In previously looking at options for adding an external audio device to a
notebook computer, all that I considered were USB devices. There are also a
couple of Firewire devices on the market, but at a high price.

I had read a good review of the Echo Indigo PCMCIA card interface, but
dropped that from consideration when I realized that it only provides output
from the PC, not input into it. Actually, my laptop sound card has a fairly
good output, but no stereo analog in at all (only a mono external microphone
port), so the input capability is more important to me.

Well, I just found out that Echo has just come out with a new version of the
Indigo, which includes input as well as output. The URL for that unit is:

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/IndigoIO/index.php

Has anyone reading actually tried one of these devices yet? I'm not sure if
they are actually available for purchase yet, or just being advertised in
advance by the manufacturer.

Anyone have an idea of how much these will sell for? I assume more than the
output-only device, but since I believe that is quite reasonable, this new
version might also be in the lower cost end of external audio devices.

How does the speed of a PCMCIA interface compare with USB? I know that USB
2.0 and Firewire are supposed to be much faster than USB 1.1, but as of this
point only a few expensive models are available with those interfaces. How
does the speed of the PCMCIA bus compare with USB 1 and 2, Firewire?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.