828 MKII or 828 MKIII

[BLISS]

Trying to figure out which one will give me more outputs.

828MKII (uses only 8 I/O via ADAT) and the other 8 analog giving me only 16 to my digital board, (I wont use the spdif)

828 MKIII (uses (2) 8 I/O via ADAT) giving me 16 digitally, could I use the 8 analog to go into my board or will I lose 8 of the digital if I use the analog ?

And in either instance what is the FIREWIRE used for if there is a power cord, does it give you a better sync or something, never figured that one out.

Long story short: Since I never registered my 2408MKII a looooong time ago ( didnt know at the time, just excited to have it) Now that I have a Mac Pro tower, it needs a PCIe-424 card, though I tried to acquire one it has been tough, so I decided to go the route of the 828, though not 24 ch, just trying to see how many I can get out of one of these. 2408 has me spoiled. Gotta do what I gotta do, any help is appreciated.

[Pappy725]

The 16 ADAT do not take away from the analog lines in. It does reduce to 8 ADAT if you run at 88 or 96. HTH.
The Firewire is how it connects to the computer (unless it is the hybrid with USB also). I'd go with the mkIII. Newer is better.

Pappy