ExpressCard replaces PCMCIA (PC Card)

ExpressCard replaces PCMCIA (PC Card)

You've heard about it coming for ages, but the time is finally here. Most of laptops ship with an ExpressCard slot, and a few ship without a PCMCIA slot.

ExpressCard is the replacement for PCMCIA. It's smaller, lighter, and faster. PCMCIA uses the PCI bus, and ExpressCard either uses the PCI Express x1 bus or USB 2.0. At 2.5 Gbps, PCI Express x1 is 8x faster than PCI, so it has the potential to provide substantial perforamnce improvements for video, gigabit ethernet, and external SATA connections. But be careful, USB2 only has a real world speed of about 250 Mbps, which is 10x slower than PCIe x1. If you are using something that needs the speed, you'll want to avoid USB2.

ExpressCard cards can be two different sizes: 34mm and 54mm. Most laptops support both sizes.

The cards that currently exist fall in these categories: SATA2 external, 1394 Firewire, Gigabit Ethernet, cell modems, memory card readers, a serial controller, and a TV Tuner. They still command a price premium over equivalent PCMCIA cards, but that is dropping.