External USB Hard Drives

[Jumpmunki 0]

is a usb 1.1 or 2.0 connection to an external hard drive any good?

i am wanting to store video on it and edit it from that hard disk.. then save it back on there

is usb worth bothering with? what is the transfer speed like etc?

or shall i just bite the bullet and spend £200 on a firewire 160gb hdd?

cheers in advance

a quite puzzled

Wayne

[Glipazide 0]

If ya have the cash go Firewire. I have a 80gig 7200 rpm hdd internal and Premier runs fine on it.
But im a speed freak when it comes to my PC. If it isnt on my screen when I click, its trash to me.

http://sexygirlabs.com/url]

[Deuce 1]

I just got a Maxtor 120 external USB2. The stats say that the USB version has a higher total capability of transferring data.

Anyhow, I like it just fine.

[billvon 2,995]

USB 2.0 is faster at the physical level than Firewire (480mbps vs 400mbps.) Most real-world tests give Firewire a bit of an advantage over USB - 15 to 30% faster. This is due to the additional overhead that the USB host-hub-device architecture requires.

I have a USB 2.0 drive and I've never had a problem with it. It will capture video without a hiccup, and that's as fast as I need it to be, so I'm happy.

[Jumpmunki 0]

i'll have a look at usb then!

cheers for the quick replys fellas!

[MissMelly60436 0]

i say USB. for compatability, cost effectiveness, and for what you'd be doing there would only be about a 2-3 min difference (maybe less). if you're gonna be working with LARGE files, like multiple gigs, then consider firewire. the speed difference is pretty negligible for what you'd be using it for. (imo) of course.

mel

[nbblood 0]

I've got 2 USB hard drives, an 80gb and a 120gb. My USB ports are 2.0 and they smoke. I copied 50gb worth of stuff from one hard drive to another in a flash. Firewire's great too, but the USB hard drives work great.
Nathan

Blues,
Nathan

If you wait 'til the last minute, it'll only take a minute.

[MagicLou 0]

If your computer has USB 2.0 ports then a USB 2.0 solution will be virtually the same as a IEEE-1394 (Firewire) connection. If you only have USB 1.x then 1394 is the ticket.

The real difference will be cost. External 1394 drives are usually more expensive than USB 2.0

I assembled my own external drives using a standard drive (Western Digital WD-2500JB) and enclosures from startech. (Bothe USB 2.0 and 1394.

Either solution works great. The real advantage for my USB drive is that I can use it whith my laptop that only has USB 1.x ports and no 1394

Lou
___________________________________
. . . now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb - Dark Helmet

[gary350 0]

Quote

If your computer has USB 2.0 ports then a USB 2.0 solution will be virtually the same as a IEEE-1394 (Firewire) connection. If you only have USB 1.x then 1394 is the ticket.

I would add that even if your PC only has USB 1.x, it can be upgraded to USB 2.0 for $13 if you have a free PCI slot.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

200 quid sounds steep for a firewire HD.
I got a case, and two 80 gig drives at chrimbo for 100 quid, albeit in a sale.

I'd go firewire, you can chain the camera directly on the end of the drive, your going to need a firewire interface for the camera anyways, why chew up another PCI slot and go through all that IRQ hassle?.

For what its worth USB2 is fast enough for video editing, but not many cameras come with USB2 connectivity, nearly all come with firewire. Standard USB is useless for full frame, full resolution editing.

You can get brand new firewire cases and pop in whatever drive or device (eg DVD burner) you feel like. If I were you I'd buy a bare case, then stick in about 80 gigs, sub 100 gig drives are cheap and plentiful as everybody else is upgrading to larger discs. In terms of storage, you'll get about four minutes per Gig, so an 80 gig drive will store 4 hours for you.

Check out www.datavision.co.uk
ADS do a nice external housing too.

If you are a laptop user you may want to find a drive that could be powered from either the firewire output (big type connections) or via a USB line.

PM me if need to chat any further, I've been using external drives for a couple of years.

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson