[iBook] external drive: USB vs. firewire

[Ben Chong]

On Sep 21, 2005, at 9:48 AM, R Hefner wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I am looking into getting another external drive for my iBook--- 
> can't really afford to upgrade the internal drive and I don't think  
> I could manage a DIY on it.
>
>
> Besides speed are there other advantages to a firewire drive?
>
>

Speedwise, firewire is probably faster. The USB protocol is not made  
for fast mass storage transactions.

Also, if you are looking at 2.5" USB drives, there is the  
consideration of power. In my 1.33GHz and 1.2GHz 12" iBooks, the USB  
ports are not made equal. Only one port (one next to the firewire  
connector) is really capable of powering a 2.5" USB hard drive. The  
firewire port has no trouble at all driving firewire-capable 2.5"  
drives.



--
Ben
http://www.svgeek.com