Re: [pc110] PCMCIA port extender cards

Vaughan R. Pratt (pratt nospam at cs.stanford.edu)
Fri, 31 Oct 1997 10:32:38 -0800

I used to always take my port extender on trips so I could use the
modem to make a SLIP connection from my hotel room (under Linux).
Finally I got a 15MB SanDisk compactflash and put the root fs
(including all of X and Latex that I ever use) permanently on it, only
plugging in the hard drive or Shark avatar when I need to do serious
work, compile, back up, etc. When carrying it around during the day I
leave the hard drive behind for longer battery life. When I get back
to the hotel I just plug in the modem and SLIP away. *So* much more
flexible this way.

In theory I can have a Type III CDPD modem in it, except I haven't got
around to it, not knowing whether CDPD is worth the bother.

(BTW - it is *really* convienent to be able to just pop out the
hard drive and place it into my desktop to either exchange
files or back the PC110 up... I purchased a PCMCIA card reader
for the desktop for about $100 US earlier this year.)

At (real) home I leave the PC110 on all the time with an ethernet card
in it, so I can access it from my desktop. This is even more
convenient than shuffling hard drives around---and I can access it from
home or work since home is permanently on the net at 56kb.

I bought a desktop PCMCIA card reader a couple of years ago, but it has
been gathering dust the last year, serves no purpose at all for me
anymore, believe it or not.

Vaughan