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Anyone else think the PWMCIA slot and the 4-pin Firewire port are horribly placed?

post #1 of 25
9/6/05 at 9:17pm
Thread Starter 
Maybe its just me but both of those ports should of been put on the left side and the DVD burner should of been put on the right side of the XPS 2. If you install an Audigy 2 ZS Notebook in the PWMCIA slot then you have to plug in your speakers there as well and MOST people have their mouse on the right side. It just doesn't make sense to me why they put it on the right.
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post #2 of 25
9/6/05 at 9:24pm
I'd have to agree with you. Everything should be on the opposite side. But it's probably the way the motherboard was made or something and there was no way around it.
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post #3 of 25
9/6/05 at 10:57pm
I have an audigy2 and my external hdd is connected via firewire. I dont really encounter any problems although that may be due to the fact that Im using a wireless mouse.
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post #4 of 25
9/6/05 at 11:00pm
I find the placement perfect. If I was laying it out myself, I'd do it the same way.
BTW, I am left-handed.
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post #5 of 25
9/6/05 at 11:02pm
I know it's not always practical, but it helps to have your computer on a stand.
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post #6 of 25
9/6/05 at 11:04pm
I will never have any use for the firewire port so that doesn't bother me, and the PCMCIA slot works for me, on my other laptops it's on the other side and it seemed to get in the way more, I always prefer the CD drive on the left.
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post #7 of 25
9/7/05 at 1:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by odious_m
I find the placement perfect. If I was laying it out myself, I'd do it the same way.
<b>BTW, I am left-handed.</b>
That's the worst kind of cheater!

-Doc
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post #8 of 25
9/7/05 at 2:00am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by odious_m
I find the placement perfect. If I was laying it out myself, I'd do it the same way.
BTW, I am left-handed.
I'm left-handed too but i use the mouse with my right hand.

Quote:
Originally Posted by NateL
I will never have any use for the firewire port so that doesn't bother me, and the PCMCIA slot works for me, on my other laptops it's on the other side and it seemed to get in the way more, I always prefer the CD drive on the left.
You never plan on using an external hard drive or DVD burner or anything? Firewire is MUCH faster for hard drives. It blows away USB 2.0. Firewire 800 is out now as well and you can get a PWMCIA card that supports it so that you could get a Firewire 800 enclosure and have an external hard drive that has the same kind of transfer speed as an internal ATA-6/ATA100 hard drive. To me something like this makes alot of sense considering how much people pay for 7200rpm 2.5" drives that are slower then the 3.5" 7200rpm available for a far cheaper price. You can also get a SATA enclosure with a PWMCIA card that adds SATA support and have SATA 150 going for even faster transfer speeds. You could put a 10k rpm WD raptor in a SATA enclosure and have it connected to your laptop . I'd like to see how the Hitachi 7k100 would compare to that .
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post #9 of 25
9/7/05 at 5:31am
I find the placement poor as well, hence I went for the USB Medusa 5.1 headphones rather than the Audigy pcmcia.

John
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post #10 of 25
9/7/05 at 8:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by burningrave101
I'm left-handed too but i use the mouse with my right hand.



