Firewire Solution? USB To Express Card Adapter Cable + Firewire Expresscard

Has anyone tried this as a possible solution for getting firewire on their macbook 13.3 unibody? In theory it would seem that you could use this USB To Express Card Adapter Cable and plug in a firewire expesscard. Anyone tried it?

http://usb.brando.com.hk/mini-usb-to-express-card-adapter-cable_p00783c042d015.h tml

macbook aluminum 13.3 2.0ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.6), linux/vista

Posted on May 5, 2009 11:02 AM

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3 replies

May 5, 2009 12:02 PM in response to dividido

Good luck trying to get this all to work. I don't think it will work, especially given that the product description specifically states what types of ExpressCard modules are compatible. I don't see a FireWire card mentioned. Even so - going through USB and all the translations would just kill any speed advantage of FireWire.

Compatible Cards:
2 Port USB Hub
4 Port USB Hub
Memory Card Reader
RS 232 Card
Printer Card

May 5, 2009 12:57 PM in response to y_p_w

Also... as they went through the trouble to specifically indicate the compatible cards, I would imagine there are known incompatibilities with other card types. None of the cards they list would have difficulty over USB. Each of these cards already have similar counterparts that are available to connect directly to USB (vs. using an express card). This would seem most useful for people that may already have express cards that they use in other notebooks so they could use them in a machine without an express card slot... otherwise I would imagine people would just get the USB versions of these devices. USB hubs can obviously connect directly to a USB port, memory card readers are also available for connecting directly to a USB port. RS232 is pretty dated and USB can easily handle RS 232 throughput. I'm not exactly sure what a printer card is... but printers generally connect via USB (or parallel in older machines)... again... very easy for USB to handle. In order for it to work with firewire, they would have to have a hardware translator built into it. I'm sure they would list firewire if it was an option.

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Firewire Solution? USB To Express Card Adapter Cable + Firewire Expresscard

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