Slashdot Mirror
Using PCI Cards With A Laptop?
Lardmonster asks: "My laptop is P3-750, 192Mb, large hard-disk. It would be ideal for games & LAN parties, except the graphics chip is an 8Mb S3 3D-Savage MX.
These folks make a PCI to PCMCIA Adaptor, but prices start at $695! I could build a new rig for that! Anyone know any cheaper alternatives? I'd dearly love to be able to use a Voodoo3 PCI (or similar) with the laptop." Something like this looks promising, but is this really the answer for better graphics on a portable computer? Are there PCI cards that will not work well with this adapter?
Perhaps before buying a power laptop like that you should've waited for the GeForce 2 Go from nVidia. It features all the full GPU support of the GeForce 2 MX (it's less powerful than the GTS, but come on, it's a laptop), features full 3D acceleration, and when you plug it into any monitor, you've got the ideal LAN party computer. They are due out imminently from Toshiba and other manufacturers as well. Go nVidia!
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
you need the docking station with a pci slot. Don't think you'll ever have a way of using AGP cards, though
--
The only way to get a fast enough interface to the computer would be to put it in the docking station, which would be specific to the brand of laptop.
Many old laptops used to actually put ISA (and later PCI) slots in their docking stations. Of course, these docking stations tended to be massive, but that's the price you pay. Nowadays, that doesn't seem to be done anymore.
Still, your laptop as it is now has a lot better 3D than mine :)
It seems to me that if you're looking to lug your computer over to a LAN party, your best bet is a full sized computer (with your GeForce2 GTS Ultra or whatever) and a LCD screen if you can afford it (or a 17" monitor if not.) Yes, it's heavy, but at least it won't suck like a laptop will.
Or, as the other poster suggested, wait for the laptops with the GeForce cards in them. *drool*
"It features all the full GPU support of the GeForce 2 MX (it's less powerful than the GTS, but come on, it's a laptop)"
One cautionary note -- Apparently, it will be used in several different configurations. The high-end configurations of their mobile chip will supposedly support a 128-bit DDR bus. However, most of the laptops you'll actually see for sale will probably be equipped with a 64-bit or even 32-bit bus, and I'm not sure manufacturers will be entirely honest about which version it is you'll be getting (Just like how some companies leave the "m64" off of their TNT2-m64's).
BTW, Slashdot reported the GeForce mobile back in November.
I've got an IBM 600E ThinkPad (which replaced my 770). With it I bought an awesome docking station for less than your PCMCIA to PCI adapater.
The docking station has three PCI slots, two external drive bays, one internal bay, all ports (USB, serial, parallel, keyboard, mouse, audio, etc.) replicated, two more PCMCIA slots and SCSI built in. Summary: it rocks!
People mock me because I spent a bit more money to buy an IBM ThinkPad and a bit more pm top of that to buy a docking station. Those same people, however, constantly have laptop problems, lack expandibility, have no upgrade path and are generally unhappy. But, they saved a few hundred bucks.
This advice is mostly directed at those who don't have laptops yet; the rest of you are probably already screwed. When you buy a laptop, don't go cheap. But an IBM ThinkPad. Trust me.
InitZero
Actually, these guys make a PCI->Cardbus adapter. Cardbus (if I remember correctly) is an extension of the PCI specification that uses the PCMCIA form factor, and allows hot-plugging of cards. Cardbus also probably has different standards for power delivery, which I would imagine are significantly below that of an onboard PCI bus.
PCMCIA is a *VERY* different beast. The cards look the same, but the manner of talking to them is completely different. In Cardbus/PCI, you typically send out memory accesses or I/O's which are interpreted by the device you wish to deal with. In PCMCIA, you actually talk to an intermediary device which in turn talks to the PCMCIA card. In theory (and possibly in practice, I don't know) you could put a PCMCIA adapter on a PCI bus, but putting a PCI adapter onto a PCMCIA interface would be a major pain in the tookus.
This thing is probably expensive simply because of volume. They aren't going to be selling a lot of these, no demand. Other than expanding your video, I can't really think of any mass-market device that I'd want in a laptop that's not already available in a Cardbus form.