jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Which is faster; Firewire or USB2..? I always thought firewire (IEEE1394) was faster, however I've just bought an external DVD R drive that has both capabilities and the spec sheet quotes:

Firewire 100, 200, 400mbs

USB 2 480mbs

Can someone clarify this and suggest which is the best to use..?

Jason

Fuzz

Firewire (1394) is 400Mbps (Pc to Pc)

not sure on USB2.0


Andy

angrynorth

Technically USB 2.0 is the quicker, but only in short bursts. It tends to report up and downs topping out at 480mbps. Firewire is a steady 400mbps and for large file transfers tends to get things done an eeeny bit quicker. Not very scientific I know

PS Firewire 800 walks over both

ScoobyDoo555

was gonna say that Firewire 800 is the way forward

USB2.0 is probably more readily available though

Dan

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Cheers guy's, in my experience firewire does get the job done quicker, just supprised by the figures.

Not heard of firewire 800, how new is it and is it backward compatible..?

Regards,

Jason

angrynorth

FW800 is quite new and is currently not very mainstream, although it does come standard on PowerMac G5's, its mainly used by video and audio pros. Backwards compatibility is a no-no as it uses a different pin connector. Unless there is an adaptor I am not aware of of course.

suba

in everyday use, both is FAST.

Scooby-Doo

Moving 10 Gb from a hard drive to an Ipod the USB2 is slightly quicker