ADS IEEE-1394 Pyro Drive Kit
July 26, 2000
By Heidi Monson
Are you interested in getting a little more speed out of your IDE hard drive? Or maybe even a lot more? If so, the Pyro 1394 Drive Kit by ADS Technologies may be what you're looking for. Promoted primarily as a way to add storage to your PC or Mac, our testing shows that it increases data transfer rates by 27 to 30 percent.
ADS Technologies, Inc. found its niche by taking technologies available in small and high end markets and translating them into more reasonably priced products for the general consumer market. The Pyro Drive Kit is a case in point. There are IEEE-1394 external drives on the market, but not only are they costly, they actually use standard ATA/33 or ATA/66 drives inside. The reviewed product allows you to use your own drive, install it in the drive kit, and operate it as an IEEE-1394 (also known as FireWire) external device for a price considerably lower than purchasing a packaged 1394 drive.
ADS Pyro Drive Kit Specifications
IEEE-1394 compliant, including:
Hot pluggable
Transfer rates up to 400Mb/s (faster than any ATA/33 or 66 device)
Daisy chainable (up to 63 devices)
Requires Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows 2000, or Mac OS
PowerQuest DataKeeper backup software for PCs
General Specs
Enclosure Size: 7.5" (W) x 2.3" (H) x 10.8" (L)
Three 1394 ports @ 400 Mbps
Power Supply: 50 watt switching power supply
Power Input: 110-240 50/60 Hz
Cooling Fan: Ball Bearing Fan w/ dual fan guards
Safety: UL, CUL, FCC Class B, CE
Accepts almost any ATA/33 or ATA/66 drive (CD, DVD, or hard drive)
Pyro Drive Kit Description
The reviewed product was an off the shelf version, not an evaluation unit. Thus, readers can expect similar results. The Pyro Drive Kit consists of a case with an IEEE-1394 unit and the required connectors for an ATA/33 or ATA/66 drive. According to the documentation, any kind of ATA/33 or 66 drive can be installed. Also included is a power cable (not required if no other 1394 devices are attached), a 1394 cable, limited documentation, and software, including PowerQuest DataKeeper, a nice backup utility that lets you treat the drive like a tape backup. It runs under Windows98 SE, Windows2000, or Mac.
The drive kit also includes Right and Left RCA audio outputs. If you install a CD-ROM or DVD drive into the drive kit, you can play CD audio through your sound card via the RCA outputs. Some newer drives send the audio directly along with the data, in which case the audio will automatically be sent through the 1394 cable and play with no extra cables required.
True to IEEE-1394 specifications, the Pyro Drive Kit is daisy chainable, so other IEEE-1394 devices can be plugged into the back panel. (The photo above shows the three 1394 connectors that allow two more devices to be daisychained from it.) A nice touch is the stackability of the drive kit. Since most 1394 applications are external, it's a convenience to be able to place them on top of each other.
Any ATA/33 or 66 drive can be installed in the kit, including hard drives, CD drives, and DVDs.
Summary
Price:
Street:
$162 (with PCI card)
$122 (without PCI card)
+ Significant data transfer increase Low cost Excellent tech support - Poor documentation
Overall
Excellent product with a surprise extra! Data transfer rate is significantly increased when ATA/66 hard drives are installed.
Setup as tested: Athlon 700 MSI K7 Pro motherboard 384MB PC100 SDRAM HP CD-Writer 8200 Plus 15GB Western Digital WD153BA, ATA/66, 7200rpm 18GB IBM Deskstar DJNA-3718, ATA/66, 7200rpm ELSA Synergy II video card
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Are you interested in getting a little more speed out of your IDE hard drive? Or maybe even a lot more? If so, the Pyro 1394 Drive Kit by 
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