Which Firewire card ?

[Ray Bentos]

Thanks to all who answered my recent thread.
Concerning this I'm wondering what firewire card to get. I've scoured this site & a couple of online shops and it's a minefield of opinions with prices varying from £10 - 50. I just want the card (no cable or editing software).

Also I'd like a Western Digital HDD 200GB plus. Which is best one for storing video ?

Thanks again.

RAY.

[SingSing]

Frewire card provides communication ( not video/audio ) function. Anythings go. Lowest cost is normally the norm.

[BJ_M]

ADS PYRO 1394b PCI or the ADS PYRO 64 (64 bit PCI compatible) are very high quality and trouble free .

they are one of the only cards approved for use with AVID , and as well sony vegas recommends them .... and they dont really cost more than any other (by much)

[hexxisoft]

I spent 14 dollars on my firewire card. i love it. it works great.

[SingSing]

I spent $19.00, just because it came with cable.

[lenti_75]

don't matter....the cheapest one

[BJ_M]

it matters when your using it for work (ADS is a requirement for AVID) ... i guess if it is for hobby and home ... get the cheapest ..

[J. Baker]

I believe in spending money for good quality but my $15 card works just fine with AVID, ULEAD, and others. Not saying that it's not possible that a cheap firewire card will not have any issues with these programs but I highly doubt it. It transfers information and that's all it does.

Now if I were capturing through A/V cables, I would spend some money on a good capture card.

[Steve Stepoway]

It transfers information and that's all it does.

True, but the cheapest cards seem to all use the VIA chip, while the ADS Pyro uses the TI chip. VIA has a well deserved reputation for timing problems, at least with their MoBo chip sets. Perhaps the cheapest card will work fine for you, but what's your time worth if it doesn't? Spend the extra $10 and you won't have to worry about it.

Steve

[budz]

Get a ADAPTEC PCI FIREWIRE CARD from COMPUSA. It's on sale for $20.00 after instant rebate of $20.00. I have these on my pc's with no problem. I use it for my external hard drive cases and my CANOPUS ADVC-100 unit.

[harley2ride]

Just watch for deals. I got my ADS Pyro firewire card, with Adobe Premiere 6.5 for a total of $40.00 off of ebay. I have done some capturing using my oboard firewire (using my ADS PYRO AV/LINK on both of my systems, without dropped frames or sync issues. But I usually use my dedicated firewire port for important stuff. I've seen the ADS Pyro firewire cards without software on ebay for as low as $14.00 (new in box).

[wayne421]

Be sure to check for any compatiblity issues with your external firewire devices and the type of Firewire chipset you're thinking of buying. I screwed myself once because I didn't realize the Canopus ADVC-100 didn't work with some TI chipsets.

Best to be aware of what you're getting into before spending any money.

Good luck!

W

[daamon]

@ Ray Bentos: I had a PC custom built for me (to my specs) with DV video editing in mind, and so this required a firewire card. I got all my components from www.ebuyer.co.uk and I found them to be well priced, good delivery times and good customer service.

Admittedly, this was about 3 - 4 years ago, but I can't see why they'd change - unless it was for the better.

Check them out, see what you think... Can't hurt.

[mikesbytes]

don't matter....the cheapest one

Wasn't there some sort of issue with which chipset it used? TI vs VIVA ?

[Ray Bentos]

Thanks to all who reply. Gives me options.

RAY.