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> From: Randal Whittle <whittle@chaph.usc.edu> > Subject: Re: Flash Cards > To: ANDRSN@HOOVER.STANFORD.EDU (Annelise Anderson) > Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 07:13:37 -0700 (PDT) > Cc: TP750@CS.UTK.EDU (TP) > > I am curious about how flashcards, that is pcmcia memory cards, work > > on the ThinkPads. > > > > I saw one listed for about $300 that was provided 2.5 MB. That seems > > like expensive memory to me! > > It certainly isn't cheap. The price you're quoting is quite a > bit on the high side. I'm fairly certain you can get a 5 MB card for > about that same price. > > You have to understand though, this isn't the kind of thing you > just whimsically buy and use. It is something that is has special > purposes for special needs. > > The reason I have one (and yes, it does work in my ThinkPad, > but after trying it out a year ago, I've not put it in since--simply > haven't the need) is because I have an HP 100LX--one of those little > "palmtop" computers. This animal is woefully under-powered in the > memory department, and a flash card in its slot is precisely the > solution to fit the bill. Also, the HP Omnibook series offers a > large (20 or 40 MB) flashcard as an option, for the hopelessly > battery-power paranoid (well...for those who want their Omnibook to > run for 12 hours or so rather than the usual X number of ours with > a regular hard drive). > > > Is it possible to write to these cards, put subdirectories on them, > > revise and save files, delete files, copy files from them, just as > > one can on, say, a floppy drive? Do they respond to all the usual > > DOS commands? Can you use "join" or "append" to access the data as > > you can with a regular floppy drive? > > > > Thanks for any advice. > > Yes to all of the above. > > Once you get the proper driver(s) to activiate the card & > recognize it as a DOS drive, you're in business--works just like any > other "hard drive". > > ----- ___________________________ > Randy Whittle whittle@usc.edu | Practice random acts | > USC School of Business (Fight on, 'SC Trojans!) | of senseless | > (My opinions are mine, but since I'm | viol...err.. | > right, they should be yours too.) | kindness! | > --------------------------- I think the fact being lost here is that these are SRAM (Static RAM) cards, there fore the added expense. SRAM is more expensive that DRAM (what is used to expand our machine's base RAM), in addition, I believe there is additional intelligence required to allow the device emulate traditional magnetic storage. $50/MB is a reasonable price for ThinkPad DRAM, but much to cheap for SRAM cards. -- Adam Lee Wilkinson Portable Computing Technology Specialist Ford Motor Co. - Marketing & Sales Systems awilkin1@ren0010.so.ford.com