-
why don’t new G5 Powerbooks have firewire 800
Can someomne explain to me why Apples all new G5 Powerbooks don’t come equipped with a firewire 800 port ? They have 1 Firewire 400, and 2 USB 2.0 ports
-
19 Replies
-
And it’s going to be difficult to add a FW800 port, as it doesn’t use PCMIA cards, but the new PCI express 34 cards. Has anyone even been able to find any cards available in this new standard?
Steven Bradford
-
Siig has announced cards, but they don’y appear to be out yet. I’ve been looking everywhere. If there really are new cards, then
I say good riddance to FW, hello to SATAII.
Ed -
I was discussing this very topic at work with an Apple afficianado. He indicated to me that since Firewire 800 has a different kind of connector, and has not yet been widely accepted, they opted for a more tradional (and hence more useful to more people) approach.
I then asked him “Well why only one firewire, don’t you need one for your FW drive and another one for your deck?”
His reply was somthing along the line that more people were likely to adopt USB 2 external drives and would still use the old style FW 400 for the camera/deck.
Now if anyone can support or debunk these ideas I would be glad to hear it, either way.
-
Well, for one, it leaves capturing HD material direct from a FW800 equipped camera or deck completely out of the picture. While you could have a SATA accessory card for your HD RAID, You’d also need a FW800 card for your DVCPro HD camera.
Steven Bradford
-
With the new P2 workflow, and i’m sure others like it will come out, theres no more capturing to do. So I guess it will be ok.
-
There are no G5 powerbooks. Actually, there are no longer Powerbooks.
-gl
-
Mac sucks with USB 2. I’m told that firewire is always better than USB2 for video capture/editing anyway, but apparently Mac is also much slower with USB2 than PC. Perhaps with the switch to Intel this will change. But, unless it does this is a huge drawback.
-
[BW] “Can someomne explain to me why Apples all new G5 Powerbooks don’t come equipped with a firewire 800 port ? They have 1 Firewire 400, and 2 USB 2.0 ports”
First off, they’re not G5 Powerbooks, the new name is MacBook Pro.
Second, they accept an ExpressCard so you can get one of those with a FW 800 connection on it. I have one of those for my current 17″ Powerbook that has both FW 800 and 400 ports on it.
Accepting the ExpressCard is much more flexible than just putting a FW 800 port on the machine.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.comDirector, “The Rough Cut”
https://www.theroughcutmovie.comNow Posting “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
-
I think you have a PCMCIA cardbus on the 17″ Walter. I don’t know if any one is manufacturing an ExpressCard FW800, though there probably will be one soon. I heard FirmTek has or will have an ExpressCard SATA controller.
All the best,
Tom
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 2 Editing Workshop” Class on Demand “Complete Training for FCP5” DVD
-
And SIIG has announced a bunch of different configurations, but I don’t think they’re out yet.
I know by the time I buy a MacBook, there’ll be a ton of add-ons, and the MacBook itself will
probably be 3rd generation.
Ed[Tom Wolsky] “I think you have a PCMCIA cardbus on the 17” Walter. I don’t know if any one is manufacturing an ExpressCard FW800, though there probably will be one soon. I heard FirmTek has or will have an ExpressCard SATA controller.
“
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up