iMac 27

My new 27inch iMac is due to arrive in a week, but I'm a little confused! On my current 20inch iMac I capture HDV tapes using a miniDV to FW400 cable, and at the same time have an external HDD that's connected to the other FW400 port.

Correct me if I'm wrong, do I now get a minDVi to FW800 cable and dasychain?

FW800 is backward compatible with FW400, and you can daisy chain them, as long as the slowest device is at the end of the tree. 9 pin to 4 pin cables are available. [www.belkin.com]



www.strypesinpost.com

Strypes, in his situation, would the deck be the slowest device? I have new 15" MBP, same issue. Or would a Firewire hub be any better?

Dan

Yes, the deck would be the slowest device. But also make sure that the drive is self powered, as you don't want to tap too much power off the bus. You could try a firewire hub, but you are still working off the same bus. There were some issues about the Mac's FW800 port not recognizing DV decks (which it should), but it could also have been the result of cheap cabling.



www.strypesinpost.com

Strypes that's what annoyes me about Apple, was it that hard or costly to just add an extra FW port?

The iMac was never meant to be a professional workstation. The professional workstations for audio/video purposes are the in the "Pro" line up- Mac Pro, Macbook Pro.



www.strypesinpost.com

Those cheap SOBs at Apple also only give us a single 800 port on all of the new MBPs except the 17". Wish I would have had the extra $$ to get one instead of my 15".

Dan

>Those cheap SOBs at Apple also only give us a single 800 port on all of the new MBPs except the
>17"

The 17" has only 1 FW800 port, but it has 3 USB ports and an express card slot. I do wished they put in 2 FW800 ports instead, so you can have 2 FW drives (or a deck) running concurrently without needing any hubs.



www.strypesinpost.com

They'd still be on the same bus.

Well, not having to buy a FW800 hub and FW800 to 400 adapters, makes it a lot more convenient.



www.strypesinpost.com