MacBook Pro - Expresscard/34

[Kelson]

Well....I ordered a new MacBook today. Fully Loaded.

Last Friday, I signed up with Verizon Wireless for a 2 year contract on their EVDO network. The EVDO card is PCMCIA.

The MacBook has an Expresscard/34 slot (34mm wide, as opposed to Expresscard/54 which is 54mm wide).

My EVDO card will not work in the MacBook Pro. I need someone to release an Expresscard/34 EVDO card, or an Expresscard/34 to PCMCIA adaptor.

- Kelson

 

[runninmac]

Dont know what to say. But thanks for making a post about it because I was wondering what it did

 

[mduser63]

This is one of the semi-valid complaints people have with Apple. They love to just drop standards from their machines when something new comes along. In a way it's good because it keeps things from stagnating, and has helped introduce new technologies, but at the same time, it leaves a lot of people annoyed at not being able to use peripherals that previously worked fine. Not to worry though, it looks like Expresscard is already catching on with a lot of manufacturers, and it probably won't be long before you can get all kinds of Expresscard stuff.

 

[MacTruck]

This is one of the semi-valid complaints people have with Apple. They love to just drop standards from their machines when something new comes along. In a way it's good because it keeps things from stagnating, and has helped introduce new technologies, but at the same time, it leaves a lot of people annoyed at not being able to use peripherals that previously worked fine. Not to worry though, it looks like Expresscard is already catching on with a lot of manufacturers, and it probably won't be long before you can get all kinds of Expresscard stuff.

FOR REAL!

- ADC (apple display connector)
- Apple Video Connector (old monitor port)
- Nubus
- PCI-X
- Firewire 800
- ipod accessory connector and firewire 400 for ipod
- apple pro speaker port


But at least they are trying.

 

[Daedalus256]

FOR REAL!

- ADC (apple display connector)
- Apple Video Connector (old monitor port)
- Nubus
- PCI-X
- Firewire 800
- ipod accessory connector and firewire 400 for ipod
- apple pro speaker port


But at least they are trying.

Most of the things you mentioned aren't really technologies that everyone could use, but propriety apple technologies that apple realized no one would use when there's an industry standard.

 

[mkrishnan]

So can someone explain these standards to me? Are either of these standards -- ExpressCard/34 or ExpressCard/54 -- successors to the existing PC cards? Are either of them the same size / backwards compatible? I'd never heard of this standard before today.

Edit: so this appears to answer most of my questions, except for backwards compatibility. Turns out Google is my friend after all!

 

[-Escher-]

QUESTION:

Is it possible to stick the remote control into this Expresswahtever like a PCMA remote control present in some PC notebooks?

I don't want to be worry about a stupid remote control that I won't be able to keep safe and available when I need it.....

 

[MacTruck]

Most of the things you mentioned aren't really technologies that everyone could use, but propriety apple technologies that apple realized no one would use when there's an industry standard.

Yeah, that was my point.

 

[El Flocko]

Well, Expletive!!

Well....I ordered a new MacBook today. Fully Loaded.

Last Friday, I signed up with Verizon Wireless for a 2 year contract on their EVDO network. The EVDO card is PCMCIA.

The MacBook has an Expresscard/34 slot (34mm wide, as opposed to Expresscard/54 which is 54mm wide).

My EVDO card will not work in the MacBook Pro. I need someone to release an Expresscard/34 EVDO card, or an Expresscard/34 to PCMCIA adaptor.

- Kelson

I'm in the same boat. My boss at work offered to buy me a Dell XPS laptop. I held out for the Intel Powerbook (Dual booting here I come), mainly because Dells are garbage and I can do all but 1 or 2 tasks with OS X. I have a Verison card that I need for when I'm on call at work, and now I see that the PCMCIA card that the company supplies won't work because Apple dropped the port. Great.

Anyone have an idea if an adapter exists out there? Haven't been able to find one on the Apple site or Google...

 

[mduser63]

So can someone explain these standards to me? Are either of these standards -- ExpressCard/34 or ExpressCard/54 -- successors to the existing PC cards? Are either of them the same size / backwards compatible? I'd never heard of this standard before today.

Edit: so this appears to answer most of my questions, except for backwards compatibility. Turns out Google is my friend after all!

Don't know a whole lot about the technical details of the two standards, but I do know that ExpressCard (aka NewCard) was developed by the same group as regular PC cards (PCMCIA). It includes PCI-Express and USB 2.0 connections on the same connector, and either can be used. That sounds to me like it could be used for some very powerful things, but probably not backwards compatible. PCI Express and USB also means that it should be really easy for companies to create Express Cards based on preexisting products. Still it's a little annoying that PCMCIA cards are now unusable with new Mac laptops.

Here's a web site that might be interesting/useful.

 

[MacTruck]

Don't know a whole lot about the technical details of the two standards, but I do know that ExpressCard (aka NewCard) was developed by the same group as regular PC cards (PCMCIA). It includes PCI-Express and USB 2.0 connections on the same connector, and either can be used. That sounds to me like it could be used for some very powerful things, but probably not backwards compatible. PCI Express and USB also means that it should be really easy for companies to create Express Cards based on preexisting products. Still it's a little annoying that PCMCIA cards are now unusable with new Mac laptops.

Here's a web site that might be interesting/useful.

Yeah, Lenovo (IBM) still includes both PCMCIA and PCI-E slots. Apple should have done the same.

