A+ Hardware Service Technician: Upgrades, Troubleshooting and Preventative Maintenance

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Adding Additional PCMCIA Cards

A typical laptop has two Type II PCMCIA slots, though on most sub-notebooks, there is only one slot available.

There is a wide range of devices available which fit the Type II PCMCIA slots such as IEEE1394 expansion cards, Type III hard drives, NIC cards, cellular modems, GPS units, and more.

Adding these devices is relatively simple. PCMCIA cards are hot swappable so you can add a device while the computer is turned on (though my experience has been to add a new card before the computer comes on, makes installation and discovery easier).

Adding a Docking Station

A docking station allows your laptop to replicate its ports so you can leave the network, an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, expansion cards, etc. plugged in and just remove and insert your laptop or notebook computer as needed.

Expanding Laptop Memory

Typically, laptop memory is a bit more expensive than desktop memory and you are more limited in the number of memory chips you can fit on the notebook motherboard.

Typically, laptops either have a access panel which can be unscrewed to add additional (or replace) memory, or it is accessible under the keyboard. On Compaq Armada notebook computers, there are several tabs you slide down to open the keyboard and insert the memory under the keyboard.

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