Use that unused Expresscard slot on your MacBook Pro

I took the plunge this past week and bought a 15″ MacBook Pro. This was mostly due to the increasing amount of video and photography I’ve been doing lately and needed a bit more (okay a lot more) horsepower under the hood.

One thing that I’ve always wondered about, is that card slot in the larger MacBook Pro’s. I’ve always chosen the smaller form factor size for my laptops (iBook, 12″ PowerBook and most recently the MacBook Air) – none of which had an Expresscard slot (or it’s predecessors, the PC Card or PCMCIA slot).

Given the purpose of my laptop upgrade, it seemed fitting that I found you could get media card readers for use in this slot. This saves the hassle of bringing a card reader with you all the time – they are small and very losable. I have the added benefit of being completely on SD cards for all my cameras. Other formats like compact flash are wider than the opening for the Expresscard so those readers a bit bulky and don’t sit flush in the slot.

I found the Sandisk Expresscard reader (which I found in Canada cheaper from one of my favorite online photography gear sources, Henry’s) to be the cheapest/most available. I prefer to trust my media reading with name brand gear so went with Sandisk over some generic brand readers I found online and locally.

The Expresscard reader just slides into the slot and clicks into place. You click it again to pop it out. It sits flush inside the laptop. When you insert an SD card, it will jut out a little so you’ll have to be careful with it if you have the laptop on your lap. At least you can easily see it in the slot as a reminder to download your photos and eject the card.

Considering most decent card readers cost around the same price, this solution seems pretty solid to me and means I have one less thing to carry.

In case you’re wondering, yes, my MacBook Pro is green…well it’s wearing a green skin at least.