Hi kr236rk,
Dell has shipped many systems with Firewire ports on the computer. Firewire port was available on Inspiron, studio, Latitude and XPS systems.
If the Firewire port is not working, it might be an issue with the cable, port or the drivers.
If the device is not detected, connect the same device to another computer. This can isolate the issue.
Please reply if you have any further questions.