Upgrading Macbook Pro Firewire port from 400 to 800

[tyzer]

Hi,

First post here.

I've just ordered the macbook pro, and this will be my first Mac, and i have a question to do with the firewire port on the macbook.

By now we all know the firewire port has been downgraded to firewire 400, and for me that could be a bit of a problem. I am a photographer and i need to be able to download my photos which can be a few hundred at a time as quickly as possible.

So what i am wanting to know, is it possible to buy some sort on expansion card that will give me firewire 800 for me to transfer files from my Canon EOS 1D MK II N as quickly as possible, any speed increase for me is important.

How much will it cost? and where can i buy it?

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[iGary]

FW400 should be plenty speedy.

I have no issues with it and have downloaded about 55,000 image in the last 5 months.

Don't sweat it.

 

[AP_piano295]

yeah firewire 400 is very fast I dont think you'll have any issues there.

 

[Ensoniq]

There's no way you're going to be able to modify your Firewire 400 port to 800 ... the Intel chipset doesn't support it at all. However, you could get a Firewire 800 card for the new ExpressCard slot if it's really that important to you.

I would agree with others though that Firewire 400 should be more than fast enough for your needs. FW800 is more important when transferring video files than with photos.

 

[robbieduncan]

I would imagine that an ExpressCard/34 FireWire 800 card will become available. I've done a search and I can't find one yet though (there is an ExpressCard/54 one though).

 

[dblissmn]

If you check the Compact Flash database at RobGalbraith.com, you'll see that even FireWire 400 is far more bandwidth than current CF or SD technology can provide. Even with the very top of the line cards -- such as SanDisk's Extreme -- you're probably talking a maximum of about 12 megabytes a second from the best card reader and a megabyte or two a second below that on cameras that support the latest CF standards, namely the Mark II Canons and the D2X and D2HS from Nikon.

 

[tyzer]

Thanks guys for the tips, its much appreciated.