USB 2.0 Vs. Firewire On External HDD

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Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I currently have a 24 inch iMac, and im hooking up a new External HDD.



Should i connect via usb 2.0 or via firewire?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    Marvinmarvin Posts: 15,565moderator
    You have firewire 800 so you should definitely get a drive with that. If you need portability though, a bus-powered USB drive is a good idea.
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  • Reply 2 of 3
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Trevowski View Post


    I currently have a 24 inch iMac, and im hooking up a new External HDD.



    Should i connect via usb 2.0 or via firewire?



    Firewire 800. It's WAY faster than USB 2.
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  • Reply 3 of 3
    FW has the added advantage of being peer-to-peer rather than bus-to-bus. In real world conditions, when copying data from one FW drive to another FW your computer will remain responsive because the FW drives are taking to one another and by=passing the processor. When copying data with USB drives, my MacBook becomes almost useless because the USB drives are using the processor.



    To future proof yourself, try an enclosure that has both FW and USB. I bought all my external drives without USB....which is the main reason I'm withholding upgrading to a new MB.
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