No behavioral differences at all could be noticed between the two VIA units. For my testing I had one NEC-based card, and two VIA-based ones, and while all three looked different (see picture), their characteristics stayed similar. The marking may be a bit different – you may have a black/red triangle next to the “BC168”, the VIA/NEC name may or may not be mentioned on the back of the card, and the 8 studs indicating the card as a 32-bit CardBus (as opposed to 16-bit PCMCIA) may or may not be present. The actual cards you get may look a bit different from the pictures (most likely the high volume of manufacturing accounts for differences in the process). Note that while the manufacturer identifies these two as separate products, they share the same model number, and so many sellers don’t distinguish between the two (some do). These adapters are sold by a wide variety of sellers on eBay, Amazon and others. Both types offer two USB2 ports and a power connector. The most common flush Cardbus-USB2 adapter is the AKE BC168, which exist in two flavors – with a VIA controller or a NEC controller. Restoring USB 2 functionality in case where the built-in USB controller has malfunctioned (e.g., Southbridge failures on T4x and other machines often had partial or total USB controller failure as the first and sometimes only symptom).Adding extra USB ports (e.g., T4x and older laptops had at most two such ports). Adding USB2 capabilities to machine otherwise having only USB1 (e.g., A3x/T30 series).
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