[Closed] STW IT challenge, find me a...

[url= http://uk.hardware.info/productinfo/130134/sony-vaio-vpc-f23p1eb#tab:specifications ]Sony Vaio VPC-F23P1E/B[/url]
Boom! Bang on the 5 minutes! 😆

Edit: not sure if it is the correct Firewire tho.

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vaio-f-series/vpcf23p1e

That's 4-pin mini 1394a, not even close 😉

I use a 32mm expansion card which has 6 pin firewire. Like this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Expresscard-Firewire-i-LINK-1394a-ports/dp/B006FXV84S

Expresscard's don't count - they need external power supplies too for devices that take bus power.

Perhaps to be more explicit - even ones that provide 9 pin ports require an external 12v input for bus-powered devices.

Also 1394b FW800, that's a 9 pin port, not the older, slower 1394a which is 4 or 6 pin.

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What are you wanting to plug into it?

Just get a Mac and run windows on it?

Every time you run Windows on a Mac, Steve Jobs' ghost kills a kitten.

What are you wanting to plug into it?

Some imaging equipment. Yes, it has to be FW800.

Just get a Mac

That wasn't the challenge* 😉

run windows on it?

Part 2 of the challenge, which I've not mentioned thus far is that it needs to run linux 😉

*macs aren't ideal cos of other hardware requirements. I didn't want to make this challenge too hard, just finding the port is the thing!

PC with an expansion card? Or does it have to be a laptop?

PC with an expansion card? Or does it have to be a laptop?

Really, it's not a challenge if you change the rules ;-P

And yes, "laptop, bus-powered 9-pin 1394b, anything other than macs out there" was the OP.

I'll live with an expresscard and external power if I have to, it just seemed odd to me that I couldn't find a laptop with this feature other than macs.

*macs aren't ideal cos of other hardware requirements.

Struggling to imagine what those might be but fair enough. 🙂

I'll live with an expresscard and external power if I have to

IA I do believe you are being a little bit 0ty...
"FireWire is Apple's name for the IEEE 1394 High Speed Serial Bus."

So why would a non-Apple product contain a bespoke Apple port?

There are a number of connectors you can [url= https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=usb+to+firewire+800&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a#q=usb+to+firewire+800&client=firefox-a&hs=MBa&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=8K2xUei1CMe_0QXx0YCYAQ&ved=0CDIQsxg&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47534661,d.d2k&fp=c8099f976a9bca61&biw=925&bih=812 ]purchase[/url] though

Can you take power from a USB port?

Nope, USB supplies 5v up to 0.5A (more in some cases but we'll ignore that for now).

Minimum voltage for a FW port is 12v (spec is up to 30v) and current supply is much higher too. I only actually need 4W @ 12V though.

Struggling to imagine what those might be but fair enough

Stop trying to change the challenge rules 😉

But to appease you:
1) Can't spec a GPU with more than 1Gb vram, which is a potential issue for some GPU compute stuff.
2) no easy way to drive a pair of external displays*

*yes, I could use a dualhead2go and have in the past, but it's not ideal.

[b]Anyway[/b] the point of the post wasn't to find a laptop for my needs, but to find one with a 1394b port...

So why would a non-Apple product contain a bespoke Apple port?

Ok, so I'm using the phrase "firewire" to mean 1394b. (note I've also said 1394b though). This is just in the same way folk might say "hoover" but mean vacuum cleaner though. 1394b is not a apple specific port. I can buy desktops, desktop cards, expresscards, 3rd party peripherals all with this connector.

There are a number of connectors you can purchase though

Eh? That's a list of hard drives that take various connection types?