Cheap PCI Expansion Systems?

[XniteMan]

Hello,
I want to have a pcmcia or usb enclosure which could accomodate a pci or agp card so that I can use a better video card on my laptop when I want to play games.
But I can only find this http://www.mobl.com/expansion/pci/1slot/index.html.
It seems to be all that I need, but the price is listed as nearly 1K bucks, which is more expensive than a decent gaming pc!!
I just don't understand how such a simple item can have such a high price. Do you guys know about any cheap solution to my problem?
Thanks.

 

[Guden Oden]

It's expensive because hardly any people need such an item, and even if you was to buy something like that you would get HORRIBLE performance even if it worked at all with video cards. Even USB2 is only 60MB/s theoretical performance and practical considerably lower. It would be a total waste of money. Besides, you'd need a power supply plugged into a wall socket to run the video card off of, because the USB connector only supplies 2.5W. That's probably barely enough to run a 2D video card; no way for you to be mobile and play games with a setup like this.

You're screwed, pal. Sorry, but it's true. Buy a decent stationary PC for those 1k bucks instead...

 

[XniteMan]

It's expensive because hardly any people need such an item, and even if you was to buy something like that you would get HORRIBLE performance even if it worked at all with video cards. Even USB2 is only 60MB/s theoretical performance and practical considerably lower. It would be a total waste of money. Besides, you'd need a power supply plugged into a wall socket to run the video card off of, because the USB connector only supplies 2.5W. That's probably barely enough to run a 2D video card; no way for you to be mobile and play games with a setup like this.

You're screwed, pal. Sorry, but it's true. Buy a decent stationary PC for those 1k bucks instead...

Why so? PCMCIA supposedly has a speed equal to that of PCI, so I can get a PCI 9100 which is cheap like hell nowadays, and should gain a speed similar to that of it connected through real PCI, which is much much better than my Intel Extreme Graphics 2.

And I just occasionaly play games, I don't expect it to be mobile at all. In fact even laptops with Mobility 9700 are not enough for you to be mobile and play games unless you have like 10 batteries, so why even bother?

It's so disappointing though, that I cannot find a cheap solution for this simple adapter, I'd expect a price under $20 for it.