I think controller cards <B>are</B> the only way to add firewire or usb 2.0 to any computer. As for brands, I've only had experience with Koutech. I bought the card from newegg for only ~25 dollars.

I have a Sony HD Camcorder that only connects via Firewire. Problem is my new PC has no firewire ports and I don't really want to open it up to install a stand alone firewire card unless I absolutely ...

Another advantage to FireWire is that it doesn’t need a computer host, nor does it need to signal the other component that it’s “alive,” as current USB implementations must. This kind of data ...