black one inch slots
in [Computer]
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From: Jeff Strickland on 16 Feb 2010 16:51 "Pete10016" <Pete(a)nospam.com> wrote in message news:4o-dnZeXc8C5aefWnZ2dnUVZ_oudnZ2d(a)giganews.com... > > "Jeff Strickland" <crwlrjeff(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message > news:hleq26$spi$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... >> >> "Pete10016" <Pete(a)nospam.com> wrote in message >> news:b_adnRXalZdSN-TWnZ2dnUVZ_gydnZ2d(a)giganews.com... >>> I'm looking to expand my computer. However, the only ports left inside >>> are >>> black one inch slots. What is it, what kind of card fits in there? >>> I want to add more slots (USB, eSATA, etc.) to the external of my >>> computer. >>> Can I get a card to do this using these "ports?" >>> Thanks. >> >> >> You can buy a 7-port powered USB hub for under $20. You simply plug it in >> to an existing USB port on your PC, and you can add 7 USB devices. >> Because there are so many new ports, the hub will have its own power >> supply because there's no way to know today what sorts of loads you will >> put in the hub tomorrow. USB is a specification that includes power >> loading. A hub like this can exceed the power load, so it gets its own >> power supply. >> >> The ports on your motherboard are normally labelled as to what they are, >> PCI1, PCI2, SATA1, SATA2, and so on. If you are interested in an on-board >> USB or SATA expansion, these would normally need a PCI slot, long slots >> with hundreds of pins. The cards that plug into these slots will provide >> connection points to the external devices at the back of the case, where >> the mouse, keyboard, monitor, and so on, are connected. There are >> typically three or four PCI slots that are available. >> >> What OS are you running? >> >> > I am running Vista, on a Dell XPS machine. > Then you should have a couple of PCI slots that will give you the expansion of features you want. A PCI based USB card will only give 4 ports, typically, and the last time I bought one (it's been a long while), it was more than the 7-port hub that I was telling you about. I'm not up on the latest in eSATA, and the resources to support that technology, but I'd guess that it should run on a PCI slot or (I think) and ATI slot. I would have to guess by your description of "one inch slots," that you're looking at SATA slots, but that's just a guess. For your USB needs, I strongly suggest the 7-port hub with its own power supply. Your machine already has 4 to 6 ports on it (typically there are 4 on the back and one or two on the front of the machine). You use one existing port for the hub, leaving 3 in the back plus the 7 new ones on the hub, or ten just on the back, plus the remaining ports in the front. That's alot of USB capability, and you can do it for twenty bucks -- this is cheaper than the PCI-based USB that I bought years ago. (I had to take my existing USB 1.0 capability and make it USB 2.0, so I needed the PCI-based card instead of an added hub. You already have USB 2.0, so you can expand the capability with a hub.)
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