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ExpressCard/34 slot Uses

J

jaredwaynef

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 23, 2009
39
0
Hey guys!
This is a pretty general question, but if you have the Express Card slot on your MBP, what do you use in it? My brother has a MBP with that slot, and he asked me what he could put in it. I had no idea of things he really needs. So out of curiosity, I'm asking you guys to see if it can give us any ideas. Thanks!
 
CF Card Reader.. it's really disappointing to see the express card go in the 15"
 
how about a SSD?
20090930-me96ui9brrnm89wpcsyxnexgmr.jpg


ExpressCard to PCI Express Out Box - http://www.magma.com/products/pciexpress/expressbox1/index.html
20090930-egxgjax9quu9ig3b1jtsg8f2py.jpg


One of them will cost you a pretty penny.
 
UltraNEO* said:
how about a SSD?
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that these card slots run off of a USB bus, so this wouldn't be any faster than a USB flash drive. Someone correct me if i'm wrong, I just didn't want anyone to think that this would be anywhere near the speed of a regular SSD.

Good storage solution, however.
 
mattais said:
Keep in mind that these card slots run off of a USB bus, so this wouldn't be any faster than a USB flash drive. Someone correct me if i'm wrong, I just didn't want anyone to think that this would be anywhere near the speed of a regular SSD.

Good storage solution, however.
Click to expand...

eSata port runs off the USB? (Note that saying USB bus is redundant; universal serial bus bus)

I don't think it does... How could you add a FireWire port if it runs off USB?
 
Essentially the ExpressCard34 slot is a PCIe x1 connector in a housing. Yes it has USB capabilities but it also has a faster interfaces too and making cards to utilize a faster bus cost money; which will rise the cost of the product... and as you know, there are lots of people who prefer to buy something next to nothing than fork out for something decent.

On paper they have the capabilities of 480 Mbit/s (USB mode) and 2.5 Gbit/s (PCI Express mode).
BTW, Those Magma expansion boxes for example uses the full band-width of the ExpressCard slot!!
 
TuffLuffJimmy said:
eSata port runs off the USB? (Note that saying USB bus is redundant; universal serial bus bus)

I don't think it does... How could you add a FireWire port if it runs off USB?
Click to expand...

I read somewhere (I think barefeats) that some cheaper e-sata cards use the usb protocol to transfer data - so if you use those e-sata expresscards to connect to sata drives - you don't get any speed advantages.

The sonnet e-sata cards (which are $150) use true sata protocol.
 
TuffLuffJimmy said:
eSata port runs off the USB? (Note that saying USB bus is redundant; universal serial bus bus)

I don't think it does... How could you add a FireWire port if it runs off USB?
Click to expand...


Thanks for the minor correction. As mentioned, a lot (the more affordable) of ExpressCard SSDs do run off of USB for the cost reasons above, so you have a limit at 480Mbps. You will in fact see a lot less than that as most read/write times on these SSD's are comparable to your average flash drive speed. I hope that makes more sense to you.
 
mattais said:
Keep in mind that these card slots run off of a USB bus, so this wouldn't be any faster than a USB flash drive. Someone correct me if i'm wrong, I just didn't want anyone to think that this would be anywhere near the speed of a regular SSD.

Good storage solution, however.
Click to expand...

Depends on the card and the interface used. This one will out perform a standard USB2 because it uses the PCI-e interface.

The FileMate SolidGO ExpressCard 34 Ultra SSD provides a convenient plug-in storage for your notebook or portable device. The true PCI-E interface attains super fast direct access to the SSD. For ultimate flexibility, the SolidGO ExpressCard ultra drive includes a mini USB 2.0 connector, so it can double as a portable external hard drive for easy data transfer.

48GB Ultra High-Speed ExpressCard 34 with mini-USB port. Transfer speed up to 116MB/sec (read) and 65MB/sec (write). In retail packaging, and includes mini-USB to USB cable.
Click to expand...
Go buy one... or three! :)
http://www.memoryc.com/storage/solidstatedisk/48gbfilematesolidgoexpresscardultra.html
 
That's some pretty cool stuff. Especially the SSD with 118MB/sec read speeds! Although I'd need to save up some cash for a while to get it (even though it is cheaper than the Intel and Samsung SSD). Anyone seen a TV tuner in Expresscard? I saw it while surfing Newegg, but it only worked on Windows, and I'm not a Bootcamp kinda guy. ;)
 
I have a cheap eSATA expresscard that uses the full speed of the expresscard slot (2 gigabit). Look for one with a Jmicron chip because they don't need drivers. I have a BC338 from ebay, and a card that looks like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812150044
but used to have a lot more reviews, so I don't know if it is exactly the same. I can get 120MB/sec or more out of my 1tb disk with either of these cards, so they are clearly not using USB (which tops out at about 35MB/sec).

Card readers typically use the USB interface, and it can be hard to find one that is faster.
 
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