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External Drive

T

tefleming

Golden Member
Are there pros/cons to connecting USB vs. Firewire?

I vaguely recollect hearing something about OS X being able to spin up/down firewire (better or more reliably or something) but can't put my finger on the specifics.

So, I'm asking, is there a reason to connect it FW (other than a minor speed bump?)
 
Firewire has no CPU overhead and faster sustained transfer rates. Also, some Macs (particularly Power Mac G5s) have really bad USB controllers that make them quite a bit slower than they should be.
 
Just be aware that Apple seems to be making a move to let firewire (this generation, at least) die off. They've removed it from the new unibody Macbooks altogether. The new Macbook Pros, however, have 1 firewire 800 port included, I believe. It is something to consider.
 
FW enclosures (a good one) also generally cost more. sucks, but it's better than USB 2 at least. Who knows how USB 3 will be. But I would much rather see Apple stick some damn eSATA ports on there.

what use is FW anyway these days? in the consumer realm, all video stuff is USB 2 sadly. what about the pro realm, still FW? is anyone using FW800 other than for hard drives?
 
Got it. Thx all.

(I've already got the enclosure and it's dual.) I'll leave it firewire, even though that means another wire (long story, i've stashed a bunch of items in an old crate near my computer).
 
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