PCMCIA slot on newer laptops not the same

[azscary]

Just to get this off my chest... DELL PEOPLE ARE STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There.. that's better.

I have a friend of mine who is a college student and recently went through Dell Hell and after several months was finally able to get a laptop delivered.

If you are interested in the story I can tell you but it is not important to this issue at hand other than they didn't listen when I told them we had a PCMCIA card for the laptop and just needed a PCMCIA slot in the laptop.

The problem is this... after finally convincing Dell to not put an internal 54MB wireless card in the laptop because the wireless network is 108MB, when the PC gets here and we try to plug the DLink PCMCIA card in, we discover that the card only goes in half way.

My friend show me the protector plug that came out of the slot and it is not the same shape as a standard PCMCIA card. It looks as if the card that will fit in that slot has to be the same size as a PCMCIA card, but have a square notch taken out of it to fit.

I have heard others talk about how their PCMCIA cards will not fit in newer laptops, but until I experienced it myself, I had no idea.

Is this some new type of slot? Is ther an adapter to buy to allow the PCMCIA wireless card to be used or do we have to exchange it for a different type of card?

[glc]

Laptop model, please.

[azscary]

Sorry.

I believe it is a Dell Inspiron E1705.

[glc]

The data I can find says that one has one standard Type II PC Card slot.

[thefultonhow]

That's probably an ExpressCard/54 slot -- PCMCIA is the mobile PCI standard, and ExpressCard is the mobile PCI Express standard. There aren't many cards for them at the moment; my IBM has one and it just kind of sits there being useless.

[a94cobra]

I've got an HP with one of those slots as well.

[azscary]

Sooooooooooo how do I use my 108MB wireless card?

Do we have to send the laptop back to Dell to have a PCMCIA slot installed or is there an adapter we can use?

[thefultonhow]

You can't get Dell to install a PCMCIA slot -- the ExpressCard slot is soldered onto the motherboard. You're out of luck if you want to get a MiniPCI card, too, because all the new Core Duo notebooks use a PCI-E internal connector for the wireless. Your only options are to get the Intel wireless card, buy a USB wireless adaptor, or get a different laptop.

[azscary]

Originally Posted by thefultonhow Your only options are to get the Intel wireless card, buy a USB wireless adaptor, or get a different laptop.

God what a royal PITA that was.

Whoever designed these new voice response systems for big companies needs to be shot!

Navigating the Dell phone tree to talk to a live human being took 20 minutes. Between "I'm sorry, I don't think I understood that" and saying my express tag, service tag, product model, underwear size and mother's maiden name by the time I got to talk to someone I felt like I needed a cigarette and I haven't smoked for 8 years now.

Seems as if Dell calls it an Inspiron 9400, but the web site, receipt and the label on the laptop itself all say Inspiron E1705. Which apparently are the same thing but the automated system doesn't know that.

When I was FINALLY able to talk to someone they informed me, as thefultohow has accurately said, that we would have to return the laptop and exchange it for a Dell Inspiron 9300.

The tech however was not able to tell me the diffrences between the two models. I was referred to Sales to answer that question. And they call that tech support?

So anyway, the tech says that Sales is still open and asked me if I would like to talk to them so I said yes. They transferred me to Sales where I got a recording saying they were closed.

I wonder how companies like this stay in business?

[thefultonhow]

Just so you know, here are the main differences between the 9300 and the 9400:

• 9300: Pentium-M/Dothan processor; 9400: Core Duo/Yonah processor
• 9300: ATI X300 or nVidia 6800 graphics; 9400: GMA950, ATI X1400, or nVidia 7800 graphics
• 9300: PCMCIA/Mini-PCI; 9400: ExpressCard/PCI-E
• 9300: Parallel ATA HDDs; 9400: SATA
• 9300: SD card reader; 9400: 5-in-1 reader

Those are the main differences. BTW, you may be able to get a Mini-PCI SuperG card from somewhere that will let you use the built-in wireless antenna instead of having something sticking out of your PCMCIA slot.

[ncbrearton]

I just recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 6000 because it has a PCMCIA slot which will allow me to use my Sony memory stick adaptor and my Verizon V620 National Access card... both work fine but after the removal of the Sony adapter and inserting and removing the Verizon card, the eject device popped out... all the way...in two pieces. I had a wonderful resonse from Dell... saying they would send someone out to replace the motherboard. Investigating 'why the whole motherboard' brought me to this site.... I am hoping for a positive solution with the arrival of the Dell technician.