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Review on StarTech Com FireWire Adapter Editing PCI1394B_3 by John Jones

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Three Stars - Internal Components

This product worked fine for the most part, but I had an odd problem with it. I installed the card in what I consider to be a standard PCI slot. However, the card goes out of the slot. I didn't add much at first, but the results confirm the problem. The two Firewire 800 inputs work fine, but the one I really need for the video device, the Firewire 400 input, doesn't work at all. A techie I consulted, and who understands computers much better than I do, suggested that the contact part of the card that sticks out of the slot is the part that powers the 400 input connector. I've only heard from " PCI" slots/cards and "PCI-Express". The engineer came up with a name for the card "PCI Extension" and said he had never seen it. The card is clearly designed for a longer slot than mine. I know the difference between PCI and PCIe. My computer is a brand new custom build. I'm wondering if there is more than one type of PCI? I want to buy the right card but I don't know how to do it. Me don't see anything in the PCI card specs that indicates different lengths, so I tried a cable that goes from Firewire 400 to 800. My video transmission device connected to the 800 input is "seen" by the computer, but the various video programs rams that I have display all the messages that indicate something is wrong. Haven't tried recording video with it yet, so I don't know what I'll be getting, but after seeing reports that the quality could be questionable, I'd like to get a proper card rather than messing around with a patch. Enter a fix. If anyone knows more about this I'd appreciate some advice.

Pros
  • Computer Components
Cons
  • Style 90