Home > Consumer Reviews > 2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA Cardbus PC Card (fully inside for Notebook)

Needed USB 2.0 ports for a 2002 model laptop, and needed a PCMCIA card unit without a huge external protrusion. This unit fits flush into the cardbus slot and yet provides two USB 2.0 ports. At first the unit wouldn't work properly (laptop freezing on shutdown) with my old laptop and Windows 7 RC (it's my test PC) and I intended to return the unit. The manual provided on the mini-CD is the archetype for poorly written, unintelligibly illustrated driver installation instructions and nowhere indicates to the user the need to install the included driver for proper operation. One would assume the standard Windows USB drivers would suffice based on the lack of other direction, plus the installation itself seems to be installing the same Windows driver again. HOWEVER - I took a chance and installed the OWC driver and - voila! - the card operates perfectly. External hard drive, digital camera, WiFi dongle - so far I haven't thrown anything at it the card can't handle. And the laptop shuts down properly again.

This card is well worth the money, but the documentation kills a star.

If you need USB 2.0 connectivity for an old laptop this is the ideal solution. I highly recommend it.
I had an older 4 port card that finally died after a few years of ownership & thought I'd give this one a try because of the low cost & small profile.

My first concern was how they were going to fit 2 full size USB ports in this size card. It's close, but they did it. Perfect!
The nice value add is that this card does not protrude out of the laptop so you can leave it in when you carry the laptop in a briefcase or backpack.

My second concern was compatibility. I have an older laptop, Dell Inspiron 8600 with 1.6GHz Intel processor & 1GB RAM. I run Windows XP on my primary active partition & am testing Windows 7 Release Candidate on a second partition (running perfectly for a month now)
This card was recognized & installed immediately in BOTH OPERATING SYSTEMS WITHOUT THE DRIVER DISK! Perfect!

My third concern was power. The image above doesn't show that the card is powered from one of your built in ports. This is really important as most of these cards can't support the high power drain of cellphones, cameras & other devices that require power from the port. This card is powered with a supplied cable. Perfect 3 for 3 so far!

Now look at the price... looks like a 4 for 4 to me.

I love the way this fits into the port of my laptop. Because it does not stick out, it can be left permanently in the laptop.

I have had excellent results with this thing and the price was very reasonable.

I have given away my old Bus product that had to be removed each time I put my laptop away and then had to re recognize it each time I started up again.

Thanks for the great product.

Great card! First of all, I burned out my laptop's USB port by driving an external drive without supplemental power so I needed to find a way to get USB 2.0. This card fits perfectly in my PCMCIA card slot. I have a CD/DVD disk drive above it and since this card fits flush, I don't have to take out the card when I need to open my disc drive. Who wants a bulky USB head that prohibits the use of a nearby CD/DVD drive? At $13 and since this card qualifies for free super saver shipping, this card was cheaper and works better than any other card I could find. Both USB 2.0 ports work great! I have windows XP. I just pushed the card into the PCMCIA slot; the laptop found the driver, and it loaded it automatically. I didn't need to use the included driver CD even. Five stars in my humble opinion.

Installed this on 8 yr old laptop running Windows XP SP3, Dell Inspiron 8100, which doesn't have any USB ports. Windows recognized the USB hub immediately and told me my new hardware was ready to use. I was going to install the driver but decided to see what happens without it. I plugged in the Logitech Anywhere MX mouse USB receiver (which is very tiny) and it recognized the mouse immediately. I turned on the mouse and it works great. I tried all my normal apps and have not seen any problems. I really like the fact that it doesn't have the protruding connectors like some of these cards. This laptop has 2 pc card slots on the right side and I have a ethernet card in one. This new card slid in right next to it no problem. I only use the ethernet card when I want a wired connection but I connected the ethernet cable just to see if that cable and the mouse receiver could both be connected at the same time and they can no problem. I only wanted it for the mouse so have not tried anything else. I have only had this for 1 day but so far I am super pleased with this thing. It could not have been easier to install and use.