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Does Firewire cord charge an external hard drive?

S

Slightly Hyphy

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 8, 2009
47
0
Hello,

Apologies if this is the wrong forum. Quick question: I am looking to buy an external hard drive. The description on the website says "Use your high-speed USB 2.0 port to power the mobile external drive--there's no need to carry an external AC power supply".

It doesn't specify whether a firewire 800 cord will also power the external hard drive.

Sorry if this is a dumb question as I've never had a firewire before...

Thanks ahead of time for any input
 
simsaladimbamba said:
FW800 will power a 2.5" external HDD.
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with what a 2.5" external HDD is? The hard drive I am looking at has dimensions of 5 x 3.2 x 0.8 inches. Will the firewire 800 cord power that hard drive?

Does macrumors let me post links to other sites? It would be a lot easier if I could just post a link to the product so you could let me know if it could be powered by firewire 800...
 
Slightly Hyphy said:
I'm not familiar with what a 2.5" external HDD is? The hard drive I am looking at has dimensions of 5 x 3.2 x 0.8 inches. Will the firewire 800 cord power that hard drive?

Does macrumors let me post links to other sites? It would be a lot easier if I could just post a link to the product so you could let me know if it could be powered by firewire 800...
Click to expand...

You can post links to other sites if you want, a 2.5" drive is a form factor as they call it for a mobile/laptop hard drive as opposed to a 3.5" desktop form factor/type of drive. Generally if your hard drive comes with power brick then it will not be able to be powered by anything else.
 
MacUser2525 said:
You can post links to other sites if you want, a 2.5" drive is a form factor as they call it for a mobile/laptop hard drive as opposed to a 3.5" desktop form factor/type of drive. Generally if your hard drive comes with power brick then it will not be able to be powered by anything else.
Click to expand...

Oh great! This is the external hard drive I'm researching. Do you know if I'd be able to power this external hard drive with just a firewire 800 connection?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003K4RVZU...5&creativeASIN=B003K4RVZU&tag=cnet_mp-2956-20

Thanks!
 
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waw74 said:
from the page you linked
Click to expand...

Yes I know, but further down the page it says use "your high-speed USB 2.0 port to power the G-DRIVE mobile external drive". It doesn't mention using firewire to power it...

I just wanted to verify if I can power it with FW800 before I buy...thanks
 
That's a pretty nice looking drive ... but it is a little pricey. You're paying a slight premium on that unit for the looks and design.

A less expensive option would be to buy an external case and a bare drive. It wouldn't look as nice as this drive, but to each their own.

If you go the external case/bare drive road, I would suggest using a Macally case (a little more expensive than some of the generic ones out there) and a Seagate or Western Digital drive.
 
Kuray said:
Buy LaCie one.


I assume that it is better because all Apple Store Staff is using those Hard Drives, also they are used in Genius Bar too.
Click to expand...
There's nothing special about LaCie products. Generally, they're just a marked up version of something available elsewhere for less. I believe that G-technology is a Hitachi brand, as reputable as any in the market.
 
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