External Drive

[tefleming]

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?)

 

[AstroManLuca]

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.

 

[Viper0329]

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.

 

[randomlinh]

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?

 

[tefleming]

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).