Latitude E6400 - Expresscard vs PC Card

I am having a hard time deciding between the PC card slot and the expresscard slot offered on the E6400. I own several PC cards and some express cards, so I would probably need an adapter to go from one to the other regardless. Which adapter is easier to use? There is also the E6500 which has both slots. The only problem is that it weighs 1lb. more, and portability is an issue.

 

They make adapters going in both directions, but the express card (in your computer) to PCMCIA (card you want to use) direction is more cumbersome. My vote is for the internal PCMCIA slot.

 

Thanks, Wolf. I was leaning toward the PCMCIA myself. I do know of the simple adapter that just plugs into the slot and provides an Express/34 slot.

 

I opted for Express Card since it is more future-proof, but it does mean I can't use my collection of old PCMCIA cards unless I get an adaptor. If I were buying now I would probably get the PC Card option.

John

 

I also had a hard time deciding between the PC card slot and the Express Card slot offered on the E6400. I'm returning my E6500 because I want a smaller E6400 with another configuration (backlit keyboard, Intel X4500HD, 9 cell battery etc.). I finally got an upgrade from Dell Solutions Center allowing me to return the E6500 which was a bit to big and noisy to my taste. Since this is my first laptop I don't have any old PCMCIA cards - John, would you still go for the PC Card option if you didn't have any old PCMCIA-cards either?

I'm leaning towards the Express Card since it should be more future-proof, but must admit I'm still confused - also after this thread...

 

I don't have any PCMCIA cards. I still have the PC card slot. The thing is: a PC card to Express card adapter allows the entire Express card to fit WITHIN the PC card slot - so nothing sticks out. Since an Express card is physically smaller than a PC card, an Express card to PC card adapter MUST be external - so something sticks out.

And really, that something is the size of a PC card which is pretty big. If you want to be able to use both conveniently, I'd go for the PC card slot.

 

If you don't have any old cards then Express Card is the logical option. It's newer and faster.

John

 

But it sounds to me like it would be easier to adapt an Express Card in a PC Card slot than the other way around, therefore ensuring backwards compatibility. You could have both then.

 

An Expresscard might fit into the PCMCIA slot, but you will lose all of the advantages of Expresscard and would be as slow as PCMCIA.

Greg

 

I went for the ExpressCard slot on my E6400 to be future proof. The Express Card interface is faster and when new standards like USB 3.0 arrive there is a bigger chance to see adapter cards for these standards in ExpressCard format because it has higher speed.

On the other hand the ExpressCard standard seems a bit flawed to me. ExpressCard/54 slots like the one in E6400 are supposed to work with both the bigger ExpressCard/54 cards and the smaller ExpressCard/34 cards. This is in theory. In reality, ExpressCard/34 cards will wiggle in the slot making it unsuitable for anything that requires a good connection in order not to loose data, like an external hard drive connected to an eSATA card. I can't believe how they overlooked this when they designed the ExpressCard standard. There are companies selling small brackets that you attach to ExpressCard/34 cards to make them wiggle less in the the bigger slot but it doesn't work 100% and is not a particularly elegant solution.

So if you want to be future proof, select ExpressCard on your E6400 but be prepared that only the bigger ExpressCard/54 cards will fit properly in the slot.

Örjan