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FireWire 400 v USB 2.0?

#1 User is offline   Nobody Icon

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Posted 23 January 2006 - 02:17 PM

Which is faster?
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#2 User is offline   macnuke Icon

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Posted 23 January 2006 - 02:27 PM

FW400

Article explaning why FW400 is Faster than USB 2.0
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Posted 23 January 2006 - 03:41 PM

Thanks, macnuke. I bought an external drive from CompUSA this weekend. All but one of the drives there were USB 2.0 only. Don't know if that was an abberation, or a sign of a shift in the market. I got a Seagate which is USB 2.0 and FireWire capable. So now I shall connect it with the FireWire cable. But will FireWire disappear?
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#4 User is online   mdawson Icon

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Posted 23 January 2006 - 04:31 PM

FireWire is a far superior connection technology compared to USB and it is not going anywhere. FireWire is the darling of the pro audio and pro video markets despite Microsofts attempt to have USB adopted as part of the HD standard. Unlike USB, FireWire devices can operate independent of a computer. Also, the fact that USB 2.0 has a higher bandwidth than FireWire 400 has not helped the interface outperform FW 400. Never mind the fact that most FireWire 800 devices have yet to exhaust the potential bandwidth of the IEEE 1394b and the protocol for FireWire has been designed to eventually reach FireWire 3200.
Yes, FireWire will eventually disappear, but not until a better replacement comes along. It is not as if FireWire is a platform-specific proprietary interface.
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#5 User is offline   macnuke Icon

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Posted 23 January 2006 - 04:50 PM

it's on the intel Macs.
two machines at my office have it.. neither are Macs.. one is IBM with linux and the other is a Sun with Solaris.
and FW400 is better than USB2.0 for large transfers... even tho USB2 is rated at 480, FW still outperforms it.
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#6 User is offline   MacCheetah3 Icon

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Posted 23 January 2006 - 06:28 PM

Hi
Bare Feats - How Fast Does A USB 2.0 Drive Go On The Newest Macs? How Does It Compare To FireWire?
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