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Missing Smart Card Slot in my 9100

post #1 of 20
4/21/04 at 5:04pm
Thread Starter 
here is an excerpt of message I sent to Dell this afternoon

If you look at Left Product View for Inspiron 9100. It says Inspiron 9100 has Smart Card Slot which Supports one Smart Card for added security. Yesterday, Apr 20, I received my new Inspiron 9100 with Smart Card Slot missing.

I called up Tech support this morning and talked to Gani Ortiz (Badge # 429703) explaining him the situation. Gani had no clue what I was talking about and kept repeating that "If you have not ordered it then it wont be there". I believe the product view page mentions the default configuration of the system and I assumed that It would be shipped with a smart card slot. Later, I requested to speak to the supervisor (Cat Llaneta-badge #366201 ). She seemed perplexed too and suggest that I must use the PCMCIA slot as a smart card reader, which is absurd. Though both Gani and Cat were trying to help, they had no clue about Smart Card technology or what that was.

Can you guys check your 9100/XPS for smart card slot.??

In case you are not familiar with smart card technology , read this
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post #2 of 20
4/21/04 at 5:09pm
ya i was bummed there was no card reader built in so i went and picked up a pcmcia card reader for 29 bucks at BestBuy and it works great and it doesnt stick out and i knew id never be using my pcmcia slot for anything so this worked out well and i can leave it in all the time..
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post #3 of 20
4/21/04 at 5:12pm
If you're talking about the slot below the DVD drive, I think that's the PCMCIA slot. (Sorry, my XPS hasn't arrived yet so I can't confirm 100%, but that slot looks PCMCIA sived, not credit card sized....)
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post #4 of 20
4/21/04 at 5:19pm
Thread Starter 
If I understood the product page correctly, it should a independent slot ( other than PCMCIA).

After having spent >$2k for the system and not to forget the patience, I believe Dell should have shipped what they advertised.
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post #5 of 20
4/21/04 at 5:30pm
Thread Starter 
I noticed the Dell does sell Smart Card Device/Cards as can be seen here. They sell the solutions from 360 Web. Scouring through the 360 website, I came across this page. The page is obviously not updated for 9100/xps. But it mentions that following Dell notebooks carry a smartcard-reader

Latitude D-series Notebooks - D400, D600 and D800 models
Precision Notebook - M60 model
Inspiron Notebook - 600m model

Can someone confirm this???
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post #6 of 20
4/21/04 at 5:38pm
Might want to post this on the General forum as well - I don't think many 600M and M60 users follow the XPS / 9100 thread.

Just as an FYI, in the Canadian site they don't mention anything about a Smart Card reader:

http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/prod...iewstab#tabtop

Not saying you're wrong about whether it should be there, tho (the Canadian site doesn't say ANYTHING about what you see in a particular view...)
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post #7 of 20
4/21/04 at 5:45pm
Thread Starter 
good idea... I will post a link to this in general forum.

Yeah, its strange. I have noticed the same thing in Small Biz section.
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post #8 of 20
4/21/04 at 7:38pm
I remember reading a review of the i9100 (Australian Mag) and it actaully mentioned it was a shame a Smart Card slot didn't come as an integrated component. I also checked the Australian site and the I can't find any mention of a Smart Cart Slot being included.
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post #9 of 20
4/21/04 at 7:45pm
I think that what Dell "means" is that the PCMCIA supports a Smart Card device, as in an add-on pcmcia smart card reader. But I definitely think the wording is misleading to say the least.
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post #10 of 20
4/21/04 at 7:46pm
it does say it supports one smart card, implying there is a slot for it. I don't yet have mine. so i cannot say what it actually has.

Later
Jon
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post #11 of 20
4/21/04 at 7:53pm
Very badly worded i agree. Maybe someone can get them to send them the reader for free over it. Who knows.

later
Jon
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post #12 of 20
4/21/04 at 7:57pm
I second KevDa, there is no smart card advertisement on Dell Canada.. neither I do have it..
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post #13 of 20
4/21/04 at 8:01pm
Thread Starter 
Yip, its not very clear. I would assume that its a separate slot and not a PCMCIA reader. If It were a PCMCIA reader then it would occupy the only PCMCIA slot, which is not good either.

I'm working on getting it straightened out. Who knows, We (US folks) all might get a free reader
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post #14 of 20
4/22/04 at 12:46am
Well the product view also states 4 usb ports and a D/bay but really it's 3 usb and 1 dbay. Someone should proof those things before they get posted.
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post #15 of 20
4/22/04 at 1:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vash_HS
Well the product view also states 4 usb ports and a D/bay but really it's 3 usb and 1 dbay. Someone should proof those things before they get posted.
Depends on how you look at it .. You can plug 4 usb devices into the laptop at the same time. The 4th slot can be used for a D-Bay device or a plain USB device .. Its dual function .. Isn't a D-Bay just a USB port with a power slot ..
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post #16 of 20
4/22/04 at 2:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Planet-Ed
Depends on how you look at it .. You can plug 4 usb devices into the laptop at the same time. The 4th slot can be used for a D-Bay device or a plain USB device .. Its dual function .. Isn't a D-Bay just a USB port with a power slot ..
I guess although the d-bay info on that page specificly says that it also acts as a usb port so the 4 usb seems redundant and misleading.

Also what exactly is a d-bay? I thought all usb ports were powered what makes this one so different? Also what is it used for?
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post #17 of 20
4/22/04 at 3:34am
The smart card is intergrated into the pcima slot. If you look carefully it is under the plastic blank that is in the slot. Well this is on my 600m. It is separated by a piece of metal. I haven't used it but this is where mine is located.

Hope that helps
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post #18 of 20
4/24/04 at 3:48pm

PC Card Slot

I was reading all the posts regarding the PC card slot. MY 9100 came with one, being from canada and all I'am not sure what its for. Any help. With regards to the USB ports, I have three plus what they call D/Bay (powered USB) connector. Don't know what that is for as well.
As well my system is the 800 FSB,

Cheers

Laff
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post #19 of 20
4/24/04 at 10:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by derngt
As well my system is the 800 FSB,
Aren't all the 9100's 800Mhz FSB's?

I did notice that my 9100 had no smart card reader either and I read that it had one so was a bit dissapointed. Our department has a 600M at work that we use and it has the slot where as the 9100 has a piece of plastic....
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post #20 of 20
4/24/04 at 11:33pm
D-Bay is a standard USB connector, with extra power, so it can run more stuff, in theory. They use it to connect to a little box, that can accept a modular drive, either another dvd+rw, combo, or hard drive, I found the info pretty easy on dells site. Now, the real question, is the internal drive usb? it would seem that if they are selling the external adapter, which looks like there isnt much inside of it, makes me wonder.
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