Thinkpads Forum

Hi All,
I have a thinkpad 365ed. I have search everywhere trying to find out what type of pcmcia slot it has. The local stores only carry type 2 . Does anyone have any idea what type it is or how I can find out? I go to get chemotherapy in the hospital for 4 days a month and would like to get on the internet wirelessly. Calling long distance to home is getting kind of expensive so I figured I would try to get it online and chat to everyone while I am in.
Also I have installed windows 98se on a 2gb hdd in the old dinosaur. Anyone have any suggestions if this is the best OS for the old computer?

Thanks kb9umb

OK, first thing we need to do is address semantics. A card "Type" refers to the size (thickness) of a card and not the interface, i.e. 16BIT or 32BIT.

Your venerable 365ED can take any "type" of card AFA thickness is concerned, but is limited to using 16BIT PCMCIA cards, not 32BIT PC cards.

WRT using W98 on that system, it's bit of a push but you won't find anything better except for 98Lite. If it's running OK I'd leave the OS alone.

Regards,

James

JHEM is right that machine does 16 bit pcmcia cards only. Everything on the market today is type II. Type I and III cards have virtually disappeared. Most wi-fi cards are 32 bit but there are still a few 16 bit wi-fi cards using 802.11b (slow, 11 Mbps) protocol. Look on ebay or you may still find one at a computer or office store. With Windows 98SE you should have no problem getting a 16 bit wi-fi card working. I had one working fine on a 701c which is even older hardware.

I get a kick out of folks referring to 802.11b as "slow".

Unless you have a WAP connected to a T1 line, a 11b card is 3 to 4 times faster (or more) than any cable or DSL public feed you're connected to.

I guess it's all relative.

Regards,

James

I just used the term slow to differentiate "b" from "g" since not eveybody is hip to the lingo and it is easy to understand there is a slow/cheap wifi and a fast/expensive wifi option at most retail stores. Yes, for internet 802.11b transfers as fast as you can use. The only thing "g" is needed for is if you are moving large files across a network. The big difference for me at my house is I can stream video across a "g" connection and not across a "b" connection. So since "g" came out I can sit with my laptop and watch movie files that are on the harddrive of my desktop.

I was in the same shape concerning needing a 16Bit PC wireless card. Be careful...some cards that started out as 16Bit have now been upgraded to 32Bit CardBus. The call letters (or product numbers) are the same. I did some research on this and ended up buying a Belkin FSD6020 (from eBay- hasn't arrived yet). There are 3 versions of this. As long as you get version 1 or revision 2, you're fine. If you by accident get revision 3, then you've got a 32Bit card (CardBus). The cards look almost identical, but there are some subtle differences. The Rev. 2, which I got has an oval "Belkin" logo on the black part of the plastic antenna casing that sticks out of the latptop and "802.11B" is written on the left side of the card at the top (black antenna being at the right). The latter, Rev. 3, has no logo on the antenna casing and the "802.11B" is written at the top of the card on the right side. Other than that, most other markings and colors are the same. Version 1 plainly has "16-Bit" printed on the card. So, do a search for this card on eBay, and hopefully there are some pictures you can look at. If need be, save the image to your computer and magnify it to make sure....This card has had good ratings and you might be able to get it at a decent price. Anyway, I hope this has helped....and btw, Good Luck!

I made a mistake....the card I was talking about is the F5D6020, not the FSD6020. BTW, it came today and works great in my older Thinkpad!

Yes that is the same one I had working in a 701C. I found a department store that was clearing out its stock at $12 each. They had 3 left and I bought them. I still have on unopened.

Got lucky....with shipping, mine was obtained from eBay with a total cost of $7.50!