Just wanted to update with some info on my firewire setup. Not sure if this has an adverse affect but I have a standard fire wire cable with one of these on the end that goes into the laptop
Newegg.com - Cables To Go 27028 IEEE-1394a FireWire 6-pin Female to 4-pin Male Adapter
Dell has the built in 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller so I was considering getting one of these to try and see if it resolved the issue
Newegg.com - SYBA SD-EXPC34-2F 2-ports FireWire 1394a ExpressCard /34mm
has TI Chipset, but they have a restock fee and I would have to wait
Dynex™ - FireWire 800 ExpressCard Adapter - DX-ECFW
has LSI fw643 chipset which I read on other threads works well, and I can prob go to store to pickup and atleast get store credit on a return.
Just some thoughts, thanks again