Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

murdoc158

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 8, 2007
217
1
West Bend, WI
Hello everyone. My 24" iMac should be here next week, and I just need to know one thing (for now). Is the firewire 800 port powered? The reason I ask is the external HD enclosure I purchased requires it's own power supply. I planned on using the drive to transfer files from my PC to my Mac. So if the firewire 800 port is powered I can leave the power brick attached to my PC, and have the iMac power the HD. As always thanks in advance. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I've learned on here just reading through some of the threads.
 
Yes, the Apple FW800 ports have the power leads. The juice is kind of limited, though; some drive/enclosure combinations run off FireWire power fine, others need a little more oomph and you're still chained to the power brick.
 
My two cents...

I believe that most 3.5" external drives require their own power source, while most 2.5" externals are bus powered.

:)
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.