are all firewire cards the same?

[tompallc]

hello to everyone. i just ordered a dv camera (canon zr60) and now i need a good firewire card but i dont want to spend too much. I am mainly using it as a pass through to convert my analog stuff. is there really a difference between "cheap" cards and expensive ones? besides the obvious number of ports and accessories of course. thanks.

[bugster]

It eother works, or it doesn't. If it doesn't work, return it. It certainly has no effect on the 'quality' of the capture. Buy a cheap one.

[kazzer]

Yes they are basically all the same. The main difference you will find is that they are either bundled with really good software or really crap software.

[geek rock]

what do you need software for? all the firewire card will do is enable you to connect your camera to your computer. for the capturing software, there are plenty of free/cheap programs available online that will do it.

[Hardcoreruss]

Check ebay, you can pick one up for around 10-20 which would cost you 50 in the high street.

[Poppa_Meth]

Just saw a belkin 3 port firewire card at Wal-mart for $30. Thats not a bad price considering no shipping and ebay hassle.

[Jester700]

Newegg has a few choices around $20. I have a "good" one - TI chipset that came with my Studio DV software. And I have the $15 Newegg cheapo. Never noticed a difference in my rig.

[turk690]

There is a chance (very slim, but nonetheless present) that you will get a universal host controller interface (UHCI)-type FireWire card with many of the closeouts and bargains going on all over, brick&mortar and online. This type of FireWire card is OK for connecting such things as external HDDs, but NOT for a digital camcorder. For that you WANT an open-host interface controller (OHCI)-type FireWire card, preferably with drivers for your OS.