[X4U] USB 2.0 vs Firewire?

[Robert A. (Bob) Hall]

Will someone tell me  why I should use FireWire for an external 
Backup drive instead of USB 2.0.

I accidentally purchased a USB 2.0 instead of the Combo drive as I 
had intended. I can still return it at some coast. A good priced 
Seagate's  FreeAgent, a 5 year warrantee unit. I can use it on my 
primary desktop commuter (has both FireWire and USB 2.0) and my other 
computers (laptops) have only FireWire. I usually backup to my 
primary (Desktop), then back that computer up weekly.

I guess my real question what is the practice difference between FW 
and USB 2.0? The specs indicate transfer rates of USB 2.0 are faster 
than FireWire [FireWire 400 - 400Mbps (or 50MB/sec) and USB 2.0 - 
480Mbps (or 60MB/sec)]. However, I  seem to remember articles that 
indicated there were technical reasons why FireWire provided better 
actual throughput. I haven't been able to find such articles now.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Bob Hall
rahall at ptd.net
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