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Of course, I have a cool card from a desktop I'm retiring, that I'd like to be able to use from the laptop I've replaced it with.

Laptop has no docking station. Best I can replace the card for is a LOT of money, it works hand in hand with an app I'd love to retain.

I want a device to give me access to PCI via PCMCIA or usb2.0 (laptop is a few years old and doesn't have the newer slot). Separate power is OK.

I would think it would be easy to find if such a device existed. All my searches turn up a million USB port cards that plug into a PCI slot - the opposite of what I want!

Does such a converter exist? I'm aware of difficulties to this, but am not interested in the why, only if you can drop a name, or say for sure it doesn't exist. thanks!

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    USB 2.0 is less than half as fast as PCI - on paper. Transfer rates will be less than that. What is this "cool card?" Isnt there a USB device that does the same thing?
    – Keltari
    Sep 2, 2011 at 2:40
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    @Keltari - It's something that doesn't require a very high bandwidth ;-)
    – FastAl
    Sep 2, 2011 at 3:21
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    I'm still not sure what this cool card you speak of is.
    – Sam
    Sep 2, 2011 at 7:00
  • @Keltari What about USB3?
    – Milind R
    Nov 20, 2014 at 15:33
  • Can't believe it took the SE Police NINE YEARS to close this blatant request for a product recommendation. I feel like this is a huge spit in the face of one of the most absolutely, corporate crappy stupid rules on the entire internet! Well, too late sukkas - IT ALREADY HELPED ME! you are about 8 years late to do your damage :-) I know you are well meaning, of course, but when leaders persist in their wrong after having had their argument absolutely crushed ... it is sad. I was worried that attitude would have killed SE by now, and it hasn't, which is good, because it's still pretty useful!!!
    – FastAl
    Apr 12, 2021 at 21:48

2 Answers 2

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There's Magma 1-Slot Cardbus to Half-Length PCI Expansion Unit and Magma 1-Slot Cardbus to Full-Length PCI Expansion Unit that will connect cardbus to a PCI housing, but at about $1000 it is NOT cheap. You could get a new PC with a PCI slot for less. Magma also offers a fiber to PCI expansion chassis, but I doubt that would be much cheaper and you'd have the added cost of a PCMCIA Fiber nic

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    Yikes! I figured as much. I could replace my current solution for that kind of jack. I had just hoped I could pick up a usb2pci like a usb2ide ;0 wishfully perhaps.
    – FastAl
    Sep 2, 2011 at 3:33
  • Also ARS technology ssi2-pci-x3 - SSI2 PCI 3 connector card ... arstech.com/item-SSI2-PCI-3-connector-card-ssi2_pci_x3.html
    – FastAl
    Feb 1, 2013 at 19:30
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    What OP wants is not a common configuration, so I would not expect mass market prices.
    – Sun
    Sep 16, 2014 at 2:42
  • Please update your answer to fix the link rot.
    – Shawn Eary
    Oct 6, 2022 at 18:08
  • @Sun - The MS Windows 11 TPM "requirement" has changed the stakes. Now USB to PCI adapters and similar products are in higher demand. Also, what about people with Mac-MINIs that want to use professional PCI audio interfaces?
    – Shawn Eary
    Oct 6, 2022 at 18:11
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Haven't tried it myself, but perhaps you could use a pci to express card adapter, and then an express card to usb adapter. The below total approx $127 + shipping and support 2 full size card, compared to buying Magma's adapter which is $1159 + shipping, and only supports 1 card. Unfortunately the PCI adapter is not from a brand, it's just a generic adapter found on Ebay.

PCI To ExpressCard Adapter: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Laptop-PC-Expansion-Cards-34-54-To-2-32bit-PCI-slots-adapter-with-Case-long-350m-/311078502596?pt=US_Internal_Port_Expansion_Cards&hash=item486db940c4

ExpressCard To USB Adapter: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839158028CVF&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwordsCA&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwordsCA--pla--Laptop+Add-on+Cards-_-N82E16839158028CVF&gclid=CNzj9ZLI5MACFQiDfgod8QwACA

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  • Sorry, but no. He needs to go in the other direction.
    – Jamie Hanrahan
    Sep 16, 2014 at 1:43
  • @JamieHanrahan: Take a closer look at the products suggested. They are in the atypical direction.
    – Ben Voigt
    May 29, 2016 at 16:43
  • @BenVoigt That EC-to-USB thing doesn't give you a real ExpressCard slot. The "ExpressCard slot" made by this "ExpressCard to USB" thing has only the USB pins at the bottom. So it won't support a real ExpressCard. You see, a lot of "ExpressCard" cards are really USB devices with a funny-looking connector. The EC slot includes pins that provide a USB port to such cards.
    – Jamie Hanrahan
    May 29, 2016 at 19:27
  • btw, every "ExpressCard" flash card reader I've tried has worked this way (evidence: "show devices by connection" in device manager clearly shows the reader connected via USB). It's far cheaper and easier to build such things than to build real ExpressCards. For the user, it saves using up a regular USB port and it isn't an extra thing hanging off your laptop. But it has no speed advantage vs a USB card reader, which is what I was hoping for. Feh.
    – Jamie Hanrahan
    May 29, 2016 at 19:30
  • @Jamie: Yes, you're right about that... the ExpressCard slot has both PCI(e) and USB interfaces, and this adapter would only support the latter. These days we're playing that same game again with M.2 SSD slots, some of which have SATA only, some have both SATA and PCIe (and I suppose it would be possible to have PCIe only but I don't think that's as common). And of course the generation in-between, miniPCI slots, also had both PCI and USB busses.
    – Ben Voigt
    May 29, 2016 at 20:08

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