[iBook] 7200rpm drive for ibook G4

[Angus Wallace]

Hmm, that's odd.

I could've sworn that model iBook has USB2.. (?)

In my experience (I've never recorded music with more than 8-10 tracks), my
ability to record/playback is not limited by the data rate to the hard disk
(whether I use USB2 or FW), but rather is limited by the internal bandwidth in
my iBook. Granted, yours will be at around 50% faster than mine, but I suspect
your limiting factor will be your iBook's ability to shunt/process data
internally - regardless of the HD you use.

I guess the problem of daisy-chaining your soundcard to an external FW hard disk
is audio latency, so that's a no go.

One thing you should do then is go to a forum for semi-pro/pro musos, and talk
to them about the likely benefit you'll see from upgrading your internal HD.
It's gonna cost you several hundred dollars, and you want to be sure it's worth
it!! ;-)

Good luck, and have fun!

Cheers,
-Angus

ps. When you do sort something out, can you let me know how it works? I'd be
interested! ;-)



Quoting Steve H Jones <shjones at hywyn.plus.com>:

> > G'day,
> >
> > Have you considered an external hard disk? It's a lot cheaper, 
> > performance is
> > better, and you won't have to modify your ibook.
> >
> > I have this setup for recording on my 12" G4 800, and it works well. 
> > Get a
> > casing without a fan, and you should be fine. I built a 160GB external 
> > HD
> > (USB2/FW) for about AU$250 (~US$170), which is quite decent...
> >
> > Caveat: if you use an external sound card, make sure the HD isn't on 
> > the same
> > bus - my soundcard is USB, so I use the HD on firewire.
> >
> > HTH,
> > -Angus
> 
> Hi Angus,
> yes, the problem being a lack of USB 2 on the ibook and I do use a 
> firewire (Metric Halo) audio interface. Also, FW800 is a helluvalot 
> faster than 400 with external drives.
> Cheers!
> Steve
> 
>