sajima@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Takahiro Sajima) (01/15/90)
I recently got a Toshiba T5100 for a good price. I like the machine very much, but find that it lacks expansion options. Instead of having standard ISA expansion slots, it has a strange looking connector in the back through which I can hook up an "expantion chassis" of some sort. If you know about such a box, then I'd like to hear from you. If you have any first hand experience, then I beg you to share your experiences. In particular, I'm looking for the following: 8/16 bit ISA bus expansion slots Easily detachable from the main T5100 unit accepts full length boards complete compatibility (or should I say transparency?) Ultimately, I'd like to drive a VGA monitor, MIDI board, bus mouse, and a hard/floppy disk. On an unrelated note, there is an openening on the T5100 between the external keyboard connector and the A/B/PRT switch. The opening seems to cover a circular connector of some sort. Does anyone know what this thing is? Something completely unrelated: does anyone know how to make an external hard disk from an internal hard disk? I sincerely appreciate any informations. Thank you /Taka Sajima sajima@watsun.cc.columbia.edu sajima@CUNIXC.BITNET
cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn) (01/16/90)
In article <2615@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu> sajima@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Takahiro Sajima) writes:
$ I recently got a Toshiba T5100 for a good price. I like the
$machine very much, but find that it lacks expansion options. Instead of
$having standard ISA expansion slots, it has a strange looking connector
$in the back through which I can hook up an "expantion chassis" of some
$sort. If you know about such a box, then I'd like to hear from you. If
$you have any first hand experience, then I beg you to share your
$experiences. [...]
Well, I've hever worked with a T5100, but I do have experience with
two methods of expanding a T3100 ... perhaps this will help you out a
bit. Sorry if my memory is a bit fuzzy ... this was last summer.
One product I tried was called the WonUnder (from, I believe, Connect
Computer). It's a little box that attaches under the machine, has a
connector that plugs into the expansion slot, and will allow one 3/4-length
or shorter PC (not AT) card to plug in. The whole thing was rather a
pain to assemble, and it wouldn't work for our application. Since it draws
its power from the laptop, it's limited to whatever the laptop can provide
(about 200-300 mA, I think), which was by far insufficient for our application
(an IBM Token Ring LAN card).
After this, we obtained an expansion chassis from Toshiba. It has (I
think) five slots; they were all PC slots, but they may have a 16-bit version
out there somewhere. This box has its own power supply, so the power load
of your cards isn't a problem. The biggest problem is that the cable that
runs from the laptop to the chassis is only about nine inches long, so it
can be very inconvenient if space is limited (it's also a very thick cable
and won't bend too sharply). It can be removed as easily as you would remove
a printer cable from the computer.
Hope this helps. I'll try to answer any further questions about either
product, but no promises.
--
Stephen M. Dunn cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca
<std_disclaimer.h> = "\nI'm only an undergraduate!!!\n";
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If it's true that love is only a game//Well, then I can play pretenddaves@softest.UUCP (Dave Schneider) (01/16/90)
In article <2615@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu> sajima@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Takahiro Sajima) writes: > > I recently got a Toshiba T5100 for a good price. ... > In particular, I'm looking for the following: > > 8/16 bit ISA bus expansion slots > Easily detachable from the main T5100 unit > accepts full length boards > complete compatibility (or should I say transparency?) Toshiba offers an expansion cable and chassis for their entire line of portables. The bad news is that the expansion chassis only supports XT (8 bit) boards and has only 5 full size slots. I've had a T5100 for almost a year now and have suffered through the limitations of the Toshiba expansion chassis. It is a real problem with IX/386 which requires a separate IRQ for each device. Axonixs (801-466-9797) has been on the verge of producing an AT - expansion chassis for the T5100 for the past several months but have not done so for lack of interest. Give them a call to spur them along. > On an unrelated note, there is an openening on the T5100 between >the external keyboard connector and the A/B/PRT switch. The opening >seems to cover a circular connector of some sort. Does anyone know what >this thing is? There's nothing there - ignore it. > > Something completely unrelated: does anyone know how to make an >external hard disk from an internal hard disk? Sorry - no.