USB2 or Firewire external harddrive?

[joro47]

I'm thinking of bying an external harddrive but i don't know if I should go for USB or Firewire. USB is cheaper but isn't Firewire quicker?

I own a Mini and it has Firewire 400 if im right.

[Unksi]

I think that the difference is so small that you won't notice it, I have used a USB 2 hard disk by Lacie, and it worked as well as the IDE drives in that machine. Also every computer doesn't have Firewire, but every should have USB these days (unless you find a computer that is 5 years old :) ). USB is also usually cheaper, so I'd go with the USB one :)

[blik]

Firewire is faster... Personally I'd go firewire...

[se7en.hu]

Firewire brah!!!

[Southern Patriot]

Also every computer doesn't have Firewire, but every should have USB these days (unless you find a computer that is 5 years old :) ).

585763900[/snapback]

Well, since you are in the Mac section, it's pretty much a given that all the computers in use here will have FireWire. Every Mac made in the last 5 years does, but only Macs made in the last 18 months or so have USB 2.0.

For the Mac mini, I'd recommend getting a FireWire drive if for no other reason than it will free up one of the USB ports for other things. It WILL be somewhat faster since the speed rating for USB 2.0 is only a burst speed. FireWire has higher sustained throughput than USB 2.0.

[McStyles]

Go for firewire a lot quicker, have a look here

http://www.span.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=20_32

They do some nice external harddrive case's and disks.

[GAM]

Don't make the decision based on USB2/FW speed, pick the connectivity that is most convenient. Heck, why don't you get a drive that supports both, that's what I did....

[Unksi]

Well, since you are in the Mac section, it's pretty much a given that all the computers in use here will have FireWire.  Every Mac made in the last 5 years does, but only Macs made in the last 18 months or so have USB 2.0.

Yep, I was just thinking about that it is an external hard drive, so he might want to plug it in other computers too. And every computer ain't a mac :). It's always up to what you will do with it and do you want to pay some extra. He stated that he got a mac mini, so theres both connections :)

[frission]

get an external enclosure and a hard drive...it's much cheaper, and you can get enclosures that have both firewire and usb2! Why limit yourself?

[raskren]

Food for thought: You can boot from an external firewire drive. You can't boot from a USB drive.

[joro47]

Thanks for the quick answers, i I think I will go for the Firewire from LaCie they have some nicelooking stuff and free USB ports are always good.

[Martog]

Thanks for the quick answers, i I think I will go for the Firewire from LaCie they have some nicelooking stuff and free USB ports are always good.

585764192[/snapback]

Great choice. The LaCie triple interface drives are a great thing. I believe they use a Western Digital Special Edition 8MB Cache 7200RPM IDE hard drive, and have three different ways to connect, via USB1.1/2.0, Firewire 400, and Firewire 800. Plus LaCie gives you ALL the cables you will ever need. USB 2.0, Firewire 400 6pin to 6pin, Firewire 400 6pin to 4 pin (for PC laptops generally), and Firewire 800 cable. LaCie makes sure you have the drive ready, plus they are more pro-Mac, as my drive was pre-formatted with Mac HFS+ Filesystem! I do notice it is somewhat faster than my laptop's internal drive (5400rpm) but if your mini has a 4200RPM, this will be leaps and bounds faster no doubt.

[dougal.s]

I have a drive with a USB connection and two Firewire connections. With the iBook I use the Firewire, but if I take it round to a friends for some reason, I use the USB on their PC.

I sometimes boot off the external drive when testing other OS's such as Linux, OS X Server, and Tiger beta. I also have a panther partition which is handy in case things ever go pear shaped.

Dougal.

[Southern Patriot]

Food for thought: You can boot from an external firewire drive.? You can't boot from a USB drive.

585764142[/snapback]

:rolleyes::

:trout::

YES YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!!! AAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! When are people going to stop spreading this rumor that Macs can't boot from USB???????:argh::

Edited April 12, 2005 by roadwarrior

[+Warwagon MVC]

Go for firewire a lot quicker, have a look here

http://www.span.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=20_32

They do some nice external harddrive case's and disks.

585763992[/snapback]

you said go for firewire a lot quicker... but the link you showed .. had usb2 beating firewire by 10 meg

[Southern Patriot]

you said go for firewire a lot quicker... but the link you showed .. had usb2 beating firewire by 10 meg

585765619[/snapback]

Yeah, but it's those "up to's" that get ya. As stated earlier, the sustained transfer rates for FireWire are higher than for USB 2.0.

That was a weird link to post though, I didn't really see much info there relating to performance differences.