Little button

[Tom W]

On the right side of my VOSTRO 1000 there is a little button that is a push-push switch. When the botton is pushed out pops a little plasticy card that has two holes in it. One hole is a rectangle, the size of a card that goes in a camera, and the other is a longer rectangle with a small rectangular addition on it. I have had this computer for a year and a half and never noticed the thing before. Does anyone know what it is.

Thanks,
Tom

[SewerRatz]

Sounds like a card reader that is installed in your exapnsion slot of the computer.

[VASandy]

The little button that pops out the plastic piece is an expansion port built into the laptop, called the ExpressCard slot. Here's the image and explanation from the manual for the Vostro 1000.

1) hard drive — Stores software and data. For more information, see Hard Drive and Hard drive problems.

2) ExpressCard slot — Supports one ExpressCard. The computer ships with a plastic blank installed in the slot. You can add an ExpressCard to make WWAN connectivity available on your computer. For more information, see Using Cards.

3) 3-in-1 media memory card reader — Provides a fast and convenient way to view and share digital photos, music, and videos stored on a media memory card. The 3-in-1 media memory card reader reads Secure Digital (SD) card/SDIO and MultiMediaCard (MMC) digital media memory cards.

4) audio connectors (2)

5) USB connectors (2)

It does have a card reader for your digital camera, but it's next to the ExpressCard slot.

[Tom W]

SewerRatz and VASandy,

Thank you for the speedy replies. I don't kow what an expansion card is but I will investigate to see if I should have one. I also never noticed the slot for the camera card. I suspect that will make viewing pics from my camera less cumbersome. As it is now I install the camera card into my printer and something happens automatically with my PC that makes the pics appear on the computer screen. I will give the camera card slot a try today.

Many thanks again,

Tom

[wathman]

Expansion cards allow installation of additional hardware to your laptop, though most of the time you will not need them since modern laptops come with 90% of the features you would want built in, or are also available as a USB add-on. The most popular use would probably be for adding wireless broadband from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint, though I think there are even USB wireless adapters that will work with those provider networks now.

The other benefit of Expansion Cards are they provide a faster connection to the computer, USB 2.0 is fairly fast, but the slot is much faster.