Using a Laptop Computer to Operate Prosilica's 1394 cameras.

There are a number of issues and considerations to be aware of when operating a Prosilica camera on a laptop computer...

Prosilica cameras source power through the firewire port of the camera. On a desktop computer, this power is generally supplied by the computer (6-pin firewire port). Most laptop firewire ports are 4-pin ports (missing the power lines completely). Apple ibook and Powerbook laptops are able to source power to Prosilica cameras, but we know of no others that do. So, in order to power the camera, you need either a powered hub, an externally powered cardbus adaptor, or a powered adaptor cable. We recommend the adaptor cable since some hubs do not perform reliably (a DC power supply is also supplied). Contact Prosilica for additional information.

Also important is the fact that some laptops cannot handle high-speed isochronous data on the built-in firewire port or on the cardbus port. This is particularly true of cheaper consumer-grade laptops. Laptops often have lack-luster data throughput because they have been optimized for battery life, weight, and size -- not data throughput. Customers are encouraged to use high-performance laptops for imaging applications.