Let's say you just bought a new Mac. And you realize it has a Firewire 800 slot. And you have a few Firewire 400 hardrive enclosures you'd rather not get rid of.
Instead of going out and buying a new set of Firewire400 to Firewire800 cables to use with your mac and existing Firewire hard drives, this is the economical solution to your problems. Just buy this and you can continue to use your old FW400 cables and save yourself some money.
The adapter has a FW400 slot at one end where you plug in your existing FW400 cable and a FW800 plug at the other end which you plug into your Mac's FW800 slot. The adapter itself is chunky, and is a tight fit in the slot right next to my mini DP to DVI adapter but it does fit and it works.
There have been no random disconnects or data dropouts during my usage of the adapter to connect my external hard drives and transfer data to and from my mac. I have two of these and both work perfectly on my computer.
Considering the fact that other companies sell a single Firewire 800 to 400 adapter for prices ranging between 10 to 12 dollars, this is definitely a good value buy at $6.99
However, if you're looking for a flexible product that fits more easily next to your Mini DP to Mini DVI adapter, the moshi FireWire 800 to 400 adapter may be an option you should consider.
Hope this helps! elago FireWire 400 to 800 Adapter for Mac
This product worked ok, but it was so wide it prevented me from plugging a USB cable into the adjacent USB port on my MacBook Pro. I recommend the Sonnet FAD-824, which is not as wide and did not have this problem.
The elago FW 400 to 800 adapter saves a lot of space in a laptop case. I've been carrying extra cables for different situations, but this adapter enables using one FW 400 cable for both kinds of drives.
Why is it, however, that the computer designers are hellbent on crowding inputs together as closely as possible, but cable and adapter manufacturers (particularly USB flash drives) are making their devices bulkier. The one drawback with the elago adapter is the swathing of plastic wrapping the 400 to 800 connector. The elago crowds the adjacent USB ports on my Mac Book Pro so much that a flash drive cannot be used in that port when the elago is in place. Maybe careful whittling or filing would bring it down to the correct girth.
On the plus side: the adapter works flawlessly and is priced right.
I just got a new iMac to replace my 4-year-old one. I didn't know that Firewire standards had changed until I tried to plug in my 1T La Cie backup drive and the cable wouldn't fit into the port on the new Mac. Amazon delivered this adapter plug in two days and I'm back in business. It is truly plug-and-play and does not interfere with other ports on the back of my Mac (which may have more space than laptops).
The adapter that allows the use of older firewire cables with the new, smaller 800 firewire ports. It's much less expensive than replacing all of your firewire cables and provides flexibility to make any hardware adaptable.
I don't usually write reviews, but I decided to review this item cause of some of the reviews mentioning size.
I find this a great product for the price and it take as much space as a standard size FireWire plug and you should find no obstruction with this FireWire adapter!
P.S. So don't be afraid.
Thank you!
I've used firewires for years--connecting my exrenal hardrive or for putting my laptop into target mode to transfer data from my desktop computer. Bought a new MAC and the firewire end changed! Instead of buying new expensive cables, bought this end. Workes great!
I was very impressed with this adapter. I have a mac and this is a must buy for anyone that needs to capture video with a firewire cable. This is the best adapter I have used, and it offers great quality at a great price.
I used this FireWire adapter on my new iMac that will not accept the older 400 FireWire cable. The alternatives were to purchase a new cable for about $30.00 plus or to get a new external hard drive. This unit has worked very well for me at about a third of the cost with shipping and handling. On my computer, its size, which is a bit bulky, is not a problem with jacks that are next to the FireWire port. All in all, it was a very good, easy and inexpensive fix to a small but important problem. - Adapters - Firewire - Adapter - Firewire 800'
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