If you’re disappointed that your older Power Mac G4 lacks the new, fast FireWire 800 interface, storage peripheral maker LaCie hopes to interest you in one of its new FireWire 800 PCI cards.
FireWire 800 is Apple’s moniker for the new interface based on the IEEE 1394b specification. The interface was introduced in January with the 17 inch PowerBook G4 model and has since been incorporated on Apple’s newest Power Mac G4 revision, as well. FireWire 800 offers twice the available bandwidth of the FireWire interface found on most shipping Macs, yet it’s downwardly compatible with the older spec, too. It’s also almost twice as fast as the USB 2.0 interface that’s gaining popularity with Windows PCs. FireWire 800 supports up to 63 devices and can span cable distances of up to 100 meters — longer than the original FireWire spec allows.
LaCie’s FireWire 800 card incorporates three 9-pin FireWire 800 ports. It’ll fit in any 32 or 64-bit PCI slot, and it’s capable of supporting bus power as well — up to 18 watts per port using an optional internal power cable.
LaCie said the new FireWire 800 PCI Card will be available in late April through the company’s authorized resellers and mail order partners. The new card carries a suggested retail price of US$89.