I am looking to purchase a laptop in the $1500 USD range for editing on the road, but the only ones i have found that meet my specs do not come with onboard firewire. Does anyone know of PC Cards to add firewire, and if so where i can find them?

There's lots of PCMCIA cards that will add firewire capability. If you need to use Avid/Mojo, check Avid's site for a list of supported add-on cards.

newegg.com is usually the place to go for computer parts. They have good service according to user reports at resellerratings.com. You can go cheaper with pricewatch.com but with possibly more hassle.

DELL?

what do you mean by dell? IBM clone PC, yes. Dell, never.

Perfectly happy with a Toshiba 2450 myself.

Here is what I use although I have not had a chance to use it much yet.


http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?seg=HHO&coid=-26379&sel=0&rcid=-26367&ccid=1291021

The 17 inch screen is great and it has all the bells and whistles.

only problem with the toshiba is that it is $1800 and i only have $1500.

But it does look good

If you can wait until you can come up with the other $300 you won't be sorry. :)

You can wait for a hot deal on a laptop by checking out sites like http://www.gotapex.com.

For example:
Dell - Inspiron 5150 Laptop with 2.66Ghz P4, 15" TFT, 32MB GF FX Go5200, 30GB HD, 256MB DDR SDRAM for $908.65 with FREE Shipping! (Posted by: Lights)
For those of you who missed yesterday`s deal, for just $10 more, you can still pick one up. With no rebates to send in, they`ve knocked 15% off their total to bring this laptop down to just $909 with free shipping! It comes with a fast 2.66Ghz P4 processor, 15" TFT, 32MB GeForce FX Go5200 AGP 4x video chip, a 30GB HD, and 256MB DDR RAM (in 1 SODIMM, so upgrading later is easy and cheap). It also comes with a 56k modem, 10/100 NIC, Windows XP Home, and a 1 year warranty. They`re offering a free 3-5 day shipping.

Be thorough in checking out everything! I have an OLD Toshiba laptop (P3-900). Run camcorder, 120 GB drive, and DVD burner on single firewire connector. There were no bad surprises. This machine can run built-in flatscreen with video in window AND external monitor with video full screen. A friend has a newer Sony VAOIO (whatever) - won't even show ANY video on second monitor. None of this stuff showed up on any specs either! Good luck.