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LindenPlinden · Mar 9, 2001, 08:35 AM

What is the difference in performance (and quality) between USB and Firewire external CD-RW for a G4 PB? Is Firewire dramatically faster than USB? any other issues to consider? Any opinions / advice?

Cipher13 · Mar 9, 2001, 09:04 AM

Oh yes, there sure is a difference...
USB is 10Mb/s - FireWire is 400Mb/s.
USB is awful really - slow, buggy... FireWire is very cool.
Very fast and stable.
You pay more though for it. But it is WELL worth it.
USB isn't even realistic for burners.
You can't burn above 4 X for data, or 2 X for audio, even if the burner is rated higher.
Get FireWire.
If I may recommend the Yamaha CRW8824 FireWire, its the best there is (unless you go to the next highes Yamaha - the 2100).
Yamaha are the best.
But, its not very portable...

Cipher13

poocat · Mar 9, 2001, 09:11 AM

ok...

well, if you have the money, firewire burners are faster.
usb burners, despite their bad rep, do actually work fine.
i have one, and although i usually only burn @ 2x, it works like a charm.

and why did i buy such a burner?
easy. it was the cheapest one i could find.

am i happy w/ it?
absolutely.
(does this mean i wouldn't love a 12x burner? no. but... i'd love a lot of things i don't have...)

just a thought.

poocat.

schwank · Mar 9, 2001, 09:48 AM

We have a usb cdrw at work and even though its a 4x burner we can only burn at 2x reliably because the usb cant keep up with it.

I have a firewire one at home and it burns at 4x VERY well (thats as fast as mine is)

gambit-7 · Mar 9, 2001, 09:53 AM

Firewire is much better, more reliable. That translates to more CDs burned and less coasters made. I have a Que 12x10x32. Awesome burner. Haven't had any issues with it (now that the burning software has been updated for it, including Apple's Disk Burner).

tooki · Mar 9, 2001, 11:19 AM

This topic has no right to be in the PowerBook forum. Moving to peripherals...

tooki

PeteWK · Mar 9, 2001, 12:04 PM

Well, let me give you an example. I just purchased a Predator CD-RW made by iomega (It uses a Phillips Drive). When used with USB it operates at 4-4-6 or 4X Write, 4X Rewrite and 6X Play. When you use the Firewire adapter (not out as yet) it will operate at 8-4-32. Firewire is better if you have it but having a dual external is of benefit if you need to transfer the drive between a computer that has firewire and one that only has USB, as I do. If that's the case, give the Predator a look. Beware that it costs about 270 bucks and the adapter will run an extra 80. That sounds like alot, but then the Sony Firewire goes for 350 straight up.

Pete

LindenPlinden · Mar 9, 2001, 02:52 PM

Thanks Pete. I was thinking of getting the Iomega Predator and that was the reason I asked about USB as that seemed to be it's main weekness. I guess if it can be converted to Firewire without problems that would be ok. $80 seems pretty steep though just for an adapter...

Chimpmaster · Mar 9, 2001, 05:21 PM

JUst a question on that predator drive...

Are you happy with it?

Ive finally got enough cash to buy a burner, although not quite enough to buiy a firewire one (Ive got around $550 AUS which in terms of purchasing power is about $300 US).

I need a portable drive so the predator looks fantastic and with the otion of upgrading to firewire later on, it seems like the best option!

But, is it stable, and easy to use?

PeteWK · Mar 10, 2001, 12:21 AM

Hi Chipmaster. I just bought the burner on Tuesday and I've yet to set it up. I'll have the thing going on Sunday and I'll repost and let you know what I think. From the outside, it looks very nice, has a good spec sheet and is fairly small for a CD-RW. I will say that it might be a tad larger than the picture makes it out to be. But compared to what else I've seen, it does fit in my Powerbook case rather nicely. Plus, I've had excellent fortune with iomega. That was a major selling point for me.

PeteWK

PeteWK · Mar 11, 2001, 08:51 PM

I'll give the Predator high marks. It works great though I think I'll have to up the disk cache in order to utilize the 4X speed for writting CDs.

PeteWK

digires · Mar 12, 2001, 06:44 AM

I have used both USB and firewire burners side by side. There are just so many problems with USB even aside from the speed that I would say the small amount of extra $$ you pay for firewire will be made up in the end in terms of time saved and less tylenol consumed.

My USB burner is an Iomega Zip CD. It is sooo slooowww, not even close to 4x when burning directly from my g4 cube...

-John

PeteWK · Mar 16, 2001, 12:09 AM

Originally posted by digires:
I have used both USB and firewire burners side by side. There are just so many problems with USB even aside from the speed that I would say the small amount of extra $$ you pay for firewire will be made up in the end in terms of time saved and less tylenol consumed.

My USB burner is an Iomega Zip CD. It is sooo slooowww, not even close to 4x when burning directly from my g4 cube...

-John

I've been successful in getting my iomega Predator to burn at 4X without a hitch. All I needed was to increase the disk cache from 2mb to 8mb. No coasters as yet. My guess is that the Predator uses a different mechanism from the Zip 650 drive and so is a newer, more reliable (and expensive) drive.

PeteWK