Firewire card question?

[Spunjer]

my pc didn't come with firewire port, and i'm thinking about adding an aftermarket for my upcoming video editing project (using a dvcamcorder as analog capture). i'm totally clueless about firewire cards. i went to ebay and there were bunch of them that were super cheap, notably the VIA chipset. are they pretty much all the same, or is there something that i need to look for? thanks in advance...

[tekkieman]

Pretty much all the same. Check your local stores. They're cheap ~ $15-25.00 Some are combo USB2 and Firewire.

[DVD_Ripper]

Some of those combo's are great especially if your machine only has 1.1 USB ports. I have seen those as high at $49.00 at the stores. I bought a 4 port firewire card a few months back... with cable for about $25.00

[Treebeard]

card w/ cable $10 enter coupon code 'pricewatch' for free shipping
http://www.acortech.com/.sc/ms/dd/1081989155763388/9/nc/Controller%2520Cards--Firewire...20PCI%2520CARD


i have ordered from this place a few time w/ no problems ever.

[Spunjer]

thx for the head's up!

stupid question; if they're pretty much all the same, why the price discrepancy (number of ports, usb2/firewire combos aside)? i mean i saw a three port generic card a third of a price compared to belkin or iogear.

i just don't want to buy a super cheap one and ended up screwing my pc; or am i being too paranoid?

[Treebeard]

thx for the head's up!

stupid question; if they're pretty much all the same, why the price discrepancy (number of ports, usb2/firewire combos aside)? i mean i saw a three port generic card a third of a price compared to belkin or iogear.

i just don't want to buy a super cheap one and ended up screwing my pc; or am i being too paranoid?

w/ brand name your usually buying the name, package, software. cheaper brands usually dont have much coming w/ them, just card and standard software. thats my opinion. Im very satisfied w/ the cheap card I bought for $13 and it had software/cable.

[rallynavvie]

Branded also sometimes use better chipsets like the TI chipset. I bought a cheap FireWire card for my laptop since I wasn't worried about its occasional use, but for my PCs without FireWire I bought Adaptec cards. If you see a cheap one with the TI chipset that should work fine.

[stiltman]

While doing my research for a combo card, I found that cards with the ALI chipset were having problems. I didn't see many problems with the VIA chipset. i ended up getting a PPA combo card for $22.99

This is the card I got
http://www.ppa-usa.com/product_pages/usb/1578.htm