PC card. In Olden Days, before USB, and before internal network cards, you would us a PC card (about the size of a credit card) to install a modem or a network card on a laptop. Actually the laptop I'm on right now has one that has an ID card reader installed for security.
WARNING! PCMCIA is being phased out as we speak. Why? Because it's old and busted. The new hotness is ExpressCard, and most laptops made in the last couple of years are using it. So be careful when making purchases.
The laptop I have already has a USB port as well as a modem port. Why it has this PCMCIA slot is somthing that still has me puzzled
Well, they do make some crazy things for them like fancy sound cards, custom hardware, and I think they also make some solid-state drives as well. I know back when I did tech work we frequently installed Wi-Fi cards into them even when the laptop had Wi-Fi, either to upgrade the A/B/G/N status or to simply replace one that wasn't working right or lacked enough power to catch some signals.
I have a Compaq Evo N600C, and it has two PCMCIA slots available. I use only one of them, for a Wi-Fi card. Works great for me. J.
