Help w/ Dell B130

A friend of mine recently purchased the Inspiron B130. In her haste to get her new toy, she called Dell and let a salesperson walk her through configuring her notebook rather than waiting for me to go to the online store with her to put one together like I had asked her to. Anyhow, even though she wanted to use it wirelessly she managed to somehow end up configuring it completely without wireless.

Anyway, she now has a notebook with an ExpressCard34(?) slot and no wireless. So my question is do standard PCMCIA wireless cards (like this this one) work with this slot or do I have to look for one that meets a specfic standard to be compatible with it? Thanks!

 

I believe this will work, but i cant completely say it does.

You can add a internal wireless card i believe if you want, instead of having it stick out. but im not sure on thie Dell.

Go to www.support.dell.com and they can help you better

 

Thanks, nick. Will check that out. Do you think it's possible that Dell would sell one of their internal wireless cards to her seperately? If so, how hard do you think it would be to install?

 

They do, but i would get the card from Newegg or Amazon

Its easy to install, im not sure how hard it will be on the B130, but they are pretty easy to install.

 

No, standard pcmcia cards will NOT work. The Express Card slot is not the same. I don't know why the makers did not configure the slots to be the same, but there must be a "method to their madness".

So your only options are to get an Express Card wireless adapter or a wireless adapter to fit the usb port. Or take the notebook to an authorized Dell dealer for them to install an internal wireless adapter - so the warranty will be intact.

 

Yes, what chutsman is saying is correct.

Only thing different is that you can do it by yourself im sure of

 

Was hoping to avoid the sending it in option to have an internal card installed, she really doesn't want to be without it for the time it will take for them to do it. I did find the card itself for sale on Dell's site, but you have a good point about the warranty violation, Chutsman.

Well, after Googling a bit it appears there are no Express Card wireless adapters available on the market yet according to expresscard.org's web site. So, any recomendations for a good USB adapter until they are available? Thanks again.

 

Its very easy:

Here is the guide to do it
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1300/en/sm/upgrades.htm#wp1084976

(Scroll past the first one)

It wouldnt be hard at all to do it

 

Thanks for the link, nick! Looks very easy. Just talked to her and she is going to call Dell and ask if installing it ourselves will violate her warranty. Thanks again!

 

It doesn't, as if that was the case, there would be a lot of voiding of the warrantys around here due to all the upgrades to wireless cards.

Your welcome too


Just have her call them up, and all she needs to ask if i can get a internal wireless card for my B130.

Good luck to the both of you

 

OK. We already located her card for sale on Dell's site, so I will just order it for her tonight. Cheers, and Happy St. Paddy's Day to you, nick!

 

Had a look at the link Nick provided ... nice of Dell to make it so easy to install the wireless adapter. It's just like installing memory. Glad to hear it doesn't void the warranty. I hope they have a good wireless card.

 

That's probably debatable. The only cards they list as compatible are the Dell 1370 or 1470. Not sure how good those are. But the thing that galls me the most is the fact that the card is a $20 CTO option while configuring the notebook at Dell's online store, but it is $49 if you purchase it after the fact. Go figure.

 

Those cards are fine. I would go with the 1470 since it is a little updated compared to the 1370. But you can get whatever

 

Well, I hope they are OK seeing as how I already ordered the 1470 about an hour ago.

 

No need to worry. It will work just fine