Cisco-Linksys PCM200 EtherFast 10/100 32-Bit Integrated CardBus PC Card

by Cisco

Product Details

Product Manual [500kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 2.6 x 4.7 x 0.8 inches ; 8.5 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004XRDO
• Item model number: PCM200
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 28, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Linksys EtherFast 10/100 Integrated CardBus PC Card lets you connect your notebook computer to virtually any Ethernet-based network or Internet connection, including cable and DSL modems. Share files, printers, and Internet connections without any media couplers to lose. The card's single-slot design is ideal for slim notebooks, freeing up additional slots for use with other accessories.

Automatically adjusting its speed and duplex usage to any 10Base-T or 100Base-TX network, the bus-mastering CardBus PC Card features low-voltage operation with automatic sleep mode, a 32 KB file buffer for fast file transfers, and compatibility with most portable PCs and operating systems, including Windows 95, 98, NT, and 2000.

Linksys provides free technical support and software upgrades for this product, as well as a five-year limited warranty.

Product Description

Now you can connect your notebook computer to a 10BaseT or 100BaseTX network in just minutes. If you have a high-performance 32-Bit CardBus slot, the EtherFast 10/100 PCM200 Card will allow you to share files, printers,Internet connections and more. The EtherFast 10/100 PCM200 automatically adjust their speed and duplex to any 10BaseT or 100BaseTX network. The PCM200 also features low voltage operation, a 32KB file buffer hot swap capability, and unmatched compatibility with brand name laptop PCs and a wide variety of popular OSes like Windows 98, 95, NT, XP and even Linux The 32-bit CardBus PC Cards bus mastering feature allows your network adapter to transfer data without interrupting the PCs CPU microprocessor. This means the fastest data transfers available in a PC Card. Our 10/100 PC Cards are the ideal choice for notebook connectivity today.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best thing you can get for $50, January 27, 2001

By 

Chad A. Lauterbach "chadl2" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys PCM200 EtherFast 10/100 32-Bit Integrated CardBus PC Card (Personal Computers)

I hate those little dongle things that most laptop EtherNet cards have, so this is a good sollution. Linksys makes good enough cards for most people and I like this better than the dongle. However, 3com, and Xircom both do a much better job with the "dongleless" laptop cards; however, they cost significantly more. If cost is a factor, and you hate the dongle this is a great sollution. If you can afford them, the other cards work better, and the connection part is more functional than this one.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 Please Read This If Driver Problem for Linksys 200, October 29, 2004

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys PCM200 EtherFast 10/100 32-Bit Integrated CardBus PC Card (Personal Computers)

I can verify what others have said here: The Linksys "Etherfast Integrated Ultra-Fast 32-bit PC Card" (also known as model PCM200, v.2), works well once installed, but there can be major problems with installing the associated "driver," and technical support was not satifactory. (The Linksys PCM 200 won't work without the driver.)

THE DRIVER PROBLEM
Linksys includes a floppy disk (the one that goes into your "A" drive) that is supposed to automatically install the driver. This worked fine on the first laptop computer I worked on (operating system, Windows 98) but the disk would not work on a second laptop (OS=Windows 2000). According to the included installation manual, it should work with both Windows 98 and 2000. When I inserted the disk on the second computer, all I got was a whirring sound and periodic noises--nothing was ever installed.

TECH SUPPORT
When calling SBC Yahoo to make sure that this was not a compatibility problem (actually, in an earlier call to SBC they recommended the PCM200), they helpfully recommended that I call Linksys Tech Support.

Unfortunately, the Linksys Tech. Support person seemed impatient and did not explain things clearly. She had me go through the floppy method 2 or 3 times AFTER I had already explained that it didn't work. This was a waste of time; tension was high. I can only hope that other tech, support personnel have better training.

THE SOLUTION!
I finally asked if there was some other way to install the driver without the obviously malfunctioning floppy. After being put on hold, she returned and told me I could download the driver for free from the following website:

http://linksys.com/download

The download is easy. You select the product you want to download (driver for PCM200 integrated), and your operating system. I recommend downloading to your C drive; it was easier for me to find it later. After downloading it, I plugged the PCM 200 back into the laptop, and when the installer instructions "asked" if it should look for the driver or if I wanted to tell it where to go, I chose the latter, and typed in the C drive as the location (C://). Finally, it worked, and in the few days I've been trying out DSL I've had no problems with the product so far.

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION
The product itself works well, but driver installation is buggy and (at least in my one experience, although others here have complained as well) tech. support was inefficient and not consumer-friendly. Later, it occurred to me: Why wasn't I told sooner that I could simply download the driver? And, what if I did not have a working dial-up internet connection--would I have had to wait for them to mail me another floppy? In contrast to the helpful and knowledgeable tech. support at SBC Yahoo, this was not a good experience. It would be best if you have a friend nearby who has changed from dial-up to DSL to help you with installation (or who can recommend a different company's product). And, remember the URL for the free Linksys download: http://linksys.com/download. Hopefully, competition will increase in the future and buyers can choose a more reliable product.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Card ! Go for it !, May 7, 2001

By 

"twister4533" (Norman, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys PCM200 EtherFast 10/100 32-Bit Integrated CardBus PC Card (Personal Computers)

I bought this card after my last LinkSys dongle failed me ! A new dongle costs about 30 $, so I'd recommend going for an ethernet card that does NOT have a dongle !

Dongles are really a pain sometimes ! This card was very very easy to install, just plug it in, plug in the floppy with the drivers and thats it ! It comes with a solid 5 year warranty, however Ive heard that the LinkSys help support staff isn't really that great with helping on this product.

I have Windows ME and this card works absolutely great with that ! No incompatibility issues or anything ! Looks like a winner to me !