Using the Notebook PC 4

Storage Devices

Storage devices allow the Notebook PC to read or write documents, pictures, and other files to various data storage devices. This Notebook PC has the following storage devices:

•PC card or ExpressCard (depending on model)

•Optical drive

•Flash memory reader

•Hard disk drive

PC Card (PCMCIA)

The Notebook PC supports PC Cards (or sometimes referred to as PCMCIA cards) to allow expansion like PCI cards on desktop computers. This allows you to customize your Notebook PC to meet a wide range of application needs. The PCMCIA socket can interface with type I or type II PC cards. PC cards are about the size of a few stacked credit cards and have a 68-pin connector at one end. The PC Card standard accommodates a number of function, communication, and data storage expansion options. PC cards come in memory/flash cards, fax/modems, networking adapters, SCSI adapters, MPEG I/II decoder cards, Smart Cards, and even wireless modem or LAN cards. The Notebook PC supports PCMCIA 2.1, and 32-bit CardBus standards.

The three different PC Card standards actually have different thicknesses. Type I cards are 3.3mm, Type II cards are 5mm, and Type III cards are 10.5mm thick. Type I and Type II cards can be used in a single socket and Type III cards take up two sockets.

32-bit CardBus Support

CardBus support allows PC Cards and their hosts to use 32-bit bus mastering and operate at speeds of up to 33MHz, transferring data in burst modes comparable with PCI’s 132MB/sec. By comparison, the standard 16-bit PC Card bus can handle only 20MB/sec. Since the Notebook PC is equipped with CardBus broader and faster data pathway, it can handle bandwidth-hungry operations, such as 100Mbps Fast Ethernet, Fast SCSI peripherals, and ISDN-based video conference. The CardBus peripherals support plug and play.

The CardBus socket is backward-compatible with 16-bit PC Cards serving at 5 volts operation while CardBus operates at 3.3 volts to reduce power consumption.

ExpressCard

One 26pin Express card slot is available to support one ExpressCard/34mm or one ExpressCard/54mm expansion card. This new interface is faster by using a serial bus supporting USB 2.0 and PCI Express instead of the slower parallel bus used in the PC card slot. (Not compatible with previous PCMCIA cards.)

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