Quote:
| Originally Posted by Narked@50 Most are now USB 2, (as opposed to 1) which is actualy quicker and more versatile than Firewire which is now rapidly falling out of fashion with newer technology. |
Depends on the application. USB works better for occasional (fast) data, where as firewire is generally better for sustained transfers (as you'd get in mass storage devices).
Although firewire is slower on paper, i've got an external USB2/Firewire combo case with a fast hard drive in, and it is significantly faster using firewire than USB - its to do with the way it sends the data, less overhead on firewire.
In reality, the differences are pretty much academic - although I know my drive is faster on firewire, I only know that because I tried a benchmark on it. Otherwise i'd never have known.
The biggest thing that puts me off USB2 is their marketing. Not a particularly good reason you might think, but they really are out to con people with in in my very honest opinion. My dad bought a USB scanner late last year, marked "USB 2" in big writing on the front of the box! Great eh, nice fast transfer from the scanner! Well, no! In small writing underneath it says USB 2 Full-Speed! Again, seems about right, if it's full speed then there's nothing to worry about there is there? You'd think not! It later emerges, after some digging, that Full Speed isn't "full" at all, and in fact is basically USB1 renamed (which I can only assume is for the purposes of deception!). You need Hi-Speed USB to be fast!
David