You never plan on using an external hard drive or DVD burner or anything? Firewire is MUCH faster for hard drives. It blows away USB 2.0. Firewire 800 is out now as well and you can get a PWMCIA card that supports it so that you could get a Firewire 800 enclosure and have an external hard drive that has the same kind of transfer speed as an internal ATA-6/ATA100 hard drive. To me something like this makes alot of sense considering how much people pay for 7200rpm 2.5" drives that are slower then the 3.5" 7200rpm available for a far cheaper price. You can also get a SATA enclosure with a PWMCIA card that adds SATA support and have SATA 150 going for even faster transfer speeds. You could put a 10k rpm WD raptor in a SATA enclosure and have it connected to your laptop . I'd like to see how the Hitachi 7k100 would compare to that .
If I was looking for the fastest speeds I wouldn't be using a laptop, I don't see the point in having a laptop with a desk full of crap plugged into it. I use my laptop for portability, I use desktops for everything else. When I do need to transfer large files to or from my laptop, USB 2.0 works just fine.
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post #11 of 25
9/7/05 at 8:39am
I find the fact that there isn't an easy access USB port on the right hand side a pain in the butt, instead I have to reach around back to plug my mouse in.
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post #12 of 25
9/7/05 at 10:19am
I am right handed, but use the mouse on my left arm. Practical when gaming :- )
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post #13 of 25
9/7/05 at 10:25am
I think they're fine where they are. Mainly b/c I don't use the PCMIA or the firewire ports. I do like where the SD card slot is though, makes it easy to plug in the microSD card from my phone, although I'd like a more universal card reader there. I like how when you eject the disc, it doesn't jam into your mouse arm.
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post #14 of 25
9/7/05 at 10:47am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by NateL
If I was looking for the fastest speeds I wouldn't be using a laptop, I don't see the point in having a laptop with a desk full of crap plugged into it. I use my laptop for portability, I use desktops for everything else. When I do need to transfer large files to or from my laptop, USB 2.0 works just fine.
Well the XPS 2 at least is meant more as a DTR then it is a portable laptop. Its too heavy and consumes the battery much too quickly to be considered a laptop for portability other then being able to move it much easier then a desktop. Personally i see no point in having a top of the line laptop and a desktop both because it just doubles your cost of everything and takes up a ton of room on your desk. A little 3.5" firewire enclosure doesn't take up hardly any room at all. Laptops today are becoming just as fast as most desktops, especially for gaming. The Pentium M is just as fast as the higher-end Athlon 64's and the Go 6800 Ultra will give you better then 6800GT performance on the desktop. The Go 7800 Ultra is do out soon and Intel will have their 65nm dual core Yonah mobile chip next year hopefully. Hard drive performance is really the only thing holding DTR laptops back and you can remedy that with a fast Firewire 800 or direct SATA connection.
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post #15 of 25
9/7/05 at 10:50am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by firelord24
I find the fact that there isn't an easy access USB port on the right hand side a pain in the butt, instead I have to reach around back to plug my mouse in.
You should plug in your mouse on the left side so that you can do away with the wires and not have a pile of wire on the right side where your actually trying to use the mouse.
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post #16 of 25
9/7/05 at 10:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by burningrave101
You should plug in your mouse on the left side so that you can do away with the wires and not have a pile of wire on the right side where your actually trying to use the mouse.
Unfortunately I'm not so good with my left hand on the mouse.
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post #17 of 25
9/7/05 at 11:54am
I don't have a problem with the positioning - I use my laptop almost exclusively on my lap (gasp). Thus, things sticking out on the side don't really matter. Also, I use a bluetooth mouse, so the USB slots don't matter either.

If you are tied down to a desk anyway, why not use a USB keyboard and mouse and just push the laptop back a bit on the desk so the PCMCIA doesn't get in the way?

-Nate
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post #18 of 25
9/7/05 at 11:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by firelord24
Unfortunately I'm not so good with my left hand on the mouse.
Then you're obviously not watching enough internet p0rn
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post #19 of 25
9/7/05 at 12:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by burningrave101
Well the XPS 2 at least is meant more as a DTR then it is a portable laptop. Its too heavy and consumes the battery much too quickly to be considered a laptop for portability other then being able to move it much easier then a desktop. Personally i see no point in having a top of the line laptop and a desktop both because it just doubles your cost of everything and takes up a ton of room on your desk. A little 3.5" firewire enclosure doesn't take up hardly any room at all. Laptops today are becoming just as fast as most desktops, especially for gaming. The Pentium M is just as fast as the higher-end Athlon 64's and the Go 6800 Ultra will give you better then 6800GT performance on the desktop. The Go 7800 Ultra is do out soon and Intel will have their 65nm dual core Yonah mobile chip next year hopefully. Hard drive performance is really the only thing holding DTR laptops back and you can remedy that with a fast Firewire 800 or direct SATA connection.
I agree that most people use the 9300/xps as a DTR. I on the other hand will always use desktops, call me old fashioned. I already had a portable laptop but it wasn't powerful enough to play any games, I mainly use it for plugging into my truck for data logging, and for GPS mapping. I bought the XPS2 because it was powerful enough to play all the games, and portable enough to take to afghanistan with me. I couldn't find a backpack big enough to fit my full tower and 22" CRT in. Until laptops are completely and easily upgradable and have room for expansion, I will probably never use one as a DTR.
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post #20 of 25
9/7/05 at 12:38pm
I'm much the same, I use my XPS 2 the same way as my last laptop. It is a big machine but I don't think it's too big or hot to use on your lap it's just when I am using it on a desk it's usually for gaming, thus I have a mouse and need the right hand side clear for it - the 8600 had the pcmcia and firewire on the left which suited me better.

John
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