A Dumb Question Regarding Firewire Port On My Laptop

Atomic Marshmallow · Post by **Atomic Marshmallow** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 9:53 pm

Hi,

My apologies for the question, but I'd rather ask here where I have some anonimity, rather than ask my laptop dealer where he could think I am a right twat.

I am trying to figure out if my ASUS M6000 Ne laptop has a firewire port.
Is it the one called "1394 Port"? Could someone please enlighten me on that.

The reason I am asking is that I might need to get a Firewire Audio Interface seeing that I have run out of USB ports. I realise that I can buy a USB Hub for extra ports, but does that affect performance?

Thanks

Post by **garyb** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:00 pm

yep, that's firewire.
as to the hub thing, there is a limited amount of total bandwidth available, so while the hub itself won't have much effect on performance, lots of stuff plugged into it will.

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:01 pm

1) Firewire = 1394 = iLink (Sony). It looks like a small trapezoid connection (1/8"x1/4") usually on the laptop, and a larger (1/4"x3/8") on the client or firewire PCI card. The larger ones can transfer power too, the small ones only data.

2) For USB, I wouldn't put too many demanding devices (for example harddrive and soundcard) on the same port using a hub, but if the other devices are just mouse, USB stick etc, ie. non time-critical, you can put these on a hub.

symbiote · Post by **symbiote** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:04 pm

Yep, 1394 is the firewire port.

Not sure about USB, I try to use it as little as possible ^_^

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:08 pm

oops, some simultaneous posting

Astral Fridge Magnet · Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:58 pm

sorry wrong post!!!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Astral Fridge Magnet on 2004-10-28 00:59 ]</font>

Atomic Marshmallow · Post by **Atomic Marshmallow** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 12:01 am

Thanks for the replies so far. But are there any Firewire devices that will power up from the port only? I hear the Motu is highly recommended, but it seems to need a wall socket too. Is a firewire port on a laptop capable of delivering enough power and what brands do you recommend please?