Review Date: 22nd July 2003 Reviewed By: Michael "Hughesey" Hughes Product: Ricoh PCI-PCMCIA Adaptor Rating: 95% Manufacturer: Ricoh Supplier: N/A

Introduction

Since the introduction of wireless networking, many manufacturers have released PCMCIA wireless cards for use in laptops, allowing mobile network connectivity in the open air. While this is a significant boost to mobile computing, home PC users will find it more difficult to find a decent wireless card. Sure there are USB wireless cards available, but with the amount of strain they place on the CPU, it isn't the best option performance wise. There are, however PCI wireless cards starting to make an appearance into the market, but they are no where near as easy to locate, nor is there the amount of product choice available that exists with the PCMCIA version.

This is where PCI-PCMCIA adaptors come into play. They plug into a PCI slot in home computers, and allow for the connection of one PCMCIA card, therefore providing the best of both worlds, performance (due to dedicated PCI bus) and product choice (due to the sheer amount of different brands/models of PCMCIA wireless cards), in one neat package. PCI-PCMCIA adaptors, however, aren't just used with PCMCIA wireless network adaptors, they can be used with any PCMCIA device. Wireless cards are the most popular usage for these cradles, however, as PCI versions of other typical PCMCIA cards (network/USB/modem) already exist at a significantly lower price.

The card we are looking at today is the Ricoh PCI-PCMCIA adaptor which can be purchased for about AU$60 from most good pc retailers.

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