 

[xPismo]

FOR REAL!

- ADC (apple display connector)
- Apple Video Connector (old monitor port)
- Nubus
- PCI-X
- Firewire 800
- ipod accessory connector and firewire 400 for ipod
- apple pro speaker port


But at least they are trying.

S-video.

 

[MacTruck]

S-video.

True true, but to Apples defense they do sell a dvi to s-video adapter. I have one on my mac mini.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Yeah, Lenovo (IBM) still includes both PCMCIA and PCI-E slots. Apple should have done the same.

But wouldn't that add weight?




Lethal

 

[mustard]

Well....I ordered a new MacBook today. Fully Loaded.

Last Friday, I signed up with Verizon Wireless for a 2 year contract on their EVDO network. The EVDO card is PCMCIA.

The MacBook has an Expresscard/34 slot (34mm wide, as opposed to Expresscard/54 which is 54mm wide).

My EVDO card will not work in the MacBook Pro. I need someone to release an Expresscard/34 EVDO card, or an Expresscard/34 to PCMCIA adaptor.

- Kelson

Some company's make USB PCMCIA readers
here is a link of what I am talking about, but in theory it should work

http://www.elandigitalsystems.com/usb/u111.php

Hopefully that may help

 

[Kelson]

Some company's make USB PCMCIA readers
here is a link of what I am talking about, but in theory it should work

http://www.elandigitalsystems.com/usb/u111.php

Hopefully that may help

Thanks, it's actually the new U132 model that is needed w/ the Kyocera KPC650 card, which is expected out in mid-Feb...

Not sure if it will provide a solution, as they only have Windows drivers for it, so the MacBook may not recognize it at all.

- Kelson

 

[mdavey]

FOR REAL!

- ADC (apple display connector)
- Apple Video Connector (old monitor port)
- Nubus
- PCI-X
- Firewire 800
- ipod accessory connector and firewire 400 for ipod
- apple pro speaker port

Great opportunity for Apple 3rd party vendors to shine. A PCIe/34 card with a Firewire 800 port and an analog modem would be a real winner. Actually, I am kinda surprised that Apple didn't provide one as an accessory. An X-in-1 card reader would probably prove popular, also.

 

[xPismo]

Great opportunity for Apple 3rd party vendors to shine. A PCIe/34 card with a Firewire 800 port and an analog modem would be a real winner. Actually, I am kinda surprised that Apple didn't provide one as an accessory. An X-in-1 card reader would probably prove popular, also.

Yeah but Dongles & adapters suck.

That said, after a day of reflection, I understand why apple did it. Thank gawd they didn't go for some proprietary solutions like they have in the past (adc? ack). In time I'll learn to live without s-video (guess that means I need a new super duper TV ).

 

[mkrishnan]

Yeah but Dongles & adapters suck.

Dongles and adapters do suck, but notebooks with forty thousand different ports and little plastic hinges and rubber covers suck even more.

 

[Addo]

I've been lurking for quite a while and now it's time to stop the lurking!!

I found via expresscard.org site a company that makes a expresscard fw800 but there's no mention of wether it's a 34 or 54 type card.

http://www.abocom.com/product_detail.php?id=326

I have to admit the first thing that struck me cold was the exclusion of a fw800 port as that's what I use to connect my lacie drive which then leaves the fw400 port for my video/dv converter box.

Like most people, I only found out about expresscards yesterday after the Keynote and at the moment there ain't much out there!

 

[primalman]

I found via expresscard.org site a company that makes a expresscard fw800 but there's no mention of wether it's a 34 or 54 type card.

http://www.abocom.com/product_detail.php?id=326

54mm

http://www.expresscard.org/web/do/pub/product/view?id=48

It's on the expresscard.org site for this item.

I had never heard of Express Card either until yesterday, it looks to be PCMCiA just smaller.

 

[mdavey]

I had never heard of Express Card either until yesterday, it looks to be PCMCiA just smaller.

Someone else said it is like a combined PCMCIA and USB connector so card manufacturers can use USB or hook directly into the PCI bus depending on application.

Edit: link to Wikipedia

 

[El Flocko]

Found One

Found a possible solution (until they start making the 34mm cards)

http://www.elandigitalsystems.com/usb/u132.php

There are a number of manufacturers listed, and many of them (including Kyocera) have started making the software compatible with OS X.

Hope this helps.

 

[MacTruck]

Man this macbook pro is gonna require a crapload of adapters.

- dvi to s-video adapter
- USB to PCMCIA adapter
- ExpressCard to firwire 800 adapter
- usb modem


Macbook is nice and all but jeez.

 

[mkrishnan]

Don't know a whole lot about the technical details of the two standards, but I do know that ExpressCard (aka NewCard) was developed by the same group as regular PC cards (PCMCIA).

Mduser63, I totally scrolled by your answer to my question earlier. So a belated thank you very much! That was very informative! Although, ahem, there are bad things about the answer, I guess...

I hope that 3G cellular modems become standardized in such a way somehow (or someone comes up with a universal DSP or something) that this type of feature can be internalized into notebook computers in the future. I guess GPS is the other big item, but personally don't have use for PC cards, but I can very much understand others needing them. It seems that Apple has opened the door for some very new and powerful features, but like with BT2, they are on the bleeding edge, and unlike BT2, there is no backwards compatibility.