External hard drive - USB 2 or Firewire?

[TBi]

Every USB enclosure I've ever seen has either required, in addition to the USB data connection, a second USB connector for power or some other power connector (power brick, etc).

I just bought a western digital external 2.5" drive and it comes with only 1 USB connection. The drive is low power enough that it can run from just this on any USB 2.0 port.

 

[jeffmc]

I just bought a western digital external 2.5" drive and it comes with only 1 USB connection. The drive is low power enough that it can run from just this on any USB 2.0 port.

i have one as well

 

[RedTomato]

Formac now have a lovely black or white 2.5'' external with USB / FW that can be had with 320GB and yes, it's SATA and 9mm tall. And not too expensive.

Disk swapping ahoy!

See my thread on this drive:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/469089/

 

[S600MBUSA]

I would recommend a combination of USB and Firewire. Having Firewire gives you the ability to be able to boot from the hard drive, which I have done once.

I can boot from a USB WD external HD with no problems. Intel Macs can boot from USB HDs.