Dynex - 2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA Notebook Card

by Dynex

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B0009FV7J4
• Item model number: DX-UC202
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #71 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Networking Products > Network Adapters > Laptop Network Adapters
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 18, 2005

Product Description

2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA Notebook Card Adds 2 high-speed USB 2.0 ports 480 Mbps maximum data transfer rate Easy plug-and-play installation into any 32-bit PCMCIA Type II slot; hot-swapping capability Card Type 2-port USB 2.0 PCMCIA Type II Speed Up to 480 Mbps Interface PCMCIA Operating Systems Support Windows 98 or later Card Bus USB 2.0 Number of Ports 2 ports Transfer Speed Up to 480 Mbps System Requirements Windows 98, 98 SE, 2000, ME or XP; available PCMCIA

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars handy, but doesn't seem to work very well, September 13, 2005

By 

gardineiro (West Jordan, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dynex - 2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA Notebook Card (Electronics)

I got it to power my mouse, but nothing more. The listing does not mention that it requires external power to run pretty much anything. It comes with a power adapter that plugs into your other usb port (or you can buy an ac adapter separately). In any event, even with the power adapter plugged in to my existing usb 1.1 port, I could not get enough power to run a wireless 802.11g usb adapter through the dynex card--it turned on, but kept losing the signal. So now I've still got my wireless connection running on the slower usb 1.1 port. But if I ever need a place to plug in another mouse (which is the only thing I could get to run successfully through the dynex usb 2.0 port) then I suppose I'm all set.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars AC power cord needed for anything, December 27, 2007

By 

Dominic A. Cerquetti (Baltimore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dynex - 2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA Notebook Card (Electronics)

Works great if you're not doing anything with it.

If you need to plug something, like a USB device, into it you need an external power adapter which is not included.

In addition, nowhere on the box does it mention this - only on the manual inside the packaging - that you need this crazy 1.5A 5V ac adapter of specific size that you can get "from any local electronics accessory shop".

See that hole in the front between the USB ports? That's where you plug in extra power. Crazy. Forget using a USB hard drive for anything mobile and not in range of an AC outlet because not using the power adaptor will literally power off your whole system when it draws too much.

I wouldn't care if they said it on the box and included the adapter, but doing neither is deceitful and that is why I give this a 1 star review.

Looking around, looks like similar USB 2.0 PCMCIA cards do the same thing, but at least they COME with the adaptor instead of saying "go find mystery adaptor X from _somewhere"

When I find it, I'll update the review to let you know how the actual card works.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast, but external power may be troublesome., January 3, 2007

By 

Rico Reyes (Pope AFB, NC) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dynex - 2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA Notebook Card (Electronics)

I got this card to connect my external HDD to my older USB 1.0 laptop. So far, the card is working just fine, and transfers files just as fast as my new laptop which has USB 2.0 as original equipment.

However, there is a caveat.... if any of your peripherals require USB power, like thumb drives, mice, etc. there is a special cable that must be used. It's a pass though USB plug that has a cable coming off of it that powers the USB 2.0 PCMCIA card. This way, a USB 1.0 port provides power to the 2.0 card's ports. I had a little bit of difficulty with it because of the way my laptops USB ports are arranged (HP Pavilion ZE5185). If I used the laptop's side port the power plug's cable points down and is too tall for the laptop's thickness, and if I use the rear USB ports the cable is right up against the laptop's power cord. It's able to fit there, but it has some pressure on it.

For what it's worth, the supplied USB power plug is setup so if you look at your computer's USB port and the "tongue" with the contacts on it is at the bottom, the adapter's power cord will come out on the right side.

The manual also notes that if your USB device requires a lot of power like a floppy drive, high speed USB powered hard drive, etc. the supplied cable doesn't provide enough juice and you'll need to purchace some special AC adapter.

I don't know if all the USB PCMCIA cards have this problem, this is the only one I have ever used.

Anyhow, it doesn't much matter to me because my external HDD has it's own power supply and works fine without the USB bus being powered. My card is working great, and now I can speedily transfer files. What takes an hour with USB 1.0 takes only a few minutes with the 2.0, well worth it. And I purchased this card for much less than the other's I've seen.