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.

Apple Computer has almost single-handedly succeeded in turning USB into an accepted interface standard. Sony, Apple, and others are currently making FireWire into the industry standard for multimedia.

As competition looms, FireWire backers have finalized a plan to initially double the speed--and eventually offer eight times the speed--of the connection used to link PCs to camcorders and other ...