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USB 2.0 -- LIVE and Kickin' for OS X?

Just heard from a buddy at the local Apple store. The word is, No, USB 2.0 won't fly with Mac currently.

Anyone else wanna chime in on this?
 
It should work as USB2 is backwards compatable with USB1. It will just be really really slow as the device will have to throttle back to USB1 speeds.
 
I really wish OS X and the new powerbooks had USB 2.0. It just makes sense to keep up with the latest hardware as Apple is doing a great job of (although the G4's life span is nearing its end with the IBM PPC 970 on the horizon). But no, the new, best of the best 17" PB's have USB 1.1. What were they thinking? I know FireWire is great and better than USB, and they've got FireWire 800 in the PB's, but still it would make sense to support all the USB 2.0 products coming out.

An HDTV device built-in would be sweet too but currently HDTV decoders are the size of cable boxes.

Mike
Waiting for a 2 GHz PPC 970 PowerBook with an HDTV tuner built-in. :D
 
No you don't need a USB 2.0 card.

However, if you do get one, make sure you get one that specifically says it has Mac OS X drivers for USB 2.0.

If you don't install the USB 2.0 drivers, the card will work only at USB 1.1 speeds.
 
There really isn't much of a speed advantage for USB 2.0 over 1.1 when it comes to reading memory cards. Most memory cards themselves are not any faster then USB 1.1 those that are are far and few between and they aren't that much faster.
 
Originally posted by MacBandit
There really isn't much of a speed advantage for USB 2.0 over 1.1 when it comes to reading memory cards. Most memory cards themselves are not any faster then USB 1.1 those that are are far and few between and they aren't that much faster.
Click to expand...
Well, CompactFlash is noticable faster when using a PCCard or firewire reader. I don't think most of the other memory cards will get the same speed benefit.

Of course how much the increased speed is worth to someone depends on the size of the cards and how many they read at a time. I'm using 512MB CF Cards and tend to have a few to read at a time, so speed matters to me.
 
Originally posted by mangoman
Can you recommend any FIREWIRE readers that read the usual 6 types of media? I want speed, too.
Click to expand...

There is no serious speed advantage with Firewire over standard USB readers. That's what I was trying to say in my last post. The speed limiting factor is the R/W rate of the memory cards themselves.

If you have to have a firewire card reader, this is a good one.
 
Originally posted by Bear
Well, CompactFlash is noticable faster when using a PCCard or firewire reader. I don't think most of the other memory cards will get the same speed benefit.

Of course how much the increased speed is worth to someone depends on the size of the cards and how many they read at a time. I'm using 512MB CF Cards and tend to have a few to read at a time, so speed matters to me.
Click to expand...

Very true. It does matter what you are doing and how much a couple minutes matters to each person individually. Also CF and I believe XD will show the most advantage though there are several different speed variants of CF cards you can buy so your mileage will vary.
 
The only difference in FireWire and USB 2 readers is that the FireWire readers cost around 3X the price of a USB 2 reader.

Apple is yet again screwing it's user base by preventing us from using the most recent and cost-effective solutions. I though we got away from the Apple Serial vs. Parallel compatibility-free days when we moved from Serial to to USB 1.1, but now we are headed in the old direction.
 
Originally posted by MacBandit
There is no serious speed advantage with Firewire over standard USB readers. That's what I was trying to say in my last post. The speed limiting factor is the R/W rate of the memory cards themselves.

If you have to have a firewire card reader, this is a good one.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the link since my USB 1.1 card reader has been bad with Mac OS X. There should be a huge difference in speed when working with the CompactFlash-compatible IBM Microdrives.
 
Originally posted by Bear
No you don't need a USB 2.0 card.

However, if you do get one, make sure you get one that specifically says it has Mac OS X drivers for USB 2.0.

If you don't install the USB 2.0 drivers, the card will work only at USB 1.1 speeds.
Click to expand...

If only, I bought a cheap NEC one and no luck with even 1.1 speeds. Just nothing.

I even installed the SIIG drivers, and it buggered my whole system up. Had to boot of a CD and do a disk first aid!
 
Originally posted by FelixDerKater
The only difference in FireWire and USB 2 readers is that the FireWire readers cost around 3X the price of a USB 2 reader.

Apple is yet again screwing it's user base by preventing us from using the most recent and cost-effective solutions. I though we got away from the Apple Serial vs. Parallel compatibility-free days when we moved from Serial to to USB 1.1, but now we are headed in the old direction.
Click to expand...

This is what baffles me about Apple. It is clear there are lots and lots of devices out there that either have or will go to USB 2.0 and will not go to Firewire. New consumer digital cameras, memory card readers, printers and scanners are going USB 2.0. More and more external drives are going USB 2.0 and dropping their Firewire ports. Those that do support Firewire charge more for the drives.

I find it hard to believe that Apple is relegating its loyal customers to second class citizen status by refusing to directly support USB 2.0. Hell, it is nearly impossible to by a new PC motherboard without USB 2.0 incorporated.

There are so many cheap USB 2.0 chips out there it amazes me they have left it off their computers while adding Firewire 800 which had almost no devices available when added and none that could take advantage of the extra bandwidth.

At least USB 2.0 is something lots of customers could immediately take advantage of with faster card readers and scanners.
 
OK. Pulled the trigger, for now...

Bought a little Lexar Media reader yesterday. Works. Good enough for now, although I might slap an Orange card in my 933 Quicksilver soon. What the heck...

Bandit and Co: Thanks for the feedback.
 
OK. I'm double posting from another thread (Sorry, Mods, delete as needed), but I bought an Orange Firewire/USB 2.0 PCI card today for my 933 tower. And an IOGEAR 6-in-1 USB 2.0 media reader.

The IOGEAR reader will be the only USB 2.0 device I own, but...I'm hoping to fill the other slots as needed. Even so, I could really use the extra two Firewire ports.

Hope this all works!

As for the Lexar reader, I'll keep it for my laptop. Why not...
 
Originally posted by mangoman
OK. I'm double posting from another thread (Sorry, Mods, delete as needed), but I bought an Orange Firewire/USB 2.0 PCI card today for my 933 tower. And an IOGEAR 6-in-1 USB 2.0 media reader.

The IOGEAR reader will be the only USB 2.0 device I own, but...I'm hoping to fill the other slots as needed. Even so, I could really use the extra two Firewire ports.

Hope this all works!

As for the Lexar reader, I'll keep it for my laptop. Why not...
Click to expand...

Sounds cool let us know how it works.
 
Working, or something like that...

Update: The Lexar reader does what it's supposed to do (I can pull data from the memory card once I insert it), but if I leave the card in the reader, the icon disappears from my desktop and I get an error message saying that the data may be damaged. It's not.

So it's working, for the most part.

Otherwise, I bought IOGEAR's USB 2.0 reader. NOW I gotta install Orange's drivers to take advantage of the IOGEAR's 2.0 speed. Problem is, the feedback on these drivers isn't too happy over at versiontracker.com. So, for the moment, the IOGEAR reader is sittin' in the box. And the driver installer is just sittin' on my desktop.

I'm 'skeered'! :D

Anyone out there actually running Orange USB 2.0 cards in OS 10.2.4?
 
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