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Introduction to PC cards

What is the PC card? Where do we use it? What are the pros and cons of it? PC card is basically a type of expansion card. Initially it was named as Computer Memory Card International Association or PMCIA card. The size of pc card is approximately equal to credit card.

where do we use PC cards?

Basically the pc card was invented to use as a notebook in computers and in many other computers which were not able to accept the other standard expansion card. A pc card is usually fit in the back or side of the computer. The pc cards are also use in camera. In some digital cameras pc card stores the digital photos of the camera. Moreover, pc cards are also used as network cards, house modems, memory and also as hard disk drives.

How many types of PC cards are there?

There are four types of Pc cards.

Type- I
Type-II
Type-III
Type-IV

Type-I:

This type has a 16-bit interface. Its thickness is about 3.8mm and there are about 34 holes in it. They are mostly used as RAM, FLASH MEMORY and SRAM.

Type-II:

Such type of pc cards usually have 16-32 bits interface. Their thickness is about 5mm. They allow devices to attach a peripheral array or they give give slots to interfaces for which the host has no built-in support.

Type-III:

These pc cards also have 16-32 bits interface. The thickness of type-III pc cards is usually 10.5mm .They accommodate the devices which don’t fit with type-I or type-II cards.

Type-IV:

The most interesting fact about type-IV pc cards is that they are not standardized by PMCIA. They were introduced by TOSHIBA. The thickness of type-IV pc cards are 16 mm.

PC card reader:

It is also known as media card reader. Basically, a card reader is a device which is used for reading and writing data on any memory card. Some of the card readers have only one slot while many have multiple card slots.

PC express card:

The pc express card is also known as NEWCARD. The pc express card is an interface to connect the other devices with computers such that laptops to computers. The express cards standards replace the pc cards standards.