Redirected from: PCMCIA card
Definition: PC Card
An earlier expansion interface developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA). Introduced in 1990 and also known as a "PCMCIA Card," a PC Card was a plug-in module that contained a peripheral component such as a modem, network adapter, storage drive or cable TV decoder. Routinely available on old laptops that had at least one Type II slot, 16-bit PC Cards were superseded by 32-bit CardBus cards and serial-based ExpressCards. See PCMCIA, ExpressCard, CableCARD, CompactFlash and PC Card adapter.
Adding Functionality
Very Common Years Ago
Desktop Readers
CableCARDs are PC Cards
----Form Factor--- Data
Thick Long Wide Rate
PC Card (in millimeters) (MB/sec)
I 3.3 86 54 40
II 5.0 86 54 40
III 10.5 86 54 40
CardBus
I 3.3 86 54 132
II 5.0 86 54 132
III 10.5 86 54 132
ExpressCard
34 5 75 34 342
54 5 75 54 342
PC Cards added functionality in laptops just like plug-in boards expanded desktop computers. Because a "PC Card" could refer to both the PCMCIA PC Card or any card inside a PC, people would often say "P-C-M-C-I-A Card." (Top image courtesy of Personal Computer Memory Card International Association.)
Most laptops in the 1990s and early 2000s had PC Card slots for expansion. The CardBus (bottom) added 2GB of disk storage.
PC Card readers were available for desktop machines, either externally (top) or internally (bottom). (Image courtesy of Microtech International, Inc.)
CableCARDs are Type II PC Cards that plug into TVs and DVRs to decode a cable subscriber's channels. (Image courtesy of Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company.)