New Laptop & PCMK Woes

Hi everyone,

I just got my new laptop and what I thought was a PCMCIA slot actually turned out to be one of the new "standard" ExpressCard slots. Naturally, this is a problem since the 1784-PCMK is a PCMCIA based interface card. I saw an adapter from Duel Systems, but it's still in testing and supposed to be out late 2006 (don't know how much later it can get). It's late and my brain isn't working so well...does anybody have any suggestions on how to interface with a DH+ network with this new ExpressCard slot??

Thanks,
Jay

Same thing almost happened to me, there should be a better way to determine exactly what a laptop has built in before you buy. You may have to send it back and get one with a real PCMCIA slot. I have a new Dell lattiude D820 with both a PCMCIA and an express slot.


Good luck, and if you find an answer please let us know.

Marc

PS the D820 has a real serial port too

Whoa, and a real serial port...I remember seeing the cave paintings of those on the Discovery Channel. Those were the days, when I didn't have to break out the USB to Serial adapter....which unfortunately looks to be the way I'm headed. The info on the adapter is here http://www.duel-systems.com/products/adapters.aspx

I got a Dell Inspion 9400. And an FYI for everyone, apparently they are phasing out the PCMCIA completely in favor of the ExpressCard...man do I hate when industry standards change

Now begins the search for the elusive null modem cable.

Can't send the inspiron back huh? Too bad, I think this Latitude is perfect for my job. Only two drawbacks are that the PCMCIA slot is near the front so I had to put my electronics package holder for the PCMK card on the inside top of the computer to the left of the mouse pad. And it has a wide screen which is terrible for ladder, I want to see move vertical space not horizontal space.


Oh well

Marc

This thread does illustrate quite nicely the conflict of values between the office and industrial automation markets. Office/IT automation tends to have product life cycles less than 2-3 years, and whole technologies can come and go in less than a decade.

By contrast in the industrial arena we expect a minimum of 20 years for the equipment we use. There are at least two lessons to be learnt from this:

1. Maintaining a product in the market for 20 plus years is a costly business, and has a high value to us end users. Next time you feel like grizzling because you have just compared the price of a PLC processor and a whole new laptop, try and factor this in.

2. Be careful what you ask for. The PCMK card obsolecence is a classic. I well recall when it was first introduced, and now it looks like it will be gone within a year or two. Tying an automation technology to a PC technology dependence is fraught with this kind of issue. It is for instance one reason why the "Soft-PLC" has so far only captured a small segment of the market.