what is ExpressCard and Consumer IR?

Rottie

Diamond Member
Feb 10, 2002
4,795
2
81
I asked some questions about Conumer IR and ExpressCard54 and 32
I believe that Consumer IR might be like Bluetooth?
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
91
Consumer IR is Consumer InfraRed, and is, IMO completely useless these days. Bluetooth on the other hand is a wireless protocol that is primarily used for low bandwidth devices such as mice, keyboards, cell phones, headphones that sort of thing.

ExpressCard 34 and 54 are notebook expansion card slots, 34 being narrower than 54. They replace the PCMCIA (Personal Computer M-something Component Interconnect Association) connector that was previously used on laptops.
 

erwos

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2005
4,778
0
76
Originally posted by: TheStu
Consumer IR is Consumer InfraRed, and is, IMO completely useless these days.

What? Methinks you're getting IrDA and consumer IR confused. IrDA is for data transfer over infrared - which isn't very handy in this day and age of Bluetooth. Consumer IR is for using a remote control with your computer, which is quite useful for media center applications.

ExpressCard 34 and 54 are notebook expansion card slots, 34 being narrower than 54. They replace the PCMCIA (Personal Computer M-something Component Interconnect Association) connector that was previously used on laptops.
ExpressCard is PCI Express based, whereas PCMCIA is PCI-based. There are fewer peripherals out for ExpressCard, but you can generally get what you need these days.

The "34" and "54" refer to the width of the slot. You want 54 if possible - it has better compatibility.
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
91
Originally posted by: erwos
Originally posted by: TheStu
Consumer IR is Consumer InfraRed, and is, IMO completely useless these days.

What? Methinks you're getting IrDA and consumer IR confused. IrDA is for data transfer over infrared - which isn't very handy in this day and age of Bluetooth. Consumer IR is for using a remote control with your computer, which is quite useful for media center applications.

ExpressCard 34 and 54 are notebook expansion card slots, 34 being narrower than 54. They replace the PCMCIA (Personal Computer M-something Component Interconnect Association) connector that was previously used on laptops.
ExpressCard is PCI Express based, whereas PCMCIA is PCI-based. There are fewer peripherals out for ExpressCard, but you can generally get what you need these days.

The "34" and "54" refer to the width of the slot. You want 54 if possible - it has better compatibility.

You are probably right about my getting the Consumer IR messed up... I dont really think about the fact that my macbook has it for the remote. IrDA is pretty useless though