250 MB/sec) and the X201 supports PCIe 2.0 (500 MB/sec).   a USB 3.0 adapter would make sense on either system assuming the device attached is capable of exceeding USB 2.0 speeds.   250 MB/sec is really nothing to complain about.

expresscard is far from useless, even in previous-generation systems.   i'll take it over USB or cardbus any day.

mine permanently houses a PCIe-based expresscard compactflash card reader.   it gets 60~90 MB/sec sequential read speeds depending on the CF card used.   that's easily 2X~3X the speed of a USB 2.0 reader.

 

Well halobox, as I said, "as I understand it (though I could be wrong)". I thought the expresscard 34 standard was 1.0.
@erik, I didn't know that. That's definitely more bandwidth than I thought expresscards were capable of. You learn something new every day.
To answer the OP's original question, my expresscard slot is also empty.

 

At work, we had a few Filemate Expresscard 48gb SSD cards that we used in a few X200 laptops. They ran fine but also ran pretty hot. The marketing folks used them to store presentations that they needed to pull up quickly. I don't remember how much they cost however. That said, my slot is also empty...

 

I'm using a OCZ Slate 16GB 'SSD' expansion card in mine, as well as a 16GB SDHC card. In my instance it allows for larger flash storage and easy file transfer between my T400 and X200. Also, it stores inside the notebook, so I don't have to remove my drives before putting my notebook away, and it minimizes the risk that someone will snag on an external thumb drive. I keep all of my schoolwork and writing on them, and am quite happy with the performance. It's as least as fast as a USB HDD as far as transfer rates are concerned. Also, it has a mini-USB port on the front so you can use it as a standard flash drive on machines that don't have an ExpressCard slot.

However, random access times aren't great. These can't really be used as an OS drive, unfortunately. When I first got my X200 I didn't have an external optical drive and needed to install Windows. I think I did so by prepping the Slate as a bootable USB key with a Win7 image and actually installed it through the Expresscard slot, but I don't remember.

They don't make the Slate series anymore, so I don't think they really took off. There are other manufacturers if you look hard enough, but they are pretty expensive. I just saw a 96GB one on Amazon for about $300USD; I think you can get a smaller notebook SSD for that which'll have better performance, and for not too much more you can get your hands on a 256GB SSD. I bought my Slate on sale for about $40 a little over a year ago; one of this size is running $75 or so.

 

Just keep in mind the eSATA and USB 3.0 ExpressCard cards don't power the drive enclosure and drive. Expect to plug in the USB 3.0 cable and another cable for power.

See Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more! for the SIIG 2.5" USB 3.0 enclosure I use. The USB 3.0 cable along with the power cable are clearly visible. In this case, the power cable plugs into another USB port.

 

Great! Thanks for the info

"Guys, I learned something today"

Thanks for clarifying this. I was predominantly interested in that. To boot from there, but

SIIG and LaCie products I like. I've used many of their PCMCIA cards in the past and I’m left with good impressions regarding quality and functionality.

 

Using Sierra Wireless AirCard 503 with it on X201s.

I personally found it a lot more stable compare to Ericsson 3507 on X200s (yes they did make a 3G capable X200s).

If anything goes wrong with the connection, simply pull the card then reinsert, unlike the necessary reboot for the internal 3G modules.

Oh yes, access connection recognise that card and can integrate the setting into itself.

 

I don't use it and don't plan to use it at all. Is there something I can put inside to prevent the little flex on that side of the laptop?

 

Why don't you try a dummy express card? Like the one from HP which is fully plastic? Just $4 a pop! (I wonder if they have a black one, though).

 

The Expresscard version is different than the PCI Express version. Expresscard 1.0 is specced at 2.5 Gbit/s (PCIe mode).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expresscard

 

Your ThinkPad slot came empty? All of mine have a plastic filler.

 

on the x200/201?

 

LOL someone actually made it! Thanks! My slots weren't filled... for expresscard there are some gates, but other slots look kind of retro.... like SD card slot.

 

No, I was referring to my T410 and W510. I would have been surprised to hear other models didn't have them, too.

 

The x200/x201 do not come with Express card fillers, nor with SD card fillers, contrary to Txxx and Wxxx. I doubt it's the price, so it's probably the weight...

 

Yea, I forgot. They have spring loaded doors to cover the slot.

 

Just for the Ex card- the SD is simply wide open!

 

Not permanently, but that's what I use it for as well...

 

Mine has a usb 2.0 hub.

