[TECH] External HD's - Firewire, USB 1.0, 2.0?

OK. I would avoid USB 1, it is really too slow for an external HD. Personally, I would go for the Firewire option, as I think it has higher sustainable data transfer rates, but I'm sure USB 2 would also be sufficient.

Think about whether you want to use the drive on other people's machines, and take that into account when choosing an interface. As for brands, etc. it's been so long since I bought anything like this, my reccomendations would be useless!

HTH

 

I have several Maxtor USB 2.0 external drives that I use for video capture, storage and editing. They aren't as large as 60GB, but I've had them for nearly two years and they've worked great, epecially considering they get a lot of use.

I think they'd work great for MP3 storage and playback.

 

I dont use any external drives, but considering your love of digital multimedia, I would recommend going with the Firewire option..

from what I have read, USB 2 is supposed to be nearly as fast as Firewire..but I havent seen any impirical evidence to support that.

Sorry I cant be of much help on brands to stay away from or use...just a little recommendation on what interface is all I feel comfortable giving.

 

It's not quite as fast, but in practical application, that difference is immaterial. Cost being realtively equal, go with the Firewire. But should the Firewire drive be considerably more, the USB 2.0 will serve your purposes assuming you're not capturing HiDef video at full resolution (and then many firewire drives aren't going to be fast enough, either).

The ones I have are even older 5400rpm drives (rather than the 7200rpm externals available now), and digital mutimedia is exactly what I use them for. I capture and edit video with them exclusively (and do so frequently).

So, it's really a cost thing. Get Firewire if it costs the same, but USB 2.0 will get the job done in a manner that will not be noticably different, and quite often at a lower price.

 

Appreciate the info Mr P...

I havent worked with FW at all, so I have a question...arent the latest digital camcorders FW compatible? or are some of them coming out with USB connections also?

I would think it would be a major selling point for FW if the recorders wont interface with usb and one was doing dig video.

 

Yeah, video cameras are Firewire compatible by and large. USB is usually not an option.

But a Firewire card can usually be had for cheaper than the difference between the USB 2.0 external drives and the Firewire external drives.

And when I went with USB 2.0 external drives, there was talk of how capturing video to a firewire drive could be troublesome if the video was coming through the same firewire card. I don't know if that's still the case (or if it really ever was).

For that matter, there exists PCI cards these days that have both Firewire and USB 2.0. That may be something to look into as far as the card goes. That way, you've got both, so no matter which way you go now, you aren't married to it forever.

 

or when you get a new mobo(as I did just recently), most of them come with both USB2 and FW..I dont have a use for FW yet...but it's nice to know that I have it if I ever need it.

I do most of my video stuff thru my ATI AIW vid card..but all I am doing is video capture and stuff like that..

anywho,,,thanks again for the info...I dont have the time to keep up with that stuff these days..

 

Wow. I didn't get either, but I guess it's been over a year since I bought my new machines. I felt fortunate to get USB 1.1... and on the front even.

 

I got a new one about 2 months ago, and not only does it have 2 FW ports, it has 6 USB 2 ports..it's a DFI AD77.

I hadn't heard anything about the manufacturer before I bought it, but it has been really reliable and easy to setup...

The 6 usb ports were nice since I was using a 1.1 hub to connect all my usb devices. now they are all plugged straight into the board..
Comes especially useful for my new photo printer..and makes uploading images from my dig camera a snap..

 

I have a Maxtor external 80Gb HD and I recomend using the firewire connection.

USB1.0 is way too slow for transfering, and USB2.0 is better, but FireWire is the best option.

 

You know, there are also external hard drives now that also have both USB 2.0 and Firewire connections now that I think about it.

But I'll say again that paying extra to get a drive that is only marginally faster (and not so much so that you'll notice) is certainly up to you. For example, at CompUSA, the FireWire 80GB 7200rpm Maxtor external drive is $229.99. The USB 2.0 is $199.99. $30 is an awful lot for essentially nothing.

And yes, I am obssessed with this.

 

too late now, but the best option is one you didn't even mention. with in the last month or two they've begun to come out with serial ATA drives (both internal and external) and serial ATA controlers.

 

I think you can assign the drive a letter, and it should always use that letter. I think you can do it like this:

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
2. Under Computer Management, click Disk Management. In the right pane, you’ll see your drives listed. CD-ROM drives are listed at the bottom of the pane.
3. Right-click the drive or device you want to change, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.
4. Click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the drive letter you want to assign, and then click OK.

But, I've not tried that, so I don't know if it remains constant in this specific instance.


As for the power issue, I put the external drives on their own separate power strip and turn it off when I'm not using it. I'm not sure why these external drives don't come with power switches.

 

Did you ever consider buying a hard drive and plugging it into an external USB/Firewire enclosure? That's a fairly inexpensive combo especially with the rebates they're giving with 120 and 160 GB hard drives. You can get a $129 160 GB drive, slap it into a $30-$60 enclosure. I'm considering doing this for a portable external solution.

 

I didn't see this thread, unfortunately. I bought an external Maxtor hard drive, 250 GB, Firewire and USB 2.0 compatible, for about $ 300 or so (I bought it in Denmark). The thing is called Maxtor Personal Storage 5000 XT and has the best "disk space per $" ratio I know of. Also, it is small (portable) and lightning-fast over Firewire (I think it might be faster than the internal hard drive of my IBM laptop (A 31 P). I tried connecting the same hard drive to the USB 1.0 port on my laptop and that is MUCH slower. So I think it would definitely be worth getting the USB/Firewire connection. They are available even for laptops which don't have it for about $ 60 or so, through the PCMCIA slot.

That's the hard drive:



Link to the official Maxtor website:

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/products/external/personal_storage_5000/personal_storage_5000xt/

Here is a detailed review of it:

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/computers/h..._5000xt_250gb_firewire_usb2_0/_review/419015/