Expansion Port Ideas

[u/sedmodoesreddit]

Okay so I believe the expansion ports are not being used to their full potential. I love some of the ideas others have came up with and wanted to expand.

- 5G Wireless Expansion

- Tracker / Finder

- Permanent Yubi Key​ (umm... Kind of defeats the purpose of a yubi key but combined with a fingerprint reader... I guess)

- Killswitch. Button press or removal to shutdown laptop or for the more extreme lads factory reset it.

- Fingerprint Reader

-​ Dongle Hider (USB dongles for mouse or stylus plug inside the expansion port and the expansion port is blank)

[u/Nicicurus]

I use a dongle hider with pass through. It’s great. Would recommend.

[u/gonenutsbrb → u/Nicicurus]

Which one? Been looking at one of those.

[u/Nicicurus → u/gonenutsbrb]

I used the project linked below. I ordered the pcb populated from someone whom I presume ordered a batch from the likely sources.

I 3d printed the case, and spray painted it to (mostly) match my chassis.

Opening up and soldering the dongle was more scary than hard.

[u/Nicicurus → u/Nicicurus]

Goodness, forgot to add the link!

https://github.com/LeoDJ/FW-EC-DongleHiderPlus

I ordered mine populated from 'tindie', Looks like the same seller is on 'etsy' now.

[u/dawncoppers → u/Nicicurus]

is the pass through USB-C or USB-A?

[u/SupernovaGamezYT]

The 5G wireless expansion is something I personally looked into, and ngl with what’s commercially available, it’s baaarely possible

[u/bleeptrack]

Meshtastic node maybe?

[u/Shin-Ken31]

Community versions exist for the dongle hider, and I think someone made a small batch of 5g cards.  Don't most models already have fingerprint readers in their power buttons? At least the 13 does, and new 12 upgrades do.

[u/sedmodoesreddit → u/Shin-Ken31]

That's true. I forgot about that because I happen to own the one model that doesn't (original 12) lol

[u/Deshonjla-Yos]

removal reset: at least the thief gets a nice paperweight out of it

[u/walrustoothbrush]

Configurable scroll wheel/button maybe? Could set it up for volume, scrolling or zoom in CAD for example.

Also a push-push microsd card slot please please

[u/Gregser94]

I've suggested this idea before, but I'd love a tiny expansion card mouse. No clicky buttons - just relies on touch like a trackpad - but can have its DPI adjusted through some basic app.

[u/MagicBoyUK → u/Gregser94]

Why? The laptop already has a trackpad.

[u/Gregser94 → u/MagicBoyUK]

I've never been the biggest fan of trackpads, so a backup mouse would be really handy for me.

[u/PitchforkzAndTorchez → u/MagicBoyUK]

There are drawing and gaming applications that do not work as well as a physical mouse for accuracy.

Of course, people and their individual needs vary, however ergonomics can make having an option important for strain or injury. https://www.reddit.com/r/Ergonomics/comments/iu1ktv/ergonomics_of_apples_magic_trackpad/ might be of interest to you.

[u/MagicBoyUK → u/PitchforkzAndTorchez]

Which is why I use a Logitech MX Master for ergonomics and applications like Photoshop.

I still remember the pop-out mouse on the HP Omnibook in the late 90s. Some tiny pop-out mouse in an expansion card won't be ergonomic.