Firewire 800 (1394b) or Firewire 400 (1394a) ?

[technext]

Friends,

Please help me out. I am a newbie here.

I have a Panasonic PVGS 15 camcorder (with 4 pin I-link port) and a Dell 600m Inspiron laptop (no fire wire port). So I am planning to purchase a PCMCIA firewire port along with a 4 pin to 9 pin firewire cable. My dilemma is, should I buy a firewire 800 card (1394b) or a firewire 400 card (1394a) ? Will there be any substantial difference in the quality of video transfer ? Cost wise FW 800 is about $ 70 whereas FW 400 is $ 20. Will it be a wise decision to invest in the 1394b firewire PCMCIA card ?

Lastly, does the company/brand name make any difference ?

Thanks in advance.

[waheed]

Speeds:

1394A: 400Mbps
1394B: 800Mbps

There will be no quality diffrence. Obviously, 1394B will be faster than 1394A. But you will need complaint 1394B equipment to take advantage of the speed increase.

1394B should be backwards campatible with 1394A.

Unless you really need 1394B, I would suggest saving your money and go for 1394A.

[edDV]

should I buy a firewire 800 card (1394b) or a firewire 400 card (1394a) ? Will there be any substantial difference in the quality of video transfer ?

either, no difference for ~35Mbps (max) DV transfer.

Cost wise FW 800 is about $ 70 whereas FW 400 is $ 20. Will it be a wise decision to invest in the 1394b firewire PCMCIA card ?

Only if you have another use for the excess bandwidth such as networking or running a 1394b HDD. There will be no difference for a 1x firewire DV transfer from a camcorder.

Lastly, does the company/brand name make any difference ?

Not much difference. Look for OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) spec for XP.

[technext]

waheed & edDV,

Thanks a bunch for your help.

Finally I have ordered a Koutech Systems PCMCIA 1394a firewire (OHCI) card for my laptop and it should be arriving sometime soon.

Appreciate your advice.