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BEET

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 7, 2004
88
0
Guernsey, Channel Islands
Hi.
I'm just about to buy a LACIE 250GB 7200RPM EXT FW P3 Harddrive BY F.A PORSCHE. Mistakenly I nearly bought the USB version, but a friend advised me that my powerbook would only transfer at USB speed rather than USB2.
What I want to know is if there is there such a thing as FireWire 2, if so does this transfer at 800Mbits/s rather than the quoted transfer rate of up to 400Mbits/s that the hdd I'm looking at buying?

OK I think I've got myself a little confused. I think what I'm trying to ask is: is 400Mbits/s FireWire the fastest external hdd compatible with my powerbook?

If anyone managed to battle their way through this, any held would be very much appreciated!

cheers, BEET
 

redAPPLE

macrumors 68030
May 7, 2002
2,675
5
2 Much Infinite Loops
BEET said:
Hi.
I'm just about to buy a LACIE 250GB 7200RPM EXT FW P3 Harddrive BY F.A PORSCHE. Mistakenly I nearly bought the USB version, but a friend advised me that my powerbook would only transfer at USB speed rather than USB2.
What I want to know is if there is there such a thing as FireWire 2, if so does this transfer at 800Mbits/s rather than the quoted transfer rate of up to 400Mbits/s that the hdd I'm looking at buying?

OK I think I've got myself a little confused. I think what I'm trying to ask is: is 400Mbits/s FireWire the fastest external hdd compatible with my powerbook?

If anyone managed to battle their way through this, any held would be very much appreciated!

cheers, BEET

you did not state what kind of powerbook you have.

if you have the latest pb (1,25 ghz until 1,5 ghz) you would know that you could use firewire800.

i think all the g4 powerbooks (even the g3 pismo powerbook) can use the firewire400.

if am not sure with the following point, maybe someone can correct me, if i am wrong. to get usb2 transfer speeds, you would need a "usb2 cable".

if you ask me, get the firewire model. lacie has this triple interface external hd. i got the 200 gb one, with fw800, fw400 and usb2 interface.

one last thing, 800mbits/sec is i think wishful thinking. i have not read anywhere that this is a fact. it could reach that much, but during normal use, it doesn't.
 

Sabbath

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2003
534
0
London
USB 2 would be ok if you have a revB or C alluminium powerbook but I would definitely suggest firewire. From my understanding USB 2 has a slower sustained data transfer rate than firewire 400 and also uses more processor power, (I may be wrong on this though).

If you have a 15" Alluminium powerbook you would have a firewire 800 port unlike USB and USB2 firewire 400 and firewire 800 use different connectors so you can easily tell which you have.

I would suggest just getting the firewire 400 porsche drive, it is cheaper with the same drive specs than the D2 triple interface drive suggested by the poster and in my opinion looks much nicer. Additionally on an ATA drive you are unlikely to see any benefit from the firewire 800 connection, unless you are daisychaining a few of them together.
 
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