Rating: 
Summary: Do not buy for use with an HP or Compaq laptop!
Review: This was the first D-Link PCMIA card I've owned, and they have both been good performers, except they interfere with Windows' power management features on HP and Compaq notebooks. I thought the problem would be solved by buying this newer card, but it hasn't. My computer refuses to stay powered on for more than 20 minutes unattended, and frequently, when browsing the Internet, my mouse cursor freezes and the only way out is to hit the power button. I did some online research, and it turns out many other HP and Compaq laptop users have had the same problem. For some reason, these incompatibilities still exist, despite D-Link knowing about them for some time. Again, D-Link cards perform well and are a good value, but I would not recommend one to an HP or Compaq user.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't expect tech support
Review: I purchased this card to use in an older laptop running Windows 98. Before buying the card I emailed D-link tech support to see if it would work and was told that Yes, it would work with Windows 98 first edition. In fact, it will not work with Win98. I emailed and phoned D-link tech support after the card did not work and was told that the current hardware revision will not work with Win98 first edition. The helpful D-link tech support reps suggested that I should have looked at the box (hard to do when you order from Amazon). The D-link website was unclear, merely listing Win98 as supported, not differentiating between 98 and 98SE. They further suggested that I go to seeveral stores and try to find an older hardware revision (there are several) or upgrade my OS. I decided to upgrade to WinXP. The drivers loaded, and the card recognized my wireless network. But, I had to re-enter my WEP key every time I turned the computer on in order to get an internet connection. I finally removed the D-link set up utility, even though I was using the WinXP Wireless Zero utility. After removing the D-link set up utility, everything runs fine. The bottom line is that the card works fine and is a bargain, but D-link tech support and documentation is lousy.
Rating: 
Summary: Great
Review: Had to download the XP drivers using windows, but once I was in a wifi area, the card automatically detected the connection with no problem. In fact, I'm online now because of this card. Worth the cost.
Rating: 
Summary: Dont Buy this if you are using Linux, WinXP, or other Unix
Review: Even though the name has not changed from previous version of the product; firmware and chipset has changed. The Cardbus adapter has no drivers in linux. Better buy a Linksys version 3 or other adapter and save time. D-Link has taken customers for granted, very very poor driver support.
Rating:
Summary: Great product!
Review: I installed this on my Dell Inspiron 8000 (ME). I did have to call tech. support because the manual will take you only so far. I was on the phone for ten minutes with tech support, clicked on my browser, and was online, with my feet up, on my living room couch. Easy, easy, easy! You can't beat the price on this card, either.
Rating:
Summary: The D-Link DWL-650 is a good card.
Review: So far this card has been working well and meets my expectations. I've been able to connect to hotspots around my area with no problems. The card was easy to install and configure.
I'm using the card in a Win2K system. I tried using it in Win98SE and it consistently crashed the system after a few minutes of connecting. With Win2k, I've experienced no crashes at all. This is my first wireless card so I don't have anything to compare to.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, but *which* DWL-650?
Review: I'll give it two stars because it kind of work under 98.
But I give it a low rating because it's not one product
and a lot of reviewer confusion seems to have arisen
because this isn't just one product... So the $100k question is:
"Yes, but *which* DWL-650 did *you* get?"
Was it the H/W revA or B card?
The revH?
The revP (or P1? Depends on whether you
check the box or the card or the CIS tuples!).
