LaCie PC Card offers multiple FireWire connections

This week the LaCie Company introduced a PCMCIA expansion card that brings FireWire 800 connectivity to older laptops. The card is expected to ship this month for Mac OS X and Windows XP. The card will bring FireWire connectivity to laptops through the PCMCIA port at speeds of up to 800 Mbps.

LaCie's FireWire 800 PCMCIA Card has two external FireWire ports and one external FireWire 400 port. The FireWire 800 provides transfer rates of up to 800 Mbps. The card is powered by internal bus power, as are each of the three ports, at up to 18W per device via an included power adapter.

The card takes up one 32-bit PCMCIA card slot. The FireWire 800 PC Card will be available this month for $79. FireWire 800 requires Mac OS X or Windows 2000 or higher, although FireWire 400 is supported by Mac OS 9.