(Sloved)Way to use PCI card without desktop PC?

[sam1275]

Hello.
I may have asked this in another thread, but not a dedicated one.
I want to use a PCI card without desktop computer, but laptop/tablet, because I want my system to be portable, but all I can find are too expensive, such as:
http://www.magma.com/1-slot-pci-expansion
The PCI card is too special to be replaced by another card with different interface, so can I have any cheaper options?
Thank you.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Yeah wow, that's expensive. But what's so special about this PCI card?

[iamdarkyoshi]

I know gaming laptops use a tiny pci express card for graphics, but I really dont know. Seems like building a pc inside of an armored briefcase would be easier.

[SL4P]

do you have a link to the PCI card you're using?
There may be other ways... the magma box is ridiculously expensive.
FWIW it should be selling for under $250-300

[sam1275]

Yeah wow, that's expensive. But what's so special about this PCI card?

A camera controller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Roper-Scientific-Photometrics-PCI-Board-Card-01-447-251379-D0134225D5-/361195146645?
It's already very hard to find, and very rare.

[sam1275]

I know gaming laptops use a tiny pci express card for graphics, but I really dont know. Seems like building a pc inside of an armored briefcase would be easier.

Yes, my last plan is to build an ITX PC myself.

[sam1275]

do you have a link to the PCI card you're using?
There may be other ways... the magma box is ridiculously expensive.
FWIW it should be selling for under $250-300

Yes, I already post the ebay link, and this is my previous posts asking for help:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/usb-to-pci-adapter/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/help-identifying-connector-type-pci-card-model/
I finally find the card, but it's too big to carry a full computer with me all day.

[SL4P]

yep it looks like a hard to support part.
although it seems cheap enough when 2nd hand...
so I guess you have no support for other PCI capture cards like osprey etc....

if we can get past the  card specific 'special' features, there may be other options available...

ok... looking at the other post thread, you're painted into a corner...
the camera interface is very specific (not the bnc video I was expecting) !!
You also want to make sure any PCI adapter can handle the data rates the interface is expecting.

[Monkeh]

How about going to PCI-E and then a bridge to PCI?

http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/PE4H%20V3.2.html

[sam1275]

yep it looks like a hard to support part.
although it seems cheap enough when 2nd hand...
so I guess you have no support for other PCI capture cards like osprey etc....

if we can get past the  card specific 'special' features, there may be other options available...

ok... looking at the other post thread, you're painted into a corner...
the camera interface is very specific (not the bnc video I was expecting) !!
You also want to make sure any PCI adapter can handle the data rates the interface is expecting.

Thank you!

[sam1275]

How about going to PCI-E and then a bridge to PCI?

http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/PE4H%20V3.2.html

I've seen this before and didn't want the 2 stage method, but now see it again and I think this will be the best way, really thanks!

[Balaur]

Just go for a mini ITX case and motherboard. Standard, affordable and very portable.

You may not want to carry a screen with you. In this case, you can use VNC and a laptop for control.

[PeterFW]

In this case, you can use VNC and a laptop for control.

A tablet would be much smaller
Battery, micro atx board, 90º pci riser and a dcdc converter would be fairly small if you control it using a tablet and a custom interface or vnc.