If you want to add FireWire 800 to your Power Mac, upgrade maker Sonnet Technologies Inc. is offering a way with its new Allegro FW800 adapter card.
The card can be installed in any available 64-bit or 32-bit PCI slot on a Power Mac (it’s also compatible with PCs), and adds IEEE 1394b connectivity. The card features three 9-pin external FireWire 800 connections.
First introduced with Apple’s 17-inch PowerBook G4 in January, FireWire 800 sports twice the available bandwidth of conventional FireWire — up to 800Mbps. The interface has since been added to new Power Mac G4 models as well.
Sonnet said the Allegro FW800 requires Mac OS X 10.2.3 or later; the card will operate at “regular” FireWire speeds on any operating system lower than that. It’s compatible with models including the Power Mac G3, All-in-One, Desktop, Minitower and Server models, as well as all Power Mac G4s except the Cube.
Sonnet’s new Allegro FW800 carries a suggested retail price of US$89.95. It will be available beginning in June.