No PCMCIA Card Slots In New Notebooks

[george]

It looks like all new notebooks doesn't have a PCMCIA card slot anymore. Only "Express card" slots exists.

How can I continue to use my old Sierra Aircard in a new notebook? Does Express card -->> PCMCIA adapters exist?

[A_Traveller]

I believe the short answer is no. The ExpressCard interface is not backwards-compatible with CardBus devices. LINK Adapters I've been avoiding the jump myself.

Regards

Edited February 11, 2008 by A_Traveller

[HDRIDER]

HI

I dont think you can, i have a new notebook, and i wanted an adapter, was told they did not have one, this was Aug last year, maybe they have now

[george]

Found this, wonder how well it would work:

http://sewelldirect.com/Express-Card-to-PCMCIA-Adapter.asp

[Guest Reimar]

Found this, wonder how well it would work:

http://sewelldirect.com/Express-Card-to-PCMCIA-Adapter.asp

This is the only solution right now and quite expensive!

Give me 2 days and I'll check the avaibility in Thailand!

[monty]

Seems to be what you need!

Bloody expensive though at 110 US$...

I don't think CAT already has Express cards.

Edge and HSDPA express cards plenty in TukCom Pattaya...

[Crossy]

Found this, wonder how well it would work:

http://sewelldirect.com/Express-Card-to-PCMCIA-Adapter.asp

Looks interesting, but of course it's another thing to carry around

Actually I'd not even considered that new laptops don't have PCMCIA/CardBus slots, another way the industry forces us to replace all our peripherals every few years. I got caught out somewhat when I discovered that my shiny new desktop only has PCI-Express slots (the one regular PCI slot has a video card in it), so my RAID controller wouldn't fit, grrrr.

[HDRIDER]

Seems to be what you need!

Bloody expensive though at 110 US$...

I don't think CAT already has Express cards.

Edge and HSDPA express cards plenty in TukCom Pattaya...

HI

Cat use USB modem now

[dave_boo]

Seems to be what you need!

Bloody expensive though at 110 US$...

I don't think CAT already has Express cards.

Edge and HSDPA express cards plenty in TukCom Pattaya...

HI

Cat use USB modem now

Actually, the USB modem that CAT uses is simple stupid to install in Linux. Novatel also offers Expresscard CDMA adapters. However, at some ~13k baht, that's rather expensive. This site gives a good quick view of what is available for Expresscard slots. I especially like those SSD drives you can just pop in. I'm taking donations to buy one and let you all know how they work!

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi

Have a look around Panthip. I don't know how muxch they are but i saw there USB-PCMCIA adaptors, one end connects to the USB connector and into the other end you insert whatever PCMCIA device you have. They were without package (just sealed plastic bag, no carton) so can't be too expensive.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[stumonster]

USB-PCMCIA adaptors

this is probably your best option until you upgrade your card.

this problem caught a mate out about a year ago , and when he came to me saying that his pcmcia card would not fit ,I then learnt about it too.

[Richard-BKK]

Somebody knows where to get the MS Windows Vista driver for the Cat USB modem?

[HDRIDER]

HI

I use CAT USB modem, and Vista, i did not have any problem with instalation of the modem, did not use a different driver

[Guest Reimar]

Somebody knows where to get the MS Windows Vista driver for the Cat USB modem?

May you try to install the driver in Windows Xp or 2000 Compatibilty Mode!

Cheers

[bino]

I'm now in this situation... just bought a new laptop and no PCMCIA for the aircard.

Anyone tried / had any success with these adapters?

[britmaveric]

USB is the obvious reason which means adapter or new aircard.

[nikster]

Options:

A - Get the ExpressCard-PCMCIA adapter

B - Get an ExpressCard that does GPRS/EDGE

C - Get a USB GPRS adapter (no idea if they are available and for how much though)

D - Use your mobile phone via bluetooth instead - most mobiles do GPRS/EDGE just fine, and many are "class 10" devices, e.g. as fast as the Sierra Aircard. A basic Nokia that can do this costs BHT 5000 or maybe even less.

E - Switch to CAT CDMA / USB... but I guess you live in BKK or somewhere where that's not available. If it is available in your area, it's a heck of a lot faster than EDGE. The CAT CDMA beats my TOT "2 Mbit" DSL at most times of the day, and it's way more reliable too (admittedly not very hard...)

Personally, [A] seems like a waste of money to me. There might be problems with the drivers, and it's pretty expensive, not to mention not very elegant to have a weird contraption sticking out of your laptop.

I don't know how much , [C] cost - depending on that, might be a good option. [D] is also a good option though I imagine you have some reason to not use a phone already.

Edited June 30, 2008 by nikster

[bino]

D - Use your mobile phone via bluetooth instead - most mobiles do GPRS/EDGE just fine, and many are "class 10" devices, e.g. as fast as the Sierra Aircard. A basic Nokia that can do this costs BHT 5000 or maybe even less.

This is the workable solution that I will probably end up going with. I've had the bluetooth equipped phone for a while, and the new laptop has it also.

It just pisses me off... along the lines of Crossy's post about how the industry makes peripherals obsolete and forces users to upgrade every few years. The aircard is still perfectly usable and "current" in terms of speed, GPRS / EDGE technology, etc. It was an expensive bit of kit, and when I bought it bluetooth phones were at the top end of the scale also. Using a cable connection to the phone I had at the time just seemed to be a pain in the a$$ / more stuff to carry / fart around with. I liked the idea of leaving the aircard in the slot with a separate SIM card, ready to use.

When I figure out the "Bino's realized value" of the aircard... dividing the price by usage; IE - the number of times that I have been on a trip somewhere beyond the reach of a wired connection or hotspot and really needed / used it, it has cost over 500 baht per trip!

Oh welllll...... its only money, right?