Looking for dialup hardware solution

[Colin McGregor]

On 7/15/08, Matthew Godycki <mcg2-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>>> (or desktops that will soon ship without regular PCI either)
>>  Huh??? Are all add-ons supposed to be USB?  And how are video cards
>> going to be handled (assuming you don't want to settle for the onboard
>> video chip)?
>
> Modern PC motherboards have been using AGP for video cards for quite a
> few years now.  However, your comment is still legit as there are many other
> add-in cards that one may wish to add to their system.  Case in point:
> - fancier sound cards
> - IO device controllers
> - usb/etc expansion boards
>
> -M

Well, AGP is for all practical purposes DEAD (yes, you can still find
a few old motherboard designs still for sale with AGP, but none of the
new stuff has AGP). What is taking over PCI-Express, that is what the
gamers and other high video performance junkies are are using...

To note, there are USB --> video adapters on the market, but all the
reviews I have seen suggest that at least of the ones reviewed, the
performance is ... not so good...

For the forseeable future there will be an enthusiast market driven by
the likes of the gamers that will keep the likes of PCI-Express slots
for $500 video cards alive. Further there is a market for PCs in the
industrial market that should also keep the expansion slot business
going...

This noted, there is, and likely will continue to be a very solid
market for the appliance PCs, the sort of PC sold to grannies where
the case will never be opened over the life of the PC, or sold to
companies that need a basic task oriented box for clerical staff
(where the IT staff doesn't want staff fiddling with the box...)...
Further with the task oriented PCs cost is an important factor, so if
dropping a few expansion slots lets them cut $10 off the cost of the
system that will be a big sales boost.

Colin McGregor
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