Firewire Port - what the hell???

Hi there I hope you guys can answer me this...

I have an inspiron 8600 with a port that says 1394. I also have a sony camcorder and I want to connect it to my inspiron via firewire. So I go out and buy a 4pin firewire cable and the damn thing doesn't fit, the connector is too big to fit in the socket! Both are 4pin so I don't get it...

NOw I haven't got the camcorder with me at this time to check, but I have been looking around the internet for some answers and found some vague references to dell and sony using a different kind of firewire, something along the lines of an s400 iLink specification... so I am wondering if both of the devices will fit this?

So what I am asking is, will a sony iLink s400 4pin cable fit my inspiron 1394 port?

Thanks!

PS - so much for freakin standards...

 

there's a difference between 1394 video ports and, for lack of a better term, data ports.

re: the sony iLink, you'd have to check the cable end. if it's a cable for a camcorder (and i'm assuming the 1394 port on your laptop is the video standard, i think only apples, have the 'big' 4 (or 6) pin firewire port), then you should be good to go.

 

Ok thanks man - so if the camcorder end is small, ie the cable won't fit I should be ok to use the ilink, yes?

-Lobos

 

hmm, i'm not sure what your post means, but let me try to clarify...

the standard for video 1394 is a tiny rectangle with a little indent on one of the longer sides... you can see it here...

http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/5197.jpg

it's the little port just to the left of the usb port. i believe this is the port you have on your 8600.

the 4 pin i think you have that isn't working would fit this...

http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/5172.jpg

it's not a very good pic of the PB, but you can kinda see how different the firewire port on the PB is.

you should be able to tell if the iLink cable fits from those pics.

 

I have hooked my Sony camcorder to my 9300 but you need small to small for that. I have also connected my camcorder to a phillips dvd recorder and I am almost sure that needed the large one. I have both and either seem to work given the appropriate connecter I am not sure what the extra pins do, nothing from what I have seen but they must be ment for something. In any case works great on my 9300.

I9300 2.0ghz 1.0gb ram 100gb disk 256MB NVIDIA 6800 dvd rw UXGA Bluetooth Intel WiFi Media Center

 

the extra 2 pins of a 6 pin firewire plug deliver power

 

Look I'm really sorry guys!!! I'm stupid LOL it does fit afterall, it was just tight cause I guess it is it's first use...

Sorry for wasting your time.

Maybe this can help someone though:

I have a sony camcorder and it didn't come with the " iLink Cable ", and guess what? the iLink cable is damn expensive! so I bought a generic 4pin to 4pin firewire cable and it fits and works fine and costs much, much less [ ]

Thanks for the help guys!

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Lobos