lappys and firewire

[toastygoodness]

is it just me or is it impossible to find a $1000-or-less lappy with firewire?

the reason i need firewire is for audio recording to connect to my echo audiofire2.

you guys know of any lappys that have firewire?

thanks a bunch!

[pentium]

Re: lappys and firewire

What's wrong with buying a PCMCIA firewire card?

[ratdude747]

Re: lappys and firewire

dont a bunch have 1394 4pin built in? i see it on laptops all the time... or do you need 6 pin?

otherwise, get a pc card or the like for it.

[Scenic]

Re: lappys and firewire

yeah.. PC Card would be the cheapest option.

otherwise.. i remember that a lot of Sony Laptops had Firewire built in. however.. a lot of the still-useful ones (Pentium M and above) have problems with dead mainboards..

[stj]

Re: lappys and firewire

firewire400, or firewire800 ?

if it's full-rate then i suspect only apple will make them - if at all.

[toastygoodness]

Re: lappys and firewire

lol most lappys don't have card slots anymore either :-(

just fw400. expresscard was pretty popular like last year but now i can't find them either.... so weird....

six or four-pin don't matter, the interface has its own p/s.

here it is: http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/Fi...ire4/index.php

btw, thanks for all the help guys, you guys are amazing

[bgavin]

Re: lappys and firewire

If your interest is sound cards, etc, make SURE to get the Texas Instrument chipset as your FW foundation. My research showed significant latency and other big problems with non TI chipsets.

[toastygoodness]

Re: lappys and firewire

yeah thanks for the fast reply.

i know which expresscard i'm getting if i can find a lappy with EC. most lappys should have TI chips, since via pulled out a while ago. i currently have a gigabyte ga-ma770-ds3 so i've got a nice tsb fw chip in here. at least an old acer my buddy has (1.5 years old) has a ti chip in there.

[stevo1210]

Re: lappys and firewire

I thought firewire was standard on all laptops these days? (except netbooks).

Because even my 5 year old Dell Inspiron E1505 and even older 7 year old Toshiba Satellite P25 has firewire...

[mockingbird]

Re: lappys and firewire

What!? All the lower end laptops have firewire, or at least they did...

If your interest is sound cards, etc, make SURE to get the Texas Instrument chipset as your FW foundation. My research showed significant latency and other big problems with non TI chipsets.

Laptops only use TI chips... Or at least I've never seen one with a VIA.

[toastygoodness]

Re: lappys and firewire

I thought firewire was standard on all laptops these days? (except netbooks).

Because even my 5 year old Dell Inspiron E1505 and even older 7 year old Toshiba Satellite P25 has firewire...

yeah, they used to........... now i can't find one :-(

[ratdude747]

Re: lappys and firewire

usb sound?

that might be a better alternative...

firewire seems to be a dying interface. usb seems to have taken over almost every port...

[toastygoodness]

Re: lappys and firewire

can't. the only usb audio interface i know of is either e-mu 0404 or tascam ul144mk2. both cut out at random intervals (not predictable at all) and only reset when the asio driver's reset. usb sucks for audio, no matter what. even usb3 isn't supposed to have the right specs. plus i'm not gonna go out and spend another $260 that i've already spent.

not only firewire is dying; seems like pcmcia/expresscard too.

[mockingbird]

Re: lappys and firewire

not only firewire is dying; seems like pcmcia/expresscard too.

Expresscard certainly is not dying. These days you can even get Phillips-based SAA713x based tuners. And they really pass through the PCIe unlike the fake expresscard tuners which simply route everything through USB.

[mockingbird]

Re: lappys and firewire

Also, Newegg has a large selection of PCMCIA/Expresscard firewire cards:

Newegg PCMCIA Firewire
Newegg Expresscard Firewire

Good luck.

[washu]

Re: lappys and firewire

Dell Studio 15 and Latitude E5400 both have firewire and are well under $1K. Don't know what chipset, but I assume TI.

[toastygoodness]

Re: lappys and firewire

Expresscard certainly is not dying. These days you can even get Phillips-based SAA713x based tuners. And they really pass through the PCIe unlike the fake expresscard tuners which simply route everything through USB.

no no no no, you misinterpret. i've already found the cards themselves. lemme rephrase it: the SLOTS are dying. they are nowhere to be seen.

[toastygoodness]

Re: lappys and firewire

Dell Studio 15 and Latitude E5400 both have firewire and are well under $1K. Don't know what chipset, but I assume TI.

Hmmm sounds interesting. Thanks for the find!

I only wish it weren't Dell but at least its a Latitude.

[stj]

Re: lappys and firewire

they are probably not fitting the slots because of the stupid obsession with trying to make laptops thinner (and easier to break).

give me a nice chunky thinkpad or satellite-pro type machine anyday.
who wants a laptop that looks like a sheet of thick cardboard!!!!

[toastygoodness]

Re: lappys and firewire

well, found out it can't be a dell.... ironically from an amazon review, the guy was complaining about the audiofire not working until he noticed that dell used via...