TechBlog from Sewell

A couple of years ago I remember when USB to PCMCIA Adapters first hit the market - they gave people an awesome alternative to buying lower-quality USB 3g cards since they could continue to use PCMCIA cards through the USB port - the main drawback was that they were extremely expensive when they were first released (in the neighborhood of $250).

They have since falled in price (ours is currently priced at $180), but now users have a much cheaper alternative for using a PCMCIA card with a new laptop without PCMCIA ports (Express Card is getting more and more popular for such ports) - an Express Card PCMCIA Adapter.

The VT Book has always been a great way to extend the abilities of your laptop. The PCMCIA interface made it easier to use over USB and provides a faster bus for the video. The VT Book would also give you the ability to add 2 monitors on top of the VGA out on the laptop. This combines to give you up to 4 monitors including the laptop screen. The VT Book is great… if you have a PCMCIA slot.

Now we also have something for those with ExpressCard slots. The Belkin High Speed Dock is the perfect fit for anyone with an ExpressCard slot. You get even more great features including digital audio, 5x USB ports, and Ethernet. The Belkin dock is a really cool way to add either a DVI or VGA monitor to your laptop. Since the ExpressCard bus is faster than the PCMCIA bus, you get fast transfer speeds to your external devices.

Most of new laptops come with the new Express Card slot instead of the older PCMCIA slot. We have had many customers with questions about this new technology and what it looks like. The new express card is made to be faster in a smaller package. The express card is smaller than the PCMCIA cards and they come in a 54mm and 34mm size. Below are some pictures from www.expresscard.org that show the difference between Express cards and PCMCIA cards and the difference between the 54mm and 34mm express cards. You can also take a look at the different Express Cards available at Sewelldirect.com

Do you have a new express card that you want to use on a different computer that doesn’t have an express slot, such as a desktop?

You can use our new USB to Express Card Adapter by SIIG (part number SW-8229) so that you can use your USB-based express card (54mm or 34mm) through a USB port. Express cards are USB-based or PCI express-based so make sure that your express card is USB-based or it will NOT work with this adapter.

This is great if you have a wireless modem express card that you want to plug into your desktop so that you can access the internet on your desktop using your express card modem.

Note: This adapter is Windows Vista compatible.

So i just spent several minutes trying to find my way around Verizon’s not so organized website trying to find the VZaccess software. When i finally found the download i realized it wasn’t even on verizon’s main web URL. I thought i’d save some of you that frustrating time finding it.

The URL it’s found on is Vzam.net

Hope that helps some of you on your quest to get your ever conflicting wireless cards to work.

Just checking around at my favorite review sites over the weekend, when I stumbled upon a review of the VTBook at PC Perspective. For any consumer looking to add an additional DVI port to their laptop this is a great solution. Please take note however that this is only for the PCMCIA slot and will not work with the new Expresscard slot on newer laptops. Expect a solution for the Expresscard slot to come soon.

PC Perspective Village Tronic VTBook Review

Sold for $229.95 at Sewell Direct

Do you have some PCMCIA cards laying around that you’ve been dying to use on your new laptop?

We’ve got a new solution that should be arriving in our warehouse on 6/15/2007. The new Duel Systems ExpressCard to PCMCIA adapter will solve your compatibility issues and save you from having to buy new cards. Check out the ExpressCard to PCMCIA adapter here.

This adapter plugs directly into the new ExpressCard slot (either the 34mm or the 54mm slot) that is coming on almost all new laptops. This adapter provides much higher reliability and compatibility than the currently available PCMCIA to USB adapters. The USB adapters are limited to compatibility with a select few Air Cards models. The Duel Systems adapter is compatible with a wide range of different card types (see list below).

Duel Systems PCMCIA Card Compatibility:

-32-Bit CardBus PC Cards
-16-Bit PCMCIA cards
-Wide Area Network cellular cards (Your wireless Air Cards)
-Memory cards
-802.11a/b/g wireless LAN cards
-Ethernet LAN cards
-ATA cards
-Port expansion cards
-Modem cards
-Also works with CompactFlash, Memory Stick, Smart Media, MMC and SD cards using suitable adapter (available separately)

Another benefit for some of you is that this adapter, unlike the USB adapters, is compatible with the Macintosh operating sytem (version 10.4.8). It is also compatible with Windows XP (no word for certain on Vista at this time).

