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What are you using your ExpressCard slot for?

When I get mine I will use it for offloading the footage from my camera when on location. It records HD to SxS cards that goes straight into the slot. 6 to 8 times faster than realtime transfer. USB is 2 times faster than real time transfer for comparison
 
On my work MBP, I use my ExpressCard slot for my Verizon card for wireless access anywhere. Well, anywhere that I can get a decent signal, anyhow.
 
I don't use mine for anything. Haven't seen anything to use in it that I need and/or can't be done via USB. USB card readers are dirt cheap compared to ExpressCard, so I just plop one in my bag. I do like having it for a "just in case" time. Had they added that to the MacBooks, I think a lot of the "NO FIREWIRE" camp could've been tamed.
 
I've never used mine. But regarding the button that you push out to eject, it ALWAYS comes loose and drops out. I'm surprised I haven't lost it yet.... does this happen to any of you as well?
 
nawoo said:
Are esata cards basically just plug and play?

because i just got this esata express card but it didn't come with any sort of MAC drivers. The drivers were for windows only.

So i'm wondering if i would have any problems with the card
Click to expand...
it's not just plug N play. I bought an expressCard(from syba) for e-sata and could not find the necessary drivers to make it work with my mac. After hours of searching online for help(their website was useless), i took the card back and got a much more expensive express card from meritline

the meritline merax expresscard/e-sata had a "supports mac" logo infront of the box. after installing the drivers, it has worked flawlessly on my macbook pro. drivers not only came with the card on a cd but they were easily available online for download. (website much more useful)

I would have gone for a more widely known brand like belkin or SIIG, but fry's didn't have their cards instock at the moment. I had to settle for the meritline but I am glad I did because I've been very happy with it.
 
To answer the question above, the Belkin Card Reader still sits flush on the Late 2008 Unibody Macbook Pro. I never would have expected it not to, but I now have your photo proof. Enjoy.

I will emphasize again that any inserted SD cards do not sit flush but protrude a little less than 1 cm. Still, the ability to read SD cards is always and unobtrusively installed in my MBP.
 

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TheHoff said:
Seriously... would it kill them to give us a docking slot on the bottom somewhere?
Click to expand...

They already have.

home_hero20081014.png


Some of the leaked documentation indicates that there is a section under the "comments and complaints" area that says:

Apple said:
"Haha suckers this is as good as its gonna get!"
Click to expand...

But incase you guys can't figure out what i'm talking about, Apple has made it apparent that there will be no dedicated/easy docking solution, but to compensate for this mediocrity in today's mobile world, they give you a monitor that essentially acts like a docking station (providing display, power and usb and audio) and leaving you to only plug in the three provided cords.

I wouldn't have a problem with it IF and ONLY if they had placed FW800 on it. Most home users probably won't utilize an external monitor or use their machines in a desktop-esque mode like the pro market, so to not cater the display to the macbook pro's was a foolish move.

Then again, I can only imagine the massive influx of n00bs complaining that their external hard drive via FW doesn't work on their macbook even though there is no way for USB to act as a FW transport.
 
sal said:
it's not just plug N play. I bought an expressCard(from syba) for e-sata and could not find the necessary drivers to make it work with my mac. After hours of searching online for help(their website was useless), i took the card back and got a much more expensive express card from meritline

the meritline merax expresscard/e-sata had a "supports mac" logo infront of the box. after installing the drivers, it has worked flawlessly on my macbook pro. drivers not only came with the card on a cd but they were easily available online for download. (website much more useful)

I would have gone for a more widely known brand like belkin or SIIG, but fry's didn't have their cards instock at the moment. I had to settle for the meritline but I am glad I did because I've been very happy with it.
Click to expand...


Mine was pretty much plug and play. I got it for 40 bucks, some unknown brand called Manhattan. And i did some research, found that it was using the Silicon Image 3132 chipset, went to the the website and installed the latest drivers and plugged my express card in and it worked perfectly fine. I was worried at first because the card only came with windows xp drivers and no where did it say that Mac support was offered. But all these cards use the same chipset anyway

http://www.siliconimage.com/support/index.aspx?pid=32&cid=3&

Transfered a 23gb Batman Begins 1080p file from external harddisk onto macbook pro in blazing fast speed. I have to go do an actual timing of it. But it just absolutely blows USB 2.0 out of the water.
 
nawoo: how fast was your external HD? I cant get that great speeds, but im thinking that maybe the drive itself is the bottleneed..
 
Alright i timed it.

A 13.05 gb 1080p mkv file of Casino Royale took 2mins 58 seconds to transfer from external harddisk onto my macbook pro via eSata

That works out to be about 73.31mb/s


Pretty darn fast if you ask me. USB 2.0 can take a back seat
 
and that should be a harddisk limited record. the internal harddisk is probably keeping your time even higher than it could be.

i really hope for a nice fast ssd drive that i can use that uses pcie speeds so i can install osx onto a very fast drive and keep my internal 5400 for music and photos only. 5400 is bloody slow
 
shigzeo said:
and that should be a harddisk limited record. the internal harddisk is probably keeping your time even higher than it could be.

i really hope for a nice fast ssd drive that i can use that uses pcie speeds so i can install osx onto a very fast drive and keep my internal 5400 for music and photos only. 5400 is bloody slow
Click to expand...

so that you'd have to be hooked up to a external drive to boot? ... then whats the point of getting a notebook? you should install an internal SSD if you want that ...
 
I am going to get the LaCie FW800 expresscard port for mine. The new MBP only has one FW port and I need at least two for when I am editing/capturing video.
 
sal said:
it's not just plug N play. I bought an expressCard(from syba) for e-sata and could not find the necessary drivers to make it work with my mac. After hours of searching online for help(their website was useless), i took the card back and got a much more expensive express card from meritline

the meritline merax expresscard/e-sata had a "supports mac" logo infront of the box. after installing the drivers, it has worked flawlessly on my macbook pro. drivers not only came with the card on a cd but they were easily available online for download. (website much more useful)

I would have gone for a more widely known brand like belkin or SIIG, but fry's didn't have their cards instock at the moment. I had to settle for the meritline but I am glad I did because I've been very happy with it.
Click to expand...

For anyone else thats having this problem, thats not necessary. The incompatibility is the fault of the Silicon Image chips in most esata cards, but if you get a card with a JMicron chip, you dont even need drivers. I got this one: http://www.computercablesource.com/pcmcia-expresscard-1x-esata-port-34mm-jmicron-chipset-1686.html and it works perfectly.

edit: Didnt see nawoo replied to this already, my bad... but hopefully the link I posted will help someone.
 
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