PC Card slots: Doors versus Filler Cards

[K. Eng]

I've had a small recurring problem with the door to the PC Card slots on my T40. It tends to get bashed in and stuck. Specifically, the center of the door gets pushed in past a piece of plastic on the bottom of the casing, causing it to be unable to depress to the open position.

I took off the palmrest a couple weeks ago to reseat the door, and the tiny spring that keeps the door in the upright position got lost in the process Now I'm keeping the door closed with pieces of tape.

The door is terribly flimsy. I wonder why IBM/Lenovo doesn't use filler cards like Dell (for those who are not familiar with them, they are just pieces of plastic the same size as PC Cards that fill the slots when the slots aren't used).

Back years ago when I had a Dell Latitude CPi, I never had problems with the filler cards. They didn't get stuck or break. I can think of one disadvantage of filler cards - they can get lost. However, I never lost a filler card because the unused one that I had just sat in my notebook's carrying case.

So, the poll: Door or Filler Card???

Comments welcome as well...

[JHEM]

I won't ask what you're sticking in the slot that winds up deforming the door, but why not just take it off if it's non-functional?

There's no airflow through the unit that would transport a lot of dust to the slots.

Fillers are something else to lose!

Regards,

James

[GomJabbar]

I use my cell modem card in the bottom slot to reduce the risk of snapping off the antenna (which usually requires the purchase of a new card I am told). As a result the top slot is open because the door hinges on the bottom. I don't like all that openness because I don't like dust bunnies getting into the connector for the top slot. My 600E had two doors, which is acceptable to me, but rather than a single door, I would rather have filler cards, or the door and (2) cards.

IMHO IBM/Lenovo should include (2) filler cards, and one Ultrabay Slim travel bezel with all notebooks that have these devices. I mean, how much can they cost? Charge me $5 extra when I buy the notebook, that should cover their costs. If I buy after the fact, I'm sure it will be much more. I don't even know if they have filler cards as an optional accessory!

[K. Eng]

I won't ask what you're sticking in the slot that winds up deforming the door, but why not just take it off if it's non-functional?

I'm not entirely sure what caused the door to deform. I left the door in place because I wanted to reduce the amount of dust, carpet fibers, and other junk that could get into the slots.

Edit - GomJabbar, I agree completely. I wouldn't object to paying $5 more at the outset to get those handy items!

[Navck]

Spring door = Doesn't let the buttons to eject filler card stick out and get "decapitated"

[Ground Loop]

When they work correctly, I certainly prefer doors to blank cards.

The card blanks have to be ejected, and then you have to store them somewhere, and remember to put them back.

Doors are automatic.. they're closed when no card is present.

I'm not fond of the "one door" system we have on the T43.

The ExpressCard (upper) slot is always empty. (Indeed there is no card you could buy today to fill it!)

So by having a card in the bottom slot (CF reader), the top stays open as well. That leaves it open to dust, coins, keys...

Ideally, we would have both -- split doors and card blanks.

[redsb3]

Why not buy some Dell filler cards-- I see them on eBay quite frequently.
I purchased 4 about 8 months at $1.25 each, I think shipping was a couple of bucks. They fit perfectly and nobody can see the DELL until you pull it out

[Ground Loop]

Why not buy some Dell filler cards-- I see them on eBay quite frequently.

Cool. I need just one ExpressCard54 filler card.