Didn’t someone here squeeze an rtl-sdr in an expansion card or was I hallucinating that? For anything fancier an expansion card is probably getting a bit tight.
3 Likes
Since there are now translucent expansion cards, I’d say the time is ripe for some RGB-LED cards! Especially if you can programm them to sync with your music player. Might help to sell the frame.work to a couple DJs. and Gamers.
Is it possible to cram a small LED into an existing USB-Card?
1 Like
would be rad to do a biometric expansion card, now that the laptop12 and desktop are on the scene
External media control buttons (1x play/pause, and 2x volume up/down) are another concept that wouldn’t have made much sense before the Laptop 12 and Desktop, but it’d be a good addition to them. And a simple 3 button combo would absolutely fit into the expansion card form factor.
Media controls on a small desktop are a bit niche, but still seem useful. On a convertible though, I’d use them all the time when playing full screen content in tablet mode. The power button on the outside was already a great call, but this would round out the convenience.
And depending on the implementation, they might even be able to double as hotkeys for some situation. For example I’d set them up that up+down both held upens up task manager on top, so I could manage a stuck full screen application without exiting tablet mode.
The laptop keyboards already have media controls of course, but with a convertible (or desktop), you do not always have that keyboard.
6 Likes
back in 2024 someone did post images of an SDR PCB they made, in a case. i wish it was easier for folks to make and sell these, i’d buy one in a heartbeat.
2 Likes
Oh, thanks for the link, that’s super cool!!
can we get a expansion card with a fingerprint reader now that we got the 12 that does not come with one
1 Like
Ah i love that! Makes me want to try making a macropad card. Just 2-4 buttons you can map to media keys, hotkey combos, macros, etc with QMK/Via.
2 Likes
A qmk one would be ideal!
1 Like
I have zero other idea what else I could use a configurable macropad card for, but I’m sure people would come up with stuff if it existed. Including a self destruct button, in red.
It’s a bit disheartening how the modular ecosystem didn’t really produce any easy to do DIY projects yet. A 3 button QMK board project was already posted a more than a year ago, but it never resulted in a working pcb.
I’ll be cheering on you if you want to try this, and in the unlikely event you need help with designing 3D printed parts, I’m happy to help. That’s not the compicated part though…
2 Likes
I’d love to be able to buy translucent USB-A expansion cards.
I like the look of my translucent bezel and USB-C expansion cards, and now want some other expansion cards to come in translucent varieties too.
In terms of colors I’d just be happy with plain or black translucent USB-A expansion cards.
2 Likes
I was excited about Dual USB-C Expansion Card even if one port only supported USB 2, because I wanted to have a YubiKey nano in one port (USB2), but not lose the other full fat USB-C port. Alternatively an integrated YubiKey with and exposed gold contact + a regular USB-C port. I attached a silly mock-up.
5 Likes
I would love to see a USB-A + Audio jack card. This would only be useful for the framework desktop and the framework 16 but I still think its a good idea. It doesn’t require a that much bandwidth so it could go on all devices on all ports without too much issue. The only bottle neck I know of would be a 5gb ethernet adapter connected to the port where this could cause a perceptible interference. Space also shouldn’t be that much of an issue.
2 Likes
FIREWIRE 800 would be much appreciated!
1 Like
Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t seen any sim card expansion card yet. It makes it possible to not always require a hotspot or wifi to just have internet. That would be a super feature IMO!
1 Like
I had some ideas:
- Steam Puck; not the charger part, of course.
- Dual USB-C, (saw someone else also had the same idea) since the expansion card case is big enough to host two.
Some old-school/wild ideas:
- MIDI DIN for musicians (Maybe?)
- Game port (DA-15) (Maybe?)
- COM port (DA-9) (If VGA can happen, then this too can in a similar vain.)
- Parallel port (DB-25) (Not a chance; unless the port is in a 90° angle to the side of the laptop maybe?)
I realize, that most of these may not be even possible due to the dimensions of the expansion card, and on top of that, they are rather niche for today’s time, but still would be interesting to see them, even if from a 3rd party. I also took the liberty and interpreted the question quite literally.
Had been discussed a lot here already. The biggest problem is that these 4G/5G modules are too big for an expansion card, expensive, and placing the antenna is a bit problematic.
Tethering with your smartphone is probably much more practical, even though the idea is cool.
3 Likes
Thanks for giving me the tl; dr, appreciate it.
not an expert: a depressed usb-a, meant for those wireless mice with the little wireless usb dongle; depressed/concave so that the extra bit that usually sticks out now lays flat within the dimensions of the computer