What's a PCMCIA card and do I need one?

pigeonpie

The Dell I am eyeing comes without one of the above. What is it and do I need one?
Excuse the ignorance......thanks.

Zagu

Its an expansion port for whatever you want really. They can be mobile telephone cards, network cards, hard drives, anything. If theres a function that you miss after you get the PC, you can probably get a card to do the job.

Little_John

just to add pcmcia ports are usually only found in laptops, you can buy a PCI card for a desktop PC that will allow you to plug a pcmcia card in to it.

Most devices are available as USB now so there is an alternative to pcmcia but one of the only cards I nknow that hasnt made it to usb are the GSM/3G mobile data cards. The Wikipedia entry for pcmcia is very good.

Do you need a pcmcia slot? yes and no, there is the newer Express version that newer laptops are comming with. but the number of cards available for that slot are few and far between but if you have 1 or the other you will be fine but it isnt a major thing if you dont as long as the laptop has most things built in like network, modem and wireless.

alanclose

They can be modems, wifi cards, network cards and lots of other things. Most laptops come with lots of the old uses built in and you can get a usb device for nearly any task now so its not essential that your dell laptop has one

Browntoa

new/recent dells come with expresscard 34 slots, not PCMIA slots

pigeonpie

Browntoa wrote:

new/recent dells come with expresscard 34 slots, not PCMIA slots

Yes, it's a new Dell so I take it that as long as I update or add on using Dell, should be ok. Their Inspiron doesn't have the card.
thanks for explaining guys.

Browntoa

inspirons normally have built in wireless cards ...

crox

tbh, I doubt you'll ever need to buy a pcmia card, usb is usually cheaper and easier to get hold of.

energy80s

The reason why Dell is using the new PC Express slots is that they are cheaper than the proper PCMCIA slots. However if you try to get a card you will be limited in choice and they cost a fortune compared to PCMCIA ones. Just try comparing a firewire card for a start!

pigeonpie

thanks everyone. I won't pay extra for it then. Am trying to get Dell to sell me an Inspiron with XP Pro with option to upgrade to Vista later on, as none of my drivers (Printer, scanner, camera etc) will work with Vista. Wrong thread I know but software incompatibility seems to be a headache despite what Dell salespeople say. Prefer reading the truth on CNet!