PC Card (redirected from Portable Computer Card)

PC Card

An expansion interface developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) that was popular on laptops in the 1990s and early 2000s. Also known as "PCMCIA cards," PC Cards are plug-in modules that contain devices such as a modem, network adapter, sound card, solid state drive or hard disk. Routinely plugged into older laptops to add missing functionality, PC Cards were superseded by ExpressCards. See PCMCIA.

PC Card and CardBus
In 1990, the PC Card was introduced with a 68-pin connector and 86x54 mm form factor. Five years later, the CardBus increased the data path from 16 to 32 bits and data rate from 40 to 132 Mbytes/sec. CardBus added support for different voltages, bus mastering and power management. Earlier laptops had one or more Type II slots (see below), but most new laptops no longer support them. They may, however, have an ExpressCard slot.

ExpressCard
In 2003, the third-generation ExpressCard was introduced in two smaller sizes and uses USB and PCI Express interfaces. The data rate was increased to 342 Mbytes/sec. See ExpressCard, CableCARD and PC Card adapter.

  PC Card
  CardBus    Form Factor
  Type       Thick  Long  Wide (millimeters)

    I        3.3    86    54
   II        5.0    86    54
  III       10.5    86    54

  ExpressCard

   34          5    75    34
   54          5    75    54

Adding Functionality

PC Cards provide expansion for laptops just like plug-in circuit boards expand desktop computers. (Top image courtesy of Personal Computer Memory Card International Association.

PC Card Drive

In 2002, when CardBus PC Card slots were common on laptops, this hard disk added 2GB of internal disk storage.

Desktop Readers

Card readers could also be added to desktop machines, either externally (top) or internally (bottom). (Image courtesy of Microtech International, Inc.)

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PC Card - Personal Computer Memory Card International Association