PCMCIA CARDS
PCMCIA Cards
(PC cards) - Personal Computer
Memory Card International Association
Originally designed
for adding memory to portable computers. One of the easiest
ways to upgrade your computer laptops is to install PC Card.
What is it, and how you can use it? It is a credit-card sized device
with a double stacked 68-pin connector on the one side and possible
connector or adapter on the other. Standard is very flexible, allowing
the seamless integration of endless line of peripheral devices, it may
be a modem, network card, memory, storage card, video capture card, in
continuation, here is just a partial list:
|
Docking station interface |
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Ethernet LAN Adapters |
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Hard Drives |
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TV Tuner |
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Serial Port Interface |
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Radio Tuner |
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GPS System Cards |
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Wi-Fi Adapters |
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Generally, you can exchange
PC Cards
on the fly, without turning your computer laptop off.
There are three types
of the cards, and corresponding slots:
|
PCMCIA CARDS |
| TYPE |
MEASUREMENT |
USAGE |
CONNECTOR |
INSERTIONS |
SLOT CONFIGURATION |
|
|
I |
up to 3.3 mm thick
Length 85.6 mm
Width 54.0 mm |
ROM, RAM |
Double Stacked
68-pin |
Office environment - 10.000
Harsh environment -5.000
|
Single type I card |
| II |
up to 5.5 mm thick
Length 85.6 mm
Width 54.0 mm
|
Modem, FAX Modem, etc. |
Double Stacked
68-pin |
One type II or two type I cards |
| III |
up to 10.5 mm thick
Length 85.6 mm
Width 54.0 mm
|
Disc drives, other devices |
Double Stacked
68-pin |
One type III or one type I and
type II |
|
|
The PCMCI Association is developing the new standard - NEWCARD
(codename for new technology) - it is a new plug-in small device which
will provide greater upgradeability without having to open laptop case
and will allow to use the same card to exchange information between
laptop and desktop systems. It will have lower power consumption,
faster throughput, and smaller size. There will be different cards
arrangement in the card bay. Instead of using currently employed
vertical, NEWCARDs will be inserted side-by-side into the wide and
thin horizontal bay. Sizes of Cards replacement will be: 0.2
inches thick, 3.0 inches long, and 1.3 inches wide.
It is expected that the NEWCARD will eventually replace PC Cards,
but with millions of PCCards still in use, and with millions yet
to come, it'll take some time, most likely several (5-6?) years before
we could see substantial amount of them in use. We can observe the
same situation with a tape recorders, even though almost everybody
nowadays have a CD player, there are still demand and usage for a good
old tape recorder. So, be prepare to buy new PCMCIA Cards before you
will even see NEWCARD on shelves.
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