Dock or port replicator with firewire?

[Troels]

Hi,

I tried to search for "firewire" but it returned som mysql errors. For some reason it didn't report errors when searching for "firewir"

Anyways, is it true that none of the docks or port replicators for the T4x series features firewire?

I need a firewire connection, what do you think is the best way to get firewire on the T4x series (T42) ? PCMCIA?

TIA.

[davidspalding]

I bought a FireWire 800 PCI card for my Dock II, works great.

If you have a T43, some FireWire ExpressCard products are appearing on the market. A FireWire PC Card would certainly do the job, but frankly I'd shoot high, get 800. I'm sure it will be a worthy investment in the long run.

[Troels]

Thanks, didn't think about the PCI card possibility of the dock II
ok. i'm in a large dilemma then.

I need firewire for a FireDTV DVB-C tuner http://www.digital-everywhere.com/cms/en/index.php . The requirements are "FireWire 400 connection (on board, or with OHCI PCI/PCMCIA adapter)" .

But doesn't the PCMCIA standard limit firewire 400 extremely much ?

If i bought a Dock II i might just as well buy a PCi card with CAM module and everything included and just use a PCI riser card...... choices... choices.

[davidspalding]

I love my Dock II. It has a home for my DVD drive (a Ultrabay 2000 bay which, with an adapter, hosts any Ultrabay Slim optical drive), two PC Card slots and four USB ports.

If the riser card fits ... I suspect there's room, but without knowing the final dimensions of it....

I'm not sure about Cardbus limiting Firewire 400 (a more techy person can answer better than I), but the ExpressCard slot is supposed to be way fast, PCI-Express basically (I'm summarizing mercilessly). I have a hunch that ExpressCard is the first application of a laptop bus that would support something monstrously fast like FireWire800.

Now products will vary, but my PCI slot Fireware card from CompUSA has 3 ports, and a cord which adapts FW400 to FW800 (the FW800 port is backward compatible). The cord came with it, so it was a bargain in the long run. I can assure you that I captured 55 minutes of digital video from a Sony handycam through the card.