The package includes:
-PCMCIA to ExpressCard Adapter
-Driver CD-ROM
-Install Guide
-1-year limited warranty and support card
-Product registration card

This item is currently available for pre-order. In order to get on the list to get some of the first available adapters you can place an order and it will be shipped as soon as we get it. You can do that from the product page for the ExpressCard to PCMCIA adapter here.

If you have any further questions about it feel free to give our tech support team a call!

Our part Sw-4772 is a hot buy lately due to laptops that have upgraded to the new Express Card slot when wireless companies are still using the old PCMCIA for their modem cards. When buying this product pay close attention to the compatibility list on the right- if your card isn’t there, it isn’t supported. But there is good news! There are other ways to accomplish wireless connectivity through your cellular service.

One option is to use your phone;

If you have a GSM phone (such as Cingular or T-mobile) you want to make sure the phone at least has EDGE, at best their broadband network. With CDMA phones (such as Verizon or Sprint) you want to have EVDO, or better yet EVDO RevA which should be coming out soon on some high end phones. Then you pay for phone as modem service through your provider (usually cheaper than modem card service plans) and hook your laptop up to it through either bluetooth or USB and you’ll get basically the same speeds as your modem card was, plus it will be conveniently packaged in your existing phone. You might consider buying a spare battery. I use my Samsung A900 with Sprint and it works great.

Another option, switch cards;

If you recently bought your card, most service providers allow for a 14 day or 30 day risk free trial period. Many carriers now carry express cards, but you may need to talk to someone who really knows what they’re talking about to find out how to get one. My experience with their customer service is they don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ve heard Cingular has them but I can’t find them on their website, and Sprint had an ETA of Dec 6 according to someone I talked with on the phone, but I have yet to see them as of Dec 22(they do have a USB modem however). Verizon has one called the V640 I found on their website. Even if you can’t return your old card, often buying one of the new ones is your better option anyway.

If you have a SIM Card in your phone(only GSM phones like cingular and t-mobile) you can get a USB modem for your sim card;

see our part Sw-5855
just put your sim card in this, make sure you’ve subscibed to phone as modem on the account whose SIM card your using, and you’re good to go with EDGE speeds where available .
I hope this helps you.

Well, you’ve all been wanting to watch your favorite internet romance (below) with your new PCMCIA wireless internet card on your computer that has no PCMCIA slots.

We’ve mentioned some of the different solutions in days gone by, but it’s time to pull it all together.

The Solutions:

If you have USB ports then you can either use a USB to 16 bit PCMCIA card slot adapter, or a USB to 32 bit PCMCIA card slot adapter. You will need to check the specs list for each of these products to see if your card is listed under the support cards list.

If your laptop has built in WiFi(802.11g or 802.11b) then you can also use a router that accepts PCMCIA cards. The Pheobus Wifi Router will do this.

Or you can use the EVDO WiFi hotspot Router.

If you are the lucky owner of a desktop PC then you can use a PCMCIA to PCI converter card.

8/8/07 Update: We’re happy to say that the Express Card to PCMCIA Adapter has been a huge hit. And now Duel Systems has come out with the PCMCIA to Express Card Adapter, the fiendishly stylish inverse of the Express Card to PCMCIA, this cradle allows you to use newer, slimmer Express Cards in older computers that have Cardbus (PCMCIA) slots.

5/25/07 Update: Sewell Direct finally has an ExpressCard to PCMCIA Adapter in stock. We currently have a healthy stock and plan to keep it this way. Our tech support reps report a surprisingly high success rate (considering how new the card is). A post on known incompatibility issues will be forthcoming, but we do offer a 30-day money back guarantee if you would like to purchase a card and see whether it works in your particular situation.

In a few weeks we will begin beta testing and adapter that will convert a Expresscard slot into a PCMCIA slot. Expresscard is the port on newer laptops used for addinging functionality to a computer. A lot of people don’t have an Expresscard solution for their computer. And so they turn to PCMCIA to make the right connection. Because it is newer technology we won’t know of too many compatibility issues right off. Saying that, the adapter is designed to work with all PCMCIA cards.

Also, I should say that we don’t have an exact release date.

Update: We talked to Duel Systems at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas and they have units in production. We hope to actually be shipping units very soon but we are currently at the mercy of the manufacturer. We have had a demo unit shipped to us and it seemed to work well. We had a couple of problems but these were reported to the manufacturer a couple months ago and we anticipate the problems to be worked out before it is released. No exact word on pricing yet but they will be significantly cheaper than the USB to PCMCIA solution.