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bballe336 · 10:50 PM

So MacNN always seems to be able to help me out with my questions and problems, so here I go again.

I just got my MBP and it's a great machine, unfortunately it only has 1 firewire port. This poses a bit of a problem because my ipod and current external hard drive are both firewire, and I also need to plug in another firewire cable to capture minidv footage. Every firewire hub I have seen has gotten terrible reviews. So I was wondering if this hub is decent and won't cause me any stupid problems. I am willing to pay the high price tag if it works reliably.

My next question is about getting another external hard drive. right now I have a 500gig WD mybook external and am very happy with it, I'm looking to add another drive and can't decide between another WD mybook or an OWC Mercury Elite Pro Aluminum. The deciding factor would be what drive is inside the OWC, does anyone know what brand of hard drives they use?

And my last question is about ADC connectors, it is possible that I may be given a display with an ADC connector. I know that with those the power, usb, and display image all go through one cord, so can I get a DVI adapter and use the display?

Thanks for all the help!

slpdLoad · Jul 2, 2007, 10:20 PM

Remember that you can daisy-chain Firewire, so if one device is plugged in, you can plug another device into the first one. For example you could plug your camera into the second port on your external HD. Also, if you have a FW800 port as well as 400, you can get an adapter to go from 800 to 400, giving you a second port.

bballe336 · Jul 2, 2007, 10:50 PM

I don't want that though, I'd like the hub because it isn't a pain in the ass. It gives me a central point to plug in firewire devices. Thanks for the input though.

kretara · Jul 3, 2007, 09:39 AM

I have a IOGEAR 6 Port Compact FireWire Hub for my laptop and it works OK.

For my desktop I have NewerTech miniStack V2 FireWire/USB2.0 Enclosure that I put a 400gb hard drive in. It currently has 3 external firewire enclosures (consisting of 7 hard drives in all) daisy chained through it with no problems.

shifuimam · Jul 3, 2007, 11:07 AM

Buy a hard drive separately from an enclosure. Buying a Seagate drive will get you a five-year warranty. Stick it in an enclosure you like that gets good reviews and has the specs you need (FireWire 800, eSATA, whatever you need...).

You're ripping yourself off if you buy a ready-made external hard drive.

bballe336 · Jul 3, 2007, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by shifuimam

Buy a hard drive separately from an enclosure. Buying a Seagate drive will get you a five-year warranty. Stick it in an enclosure you like that gets good reviews and has the specs you need (FireWire 800, eSATA, whatever you need...).

You're ripping yourself off if you buy a ready-made external hard drive.

I've looked in to it and it's the other way around. Buying the WD externals is cheaper than buying a WD drive and putting it into a high quality enclosure. I also refuse to buy anything but a WD.

bballe336 · Jul 4, 2007, 07:20 PM

Can anyone actually answer my questions?

Thanks for any help.

mduell · Jul 4, 2007, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by bballe336

So MacNN always seems to be able to help me out with my questions and problems, so here I go again.

I just got my MBP and it's a great machine, unfortunately it only has 1 firewire port. This poses a bit of a problem because my ipod and current external hard drive are both firewire, and I also need to plug in another firewire cable to capture minidv footage. Every firewire hub I have seen has gotten terrible reviews. So I was wondering if this hub is decent and won't cause me any stupid problems. I am willing to pay the high price tag if it works reliably.

My next question is about getting another external hard drive. right now I have a 500gig WD mybook external and am very happy with it, I'm looking to add another drive and can't decide between another WD mybook or an OWC Mercury Elite Pro Aluminum. The deciding factor would be what drive is inside the OWC, does anyone know what brand of hard drives they use?

And my last question is about ADC connectors, it is possible that I may be given a display with an ADC connector. I know that with those the power, usb, and display image all go through one cord, so can I get a DVI adapter and use the display?

Thanks for all the help!

Originally Posted by bballe336

Can anyone actually answer my questions?

Thanks for any help.

I don't know anything about that hub, but here's a fairly well reviewed FW hub for $30. It also happens to have a few USB ports, which your MBP isn't exactly flush with. If your iPod supports USB, you may want to consider switching it to a USB cable; USB tends to be faster with the chipset used in the bilingual iPods anyway.

No idea, they probably just slap it whatever's cheap and available at the moment.

Yes, a DVI+USB+power<->ADC adapter is available for $100.

bballe336 · Jul 4, 2007, 10:29 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

I don't know anything about that hub, but here's a fairly well reviewed FW hub for $30. It also happens to have a few USB ports, which your MBP isn't exactly flush with. If your iPod supports USB, you may want to consider switching it to a USB cable; USB tends to be faster with the chipset used in the bilingual iPods anyway.

No idea, they probably just slap it whatever's cheap and available at the moment.

Yes, a DVI+USB+power<->ADC adapter is available for $100.

Thanks for the help. Although 2 out of the 9 reviews say that hub died fairly quickly. I am going to go ahead and buy the belkin.

Thanks.