There are a lot of laptops that can be purchased with a ExpressCard slot, just get an ExpressCard Firewire card. ExpressCard 2.0 is a the new updated standard and has a raw speed of 5 Gbit/sec. It is backwards compatible with current ExpressCard modules and ExpressCard 2.0 cards will work in 1.0 slots.

Got a PCMCIA slot? Or is that just sooooo 1990s now? But yes, my newly built BEAST Pc didn't come with FW option by default, and I forgot, or didn't even consider it wouldn't (larf!) so it hasn't! Mind you it's got USB 2 and 3 and eSATA on back AND on the front so more than covered there. Could I put an eSATA to FW dongle on the front?

Grazie

I wouldn't miss it frankly. My laptop has a firewire port, and incredibly stupidly, the one thing that port won't do is capture HDV video. It will capture SD and work with firewire hard drives, but no capture of HD video will work. Not just my laptop either. It's a common chipset used by lots of laptop manufactures. As it is, I have no use for it. I would give it up in a second for a USB3 port.

Laurence : I would give it up in a second for a USB3 port.

Of course you are correct. During my transistion period of SD>>HD ; miniDV Tapes >> CF Cards I do still have a need to use VidCap and f/w. I can always still use my old MONSTA! pc for this and "other" purposes.

But yes, times move on. For each of us it's just where on that long and winding road we is . . or isn't!

Grazie

Grazie, as I anderstand from your previous postings, you are using an ASUS P8Z68-V Pro mother board (as do I).

That board has two IEEE1394a port connectors. It needs an optional adaptor which fits in one of your slots at the back. (See page 2-25 of the users manual). Getting the adpator will probably be your easiest option.

Willem.

Willem, you STAR-man you!!

See, I don't know what I've got. User manual at the ready . . . . Ah - ha!! Thar he be.

Cheers

TAXI!

Grazie

Hah!

No need for : TAXI!

Just called my builders and they are sending me a f/w port with 2 more USB ports for a rear slot for . . FREE!

Cheers

Willem

Grazie

"Macbook Pro ?"

Just be aware that the Firewire 800 ports may not work with a lot of Firewire 400 devices. This is not something unique to the Macbook Pro. Firewire 800 is supposed to work with 400 but on my old system it rarely worked, thankfully the firewire card also had a 400 port which always worked.

Bob.

I just checked Toshiba. None have firewire ports. 72 models have USB 3.

Dell doesn't allow you to shop by that type of feature, only by the main features. I had to look at them one at a time to find out. Many of them offered USB 3.0 Module option via optical bay, but I didn't find any with firewire although to look is really difficult with Dell.

HP has a bunch of them with USB 3, but no firewire that I saw.

An adapter is the answer.

John

Anybody know what adapters are available?

I have a PreSonus Firebox audio input device which works fine with even my old desktop PC but produces occasional glitches with my (now old) HP laptop. (The tweaks suggested by the manufacturer did not completely fix the problem.)

I had planned to get a newer and faster laptop when a strong case for it arose, but now it looks like I might have missed the boat. Maybe I should just ditch the Firebox completely rather than store it in my cupboard waiting for a rainy day. One of the latest Zoom offerings is probably the way to go.

A lot of Top of the line laptops even eliminate all expansion slots. Alienwares don't have them ( only 18" one has it ) , Asus G7 gaming line doesn't have them, some Sagers, and these are all $2000 + machines with excellent screens and speed.

Looks like HP elite with their dreamcolor display is the best bet as you get everything, but it's about $4000 - $5000 when you go for the best options.

Mac books pros are not bad machines, but you are paying almost a $1000 more for something that's not even as good as above mentioned Alienwares or Asus. I don't think a firewire port is worth that much. HP at least gives you a real display ( 10 bit compared to 6 bit on macs and most other laptops ), so for that $5000 at least you get to laugh at everybody else with their wimpy 6 bit screens.

My Sony F series laptop has a mini Firewire jack on it. It's pretty old - purchased in April 2011. :)

i7, 7200 RPM disk, does a pretty good job with Vegas 10.

Just be aware that the Firewire 800 ports may not work with a lot of Firewire 400 devices.

That is a known Windows problem. No problems on the other side of MBPs (not for me with a lot of FW gadgets, not for others that I know).

If money is no object, and you want a super-hot laptop for editing, with integrated 1394:

CybertronPC Triumph TNB1191C Notebook PC - Intel Core i7-950 3.06GHz, 12GB DDR3, 1.5TB HDD, Blu-ray Player/DVDRW, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M, 17.3" Full HD, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

[edit]It seems that many Lenovo notebooks still have Firewire:

Lenovo ThinkPad T410 2522-25U Notebook PC - Intel Core i5-540m 2.53GHz, 4GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, 14.1" WXGA, Windows 7 Professional 32-bit

Yep! Most of these laptops have dropped the Express Card as well. No good options other than going the desktop route!

No surprise in this economy though. Hell, they shrunk the packaged salami from 16 oz to 14 oz while holding the price @ Safeway. I guess the laptop manufacturers had to cut corners as well.

Mark

I've had variable reliability with FW800/400 adaption.

It seems Lenovo have no current models offering FW.

I sure hope my salami doesn't shrink......

"That is a known Windows problem. No problems on the other side of MBPs (not for me with a lot of FW gadgets, not for others that I know)."

That's not our experience. Both older Apple computers and the latest Macbook Pros will not communicate with at least the Sony J30 VCRs using the Firewire 800 ports on the computer with the appropriate cable. That's using FCP. I'd have to run some more tests to be 100% certain but I'm pretty sure the same problem occurs with other VCRs as well.
Never a problem with them or my Windows PCs communicating with disk drives. This has become a considerable problem with the Macbook Pros as they only have a Firewire 800 port.

One way around the problem on both platforms is to go 800 to external disk and then from disk to VCR.

Bob.

Just when you thought it was safe to buy USB 3…

http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/

http://www.intel.com/technology/io/thunderbolt/index.htm

Maybe Syba will make a $20 Thunderbolt to Firewire 400 adapter.

[/remove tongue from cheek]

This thread inspired me to look at laptop USB3 adapters again. I have been using tiny 1 terrabyte USB3 drives for projects lately, but only with my laptop's USB2 ports.

Anyway, I found and just ordered one of these:

http://www.buy.com/prod/startech-com-2-port-flush-mount-expresscard-54mm-superspeed-usb-3-0/q/loc/101/221894646.html

I called StartTech and they told me that this adapter puts out about the same amount of power as a regular USB2 port, so it should be able to power the drives just fine. I like this adapter because nothing is sticking out and it looks like I can leave it in the machine all the time.

No surprise in this economy though. ****, they shrunk the packaged salami from 16 oz to 14 oz while holding the price @ Safeway.
==========================
Marcus,

Good news, I found you a solution:



John

Not missing Firewire here at all. I have two USB 3.0 ports that are lightning fast.

@WillemT:

"That board has two IEEE1394a port connectors. It needs an optional adaptor which fits in one of your slots at the back. (See page 2-25 of the users manual). Getting the adpator will probably be your easiest option."

I also have an ASUS motherboard with IEEE 1394a port on the board. I have tried to find the adapter in question with no success. (Tried ASUS, Egghead, and general Googling around.)

I'd appreciate a pointer to such a beast. Sounds like Grazie got lucky.