The PCCARD one or the CARDBUS one (they both exist, by the way)? And this all leaves out the "+" model. Our good friends at D-Link, as at LinkSys and SMC, seem to
take a liberal view of what a model number now means. In fact, there are 32-bit Cardbus and 16-bit PCCARD type II
variants. I've seen them shelved together at a store and
the boxes distinguish them. Though the box will say "PCCARD" or
"CARDBUS", many of the DWL-650 variants are packaged
the same save for a small sticker on the lower left corner
of the back of the box. Go to the web site, and the overall page
says these are all Cardbus, go look at the particular RevP
card information and you get a different story. Give D-Link this much credit: some other makers have completely
changed chip-sets and not announced any changes; they just tweak
the drivers. Some of the new
wireless chip-sets in the cut-rate variants of these previously
decent cards are of rather uneven quality. The problem is that it's not just one product. It's something like
4 to 6 products labelled the same or nearly identically. The same
sleazy engineers who brought us winmodems and external
controllerless modems attached over USB have gone to work for
WiFi card makers and are engaging in the
age old tricks of supporting only MS Windows OS variants, and
trying to win the race to the bottom for cost by swapping out
chips, tweaking their drivers, and not telling anyone what's in
their hardware. Want a reliable card with a known good chipset? By something
with an Intersil PRISM chipset... this is why you see
people saying "go get a Netgear card" or "go get an Orinoco
Gold". Like me, many of these people have poked at these cards
from FreeBSD or Linux and noticed the hardware changes as a
result. The PRISM chipset worked pretty well and had good,
driver support, even in freeware OSes where it was based on
drivers that had been written to the Wavelan's Hermes. I've recently been to a store 3 times for
PCI wireless cards. The third one I bought I kept. It's
a Netgear MA311. At least _someone_ doesn't jack around with
what's in the box without changing the model number in
an obvious manner. The first two cards had changed chip sets
and didn't do what I wanted at all. In the second case, the
packaging was perfectly identical to the previous internally
very different card. I'm stuck with my DWL-650 because I got
rid of the box. For those seeking PRISM card here's a partially reliable rule
of thumb based on the Netgear packaging: look all over the
box and look for a station firmware revision. Lots of PRISM2
and 2.5 cards ship with station firmware 1.3.6. Some have
1.4.9 and 1.5.6 reportedly exists. This at least might be a clue
when in doubt, though probably unreliable. Best bet? Buy a Netgear card, or buy online and check
technical specs. at time of purchase. Some sites actually
list the chipset in the card, since some manufacturers tell,
though the big box stores don't seem to have them. Finally, save yourself some trouble if you want a good,
reliable card: don't buy the cheapest thing on the shelf.
Spend the $50-$80 for a known quantity. You'll be happier
when the first one is a keeper. Don't be surprised though if you
end up exchanging... it's very common for unadvertised
changes to occur in these kinds of cards. Caveat emptor.
Rating:
Summary: Plugged in and running in 10 minutes
Review: Worked like a charm. I used the CD distributed with the card and followed the directions for Windows XP and didn't have a single problem.
Rating:
Summary: DWL-650 Works Great
Review: Installed the DWL-650 (which is a 16-bit PC Card, not 32) on a presario laptop running XP Home for use on a university network. The driver from the CD worked fine and the PC Card detected the network and configured itself automatically. The speed and range are very good. The only minor issue is that the card fails to detect the network if it is plugged in on startup; you have to eject it after startup then plug it back it in (at which point it connects to the network immediately). This might be fixed with the newer driver from the D-link website, but the card works so well I haven't bothered to update. Overall a purchase you'll be happy with.
Rating: 
Summary: Some people....
Review: Listen here.
A lot of people are complaining that the card doesn't work at all. If you're using PCMCIA Type II, of course not. This is a 32 bit CardBus...seen on newer laptops. That means if your laptop doesn't support this protocol, of course it isn't going to work!
A lot of people are saying that it doesn't work with Windows XP. That's funny, because when I put it in the slot with the D-link CD in the drive, XP installed it, configured it, and I was on the internet immediately before I knew what was going on.
A lot of people say it overheats. So did my 1.7GHz P3 laptop, but my 2.6GHz P4 doesn't. Maybe you need to check your cooling apparatii in your laptop.
A lot of people say its range is bad. I live in a two story house, and the router is located in the garage. My room is directly above the room, and even through floors the signal is strong enough, and this is directly next to a 2.4 GHz cordless with a microwave in the other room. So I don't know what you guys are talking about.
A lot of people say they are having trouble getting it to configure and install correctly. I did at first - but the trick is, if you change anything (drivers, etc), it may kick the wireless out of sync. The fix? De-install the driver and reinstall it. It'll work like a charm. Bottom line - I'm a computer nerd, but this is my first wireless networking attempt, and I'm overall happy with it. I think I'm going to do this from now on instead of running Cat-5 cabling all over the place. I bought a newer laptop just to take full advantage of this and so far I am not disappointed in the slightest.
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