Laptop question.....

I was given an old Compaq LTE 5300, 133 MHz Pentium laptop a while ago (years) that I had used to drive my Telescope mount.

Anyway, I was wondring if there was a way for me to get some type of PCMCIA USB 2.0 adapter that would allow me to plug in my Maxtor External HD and CF card reader so I could download from the CF cards to the HD at night while traveling. It's running Win 98.

Or am I just wasting my time?

Thanks,
Brian

Try out CompUSA they had a whole selection of PCMCIA II Cards that provided support for both FireWire and USB 2.0 -- I wouldn't expect too much in the way of performance but you'll at least get to see your external drive from the laptop.

Warning -- these cards are pricey.

It sort of depends on how old the laptop is. a 133MHz P1 sounds pretty old. I'm guessing it doesn't even have USB1.x ports inbuilt? Obviously if it does have USB1 then you can do what you want even though it'll be slow.

The first question that came to mind was how good's the battery? Or are you planning on using it only on AC power?

Another issue may be the card interface. If it's that old it may only have PCMCIA ports, not CardBus (the 32-bit superset of PCMCIA). All the USB 2 and i1394 cards I've seen are CardBus and I don't think they'll work in a PCMCIA-only machine.

Thanks for the replies.

To answer a few questions here, It will be plugged in when using it. No, it does not have a USB port. I was goint to try and use it back at the hotel at night. I'm not too worried about the speed. I can get dinner while it's downloading!

I'm just wondering if I can get away with using the computer since I have the external HD.

Brian,

The cards run about $35.00, from CompUSA website.

According to this document I found on HP's site, it would appear that Win98 and your laptop may support CardBus technology. Which means that a USB2 PC Card should work. It may pay you to take the laptop to a PC store and try one out first tho' just to be sure

http://h200005.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/supp ... 0899-a.pdf

DC,

Thanks for the link. Looking at the bottom of table 6 on pg. 12, it states that the series LTE 5000 laptops do not support USB. Are you suggesting that since WIN 98 supports USB, that it MAY work with a PCMCIA car inserted?

Thanks for you help. I really appreciate it.

Brian K. wrote:DC,

Thanks for the link. Looking at the bottom of table 6 on pg. 12, it states that the series LTE 5000 laptops do not support USB. Are you suggesting that since WIN 98 supports USB, that it MAY work with a PCMCIA car inserted?

Thanks for you help. I really appreciate it.

I'd guess it's not supported because there aren't any USB ports on the laptop. Adding a USB port by plugging in a USB PC Card would make a USB port available. In fact reading it again, at the bottom of that page there is a note (40) that says pretty much the same thing.

I don't think the issue is whether the laptop supports USB, it's whether the laptop uses the 32 bit CardBus technology for the PCMCIA slot or just 16 bit support. It suggests that it handles 32 bit cards. You'll need 32bit support for a USB 2.0 PC Card, but I think a USB1.1 PC Card will use the older (and slower) 16 bit drivers.

As I said, if you can get to a pc store that's willing to let you try before you buy then that's safest. If you not bothered about speed, I guess you could get a USB1.1 card.

Dave,

Thanks for the help. I have several independent computer stores here in Atlanta. I'll take your advice and see if I can get one of them to try it.

The laptop is running in 32 bit.

Thanks again. I'll let you know how it turns out.