Pros

• Use CardBus and PCMCIA cards
• Seamless integration with OS X and Windows
• Well constructed cable and adapter
• Fits in 34mm or 54mm ExpressCard slots

Cons

• Currently drivers are beta for OS X 10.4.9
• Pricey

The Bottom Line
If you have a new laptop with those snazzy ExpressCard slots and yet have a ton of PC Cards or even the older PCMCIA ones that you want to still use, then this is your answer to your woes.

Ratings

Overall:

Ease of Use:

Usefulness:

Durability:

Price:

Recommended
Yes

Full Review
When I first opened the box to my MacBook Pro, I smiled. It was a magical moment just like when I did the same with my PowerBook G4 four years prior. I eagerly looked at the ExpressCard slot and pushed in the door a few times. I couldn’t wait until I could slip in a real card for it. Since I purchased my MacBook Pro the week it came out and Apple’s new Intel laptop was the first on the market with an ExpressCard slot, there was no hardware for me to use. I had a ton of older cards, though, but again, no way to use it. Not anymore.

Duel Systems has answered the call to many asking for an adapter for the millions of users with PC Cards. Flash card readers are probably the number one card most have but wireless and networking cards are also popular. Firewire and USB 2.0 cards are another popular accessory. Now all these cards can easily be used once again.

I tried both a flash card reader from SanDisk and a wireless Aironet card (802.11 a/b/g) from Cisco. After installing the beta drivers for my OS X 10.4.9 install (be sure to reboot before use!), both worked without a hitch. Like my PowerBook with its CardBus slot, the menu bar shows a little icon representing a PC Card. Clicking on it shows information about the card inserted. You can turn off the CardBus from the menu and then remove the DuelAdapter. I did notice, as long as there is no card mounted on the system, you can remove the DuelAdapter without going through the menu to disable it as well.

Testing throughput indicated no slow down of any sort using the DuelAdapter. I was able to download pictures off of a Compact Flash card inserted in the SanDisk adapter which was inserted in the DuelAdapter. Based of comparison downloads off my PowerBook, I saw no difference in download speeds. The Cisco card seemed just as happy. According to Duel Systems, your speed will only be limited by the card itself since ExpressCard slots are much faster than the legacy cards were designed for.

I didn’t have a PC laptop to test this on; however, I would suspect performance would be the same with it as I found on the Mac. The only difference would be drivers which are gold versions (stable) for Windows while mine where beta yet functioned fine without any problems.

One thing that really stood out to me was the quality of the adapter. The cord is nice and thick and the ExpressCard itself feels firm and sturdy. The same goes for the PC Card slot end as well. The reason I mention the cord is because I have used many other types of devices with cords that would stop functioning after a while due to it being bent back and forth over repeated use. I know you won’t have the issue with the DuelAdapter. Heck, at one point, I let the DuelAdapter hang over the ledge since there was no table space left. I did it without any fear of damaging the adapter or having any dread of the inserted card fall out itself.

Overall
DuelAdapter is a wonderful tool for those with a collection of CardBus or PCMCIA cards. Heck, even if you only have one card that isn’t yet made for the ExpressCard platform that is a must-use card, then you can do no wrong with the DuelAdapter. The only real con I have with this adapter is it is a bit pricey at $120. But again, if you don’t have that killer PC Card in the ExpressCard format, then the price may actually be a bargain.

Price: $119.00

Platform: Windows XP or higher or Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher

Product information

Leave a Reply