Firewire, also known as IEEE 1394 or iLink, is a fast connection that allows you to transfer the video from the video tape to your computer and vice versa. Many recent computers (all the Mac computers) have this port on their motherboard.
Firewire Port : There are two types of firewire connections: 4 pin and 6 pin. Firewire ports are usually 4 pin on camcorders and laptops and 6 pin on desktops and external firewire hard drives (Mac laptops also have 6 pin connection.)
Firewire Cable : You need this cable to connect your camcorder to your computer. Cables are available for 4 pin to 6 pin, 6 pin to 6 pin and 4 pin to 4 pin connection. Check your firewire ports before you buy a firewire cable.
Firewire Card : If your desktop does not have a firewire port onboard, you can buy a firewire card for only $20-30. They usually come with a 4 pin to 6 pin firewire cable. For laptops you should buy a PCMCI card with firewire port. These are cards are a little more expensive
External Firewire Hard drives : As it sounds, these are external hard drives that are connected to the computer through a firewire port. Although they are a little more expensive, they are an excellent options for video editing (especially for laptops that do not usually have fast and high volume hard drives.) They have two firewire ports, so if you have only one firewire port on your computer, you can connect your video camcorder to the hard drive and hard drive to your computer. You can also bring your projects from one computer to another with these hard drives.
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