New Dell laptop problem / ExpressCard

[No Such Luck]

My current laptop recently died (it was 3 years old) and I opted to buy
a new laptop instead of spend possibly a few hundred dollars trying to
restore the bad one. I bought a Dell Inspiron B130, and having bought
laptops in the past with no trouble, I'm sad to say that I didn't give
a second thought to the specs.

Well, the new laptop arrived, and lo and behold, it only contains an
ExpressCard port. No Cardbus or PCMCIA whatsoever, so my exisitng
wireless network adapter is useless. To complicate matters, Dell is
apparently leveraging exclusively off this ExpressCard technology, but
there is absolutely nothing out there yet to actually use it.

So my options are limited, but I was wondering if I had any more that
I'm not considering:

1) Go the USB wireless adapter route (I don't really want to to this,
as the setup is more unweildy)
2) Wait for an ExpressCard wireless adapter to come out (not an option)
3) Send the laptop back to Dell, and have them add the internal
wireless, and ship it back. With all the shipping and additions, this
will add another 15% to the price of the laptop.

Any opinions are appreciated. As far as I'm concerned, Dell really
dropped the ball on this one.

 

[Pen]

My current laptop recently died (it was 3 years old) and I
opted to buy
a new laptop instead of spend possibly a few hundred
dollars trying to
restore the bad one. I bought a Dell Inspiron B130, and
having bought
laptops in the past with no trouble, I'm sad to say that I
didn't give
a second thought to the specs.

Well, the new laptop arrived, and lo and behold, it only
contains an
ExpressCard port. No Cardbus or PCMCIA whatsoever, so my
exisitng
wireless network adapter is useless. To complicate
matters, Dell is
apparently leveraging exclusively off this ExpressCard
technology, but
there is absolutely nothing out there yet to actually use
it.

So my options are limited, but I was wondering if I had
any more that
I'm not considering:

1) Go the USB wireless adapter route (I don't really want
to to this,
as the setup is more unweildy)
2) Wait for an ExpressCard wireless adapter to come out
(not an option)
3) Send the laptop back to Dell, and have them add the
internal
wireless, and ship it back. With all the shipping and
additions, this
will add another 15% to the price of the laptop.

Any opinions are appreciated. As far as I'm concerned,
Dell really
dropped the ball on this one.

Call Dell and ask for an RMA to Send it back for refund.
Dell will probably make you an
offer to send you the wireless adapter. This assumes it's
still
in the 21 day return period.

 

[Jan Alter]

Send it back. Even if they don't make you an offer you will continue to kick
yourself and not have the versatility you had anticipated having in a new
machine. Sometimes it costs more to do it right just because we're human and
sometimes forget the important details. However, it's not worth making one
mistake after another if something is correctible.