Ordering the cam...now what 1394 card?

[AudioVideoMaster]

I'm about to order a Sony trv25 minidv camcorder this weekend. (YEAH!!)

Anyway, I need firewire card suggestions from everybody.
I already have Premiere, so software bundle isn't important.

Will any old cheap firewire card do? I and a few others will be using it for capturing the DV video from our shoots, so it will need to take the loads of use. Is it worth paying for the Pinnacle ones?

TIA!

[bb]

The firewire cards are all basically the same. Look for an OCHI compliant one. And for the lowest price you can get.

Not all firewire cards have three plugs (but for your camcorder you need just one ;) ).

By the way: we have a search function on this forum. You could easily find threads like

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37337

or

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32854


bb

[AudioVideoMaster]

Actually, I did search and read those two threads before I posted. It was just I believed my question was a bit different, in that, I was searching for specific cards. Like I saw a generic combo firewire/USB 2.0 card on ebay for $39. And I was wondering if that was a good deal. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2079878773

Then I saw the SIIG Firewire cards at Best Buy $79.
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11008721&m=488&cat=521&scat=1751

I guess I needed to be more specific in my questioning.
:rolleyes:

Can anyone recomend either of these?

[OvERaCiD23]

the only thing you need to worry about is if the card is OCHI compliant. find the cheapest OCHI compliant card, and buy it. if all you're using it for is DV transfer, you should find one for $30-$50. if you need more ports, prices rise. it's just like USB, the brand doesn't make a noticeable difference and you get the same use. try www.newegg.com, www.thenerds.net for cheap prices. haven't purchased a 1394 card from them, but i've found many items for ~$20 cheaper on those sites (and very fast shipping for both of them, get the stuff in 3 days with ground shipping!).

[atreides93]

Try to get one that has the texas instruments chipset...I was able to use my cheap SIIG firewire card in Linux as well as windowsXP...

[AudioVideoMaster]

Ok, thanks for all of the advice. Much appreciated!

[theReal]

When you get a cheap card (which is what I would do) then make sure there's a good cable included. A friend of mine once bought a card that came with a 5cm long cable (that is about 2 inches, for our American friends :) ). Needless to say it is pretty hard to connect a camcorder to a PCI card with a cable like that...
If you have to buy a firewire cable seperately, it will often cost a fortune (I've seen one for 50 Euro recently, that's crazy!)

[AudioVideoMaster]

Well after all the suggestions and comments I finally ordered this firewire card from the nerds.net for $27. Click link to see it.

http://www.thenerds.net/productpage.asp?c=52&pn=330168&sd=&d=&m=WESTERN+DIGITAL

According to the western digital site this card comes with a 6pin/4pin 6 foot cable (~2 meters) and is OCHI compatiable. The picture shows that it only has two ports but the WD site says it has 3 ports. I only need one port right now anyway.