Does Macbook Pro have enough power to use 1usb mobile harddrive

s1nceres1ncere
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I wanted to purchase a Seagate FreeAgent go, was wondering if the Macbookpro have enough power to power it using only one usb connection or will i need both?



If i do need both does any one know if it will be able to reach the second usb port ?





Finally if i wanted to connect it to my airport extreme would it be possible to power it using one usb connection in the airport extreme and the second (power usb connection) plugged into my printer ?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,333moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by s1ncere View Post


    I wanted to purchase a Seagate FreeAgent go, was wondering if the Macbookpro have enough power to power it using only one usb connection or will i need both?



    If i do need both does any one know if it will be able to reach the second usb port ?



    I have a seagate USB pocket drive (not sure if it's that model) and I needed to use both USB ports no matter what laptop I used and no matter if it was plugged in or on the battery. The cable did manage to stretch around a 15" enclosure though.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by s1ncere View Post


    Finally if i wanted to connect it to my airport extreme would it be possible to power it using one usb connection in the airport extreme and the second (power usb connection) plugged into my printer ?



    I don't know if the USB ports are powered. I wouldn't think so because to unmount a network drive you basically just pull it out and if it's being written to while you pull it out of a powered port, it could damage the drive. It would be handy in a few cases though because it would keep the cable clutter down but I reckon you'd need to get an optional power adaptor with your hard drive. My Seagate drive has a socket for a power adaptor.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    s1nceres1ncere Posts: 5member
    Thanks, do you know of any 2.5" hard drives that only require 1 usb cable ?
  • Reply 3 of 5
    musltngbluemusltngblue Posts: 303member
    I would HIGHLY recommend looking into and getting a FireWire 800-capable drive. I'm pretty sure that's powered, and has much faster data rates than USB. Even FireWire 400 is a good amount faster. When it comes to retrieving or writing data, you want as much speed as you can get.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,333moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by s1ncere View Post


    Thanks, do you know of any 2.5" hard drives that only require 1 usb cable ?



    No, all the ones I've seen have two connectors, one says Data+power and the other is power only. It only needs one when you plug it into any of the desktop Macs.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MusLtngBlue


    I would HIGHLY recommend looking into and getting a FireWire 800-capable drive. I'm pretty sure that's powered, and has much faster data rates than USB. Even FireWire 400 is a good amount faster. When it comes to retrieving or writing data, you want as much speed as you can get.



    Airport doesn't have a firewire port but here are some links to firewire powered devices (some have multiple interfaces):



    http://www.macworld.com/2005/05/revi...able/index.php



    Although the USB one seems slowest, it's just a 4200 drive. My Seagate is a 5400 and it seems pretty fast to me over USB.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    galleygalley Posts: 971member
    I have a SimpleTech drive that runs off one USB port.
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