 

8GB ExpressCard SSD for ReadyBoost

 

How does this work for you? Does anybody have any idea regarding whether something like that would benefit performance in XP? (no integrated ReadyBoost, I know, but you can use third-party software, e.g. eBoostr, to accomplish the same thing).

 

I'm receiving them sometime next week. I have Windows 7 Ult.

 

2 esata ports JMB36X - 100MB per port with 1.5tb and 1tb hdds

 

those of you using the expresscard slot for a CF reader, which model are you guys using? i'm going to try to find one that fits flush with the edge. i'm a photographer and i want to give my x201 the ability to pull photos off on the go. was a bit bummed that the built in reader only does SD, etc until I read this!

 

sfordphoto - get a delkin DDEXP54-CF-2.   it's flush with the side of the X200.   the CF card will stick out halfway when in the reader, making it easy to grab the card when done.   cards can be hot-swapped with write-back cache enabled if you use delkin's driver.   it's also 64-bit compatible.

don't get the DDEX54-CF-1 though as it's USB-based and quite a bit slower.

 

thanks so much erik

are you able to get reads of more than 30 MB/s?

 

yes.   my results are on in this post on page 1 of this thread.

 

Apparently 2-3 times as much!

Edit: my bad! had the page open for a while and was not able to see erik's post above.

 

I have a 16gb memory card in the xpresscard slot, and a 32gb sd card in the sd slot.


Reads at 25 max and writes at about 5. A little slow but I've had it for a few years and it still works.

I use it for very important files, mostly small. If I am writing something I have it on the HD, the xpresscard, and the SD. If I am really paranoid I will also Gmail it to myself and put it on my OCZ usb stick also.

It's also handy for transfers since it also has a mini USB port.

 

oh ok thanks!

 

Has anyone used the vidock via expresscard? Would love to hear some feedback on how it works...! Planning to get one sometime next year

 

I received the 8GB Expresscard SSD for X200. But my slot is bigger than the card. Is yours like that too? It works though. ExpressCard slides to the left and leaves about 1-1.5 cm of space. I'm worried about the possible dusts getting in there.

But not much upgrade so far because my primary drive is SSD as well. I'm sorely using the Expresscard as ReadyBoost.

 

Of course...the X201 houses an ExpressCard/54mm and can obviously fit the 34mm width of your SSD, leaving 2cm of empty space. I would be more concerned if it weren't flush with the case (i.e. does it protrude?) risking damaging it accidentally. Dust? Don't worry- as if it's the only hole of X201!!! (SD card reader, modem, LAN, USB!).

 

I'm a photographer as well and picked one up for the same reason. I've got a SIIG ExpressCard/54 CF R/W (from Amazon) It's flush with the side of my X201s. The read speeds are *much* faster than any of my USB 2.0 readers. I've been pretty happy with its performance pulling raw files from my Nikon D200.

 

Siig, Delkin or the one from Datafab (EXP-CF PCIe) should all be the same, probably just relabeled hardware (JMB368 chipset). I wasn't able to find a Siig or Datafab one in Europe, so I got the Delkin one. I just wanted to avoid the customs procedures. Within the EU, things are easier...

 

There's some Lenovo X200/X201 DIY ViDock implementations already. The i7-620M X201 + GTX460 Optimus x1 1.0 setup getting a 3dmark06=14530, which benches faster than a mobility HD5870 equipped Asus G73JH.

 

Yeah its faster than single 5870 on my m17x too. X200+ Desktop Geforce 480 scores around 9k on 3DMark Vantage. Better than m15x+5850m. Pretty neat.

 

Great link, but it's a 198-page thread! Intuitively, I don't understand how a USB interface could offer better video performance than an ExpressCard slot solution.

Do these solutions work with a regular docking station?

 

198 pages with a running summary on the first post of the thread to make digestable. X200 and X201 implementations are linked from the Performance And Compatibility Matrix table. Just click details link.

Can you can do US$280 [email protected] DIY ViDock getting you 3dmark06=14k and 3dmarkvant.gpu=10k. The same setup can be attached to a pci-e 3.0 (x4 1.0 equivalent) Sandby Bridge Lenovo X202 come Q1 2011. Though will probably want a pci-e 3.0 video card then otherwise will only get x1 2.0 with the current crop of cards.

EDIT: I recall seeing someone hacking a T400 docking station to use it's x1 slot in the same way the DIY ViDock does.

 

@nando4 - thank you for that link! it will be difficult to source components for the DIY vidock, so I might go for the villagetronic one! anyways, the project has been put off for a year due to funding problems