usb 2.0 vs. firewire

To be honest, I think USB2 would be just as fast because neither USB2 or Firewire could be fully saturdated by the transferspeed of the mini's microdrive.

In the grand scheme of things, Firewire 400 is a smidge faster than USB2. Even though USB2 is technically a little faster, if you use external hard drives that are fast enough, the IDE/Firewire converters are just a little faster than IDE/USB2 converters.

However, what I don't know is power output. I know back with USB1 vs Firewire, Firewire had greater power output than USB1, so you could charge things faster or charge more demanding products. I'm not sure if USB2 conducts as much power as Firewire and would thus charge the mini slower?

-vasu

Alternatively, you could buy a combo card, with USB2.0 _and_ FireWire.

Should be able to pick one up from your local Radio Shack.

NS2000X

Definitely FireWire. I got mine with my audigy 2 zx.

Does USB 2.0 charge the iPod/iPod mini? I heard it charges the mini, but I don't know about the iPod. I don't see why it would make a difference, but just checking.

I say Firewire, Faster/powers your ipod.

Theoretically, USB2 can have a max speed of 480mpbs and firewire 400mbps. In real-world testing, firewire was/is found to be faster. I don't know if that's still true. In technical terms, firewire is in many ways superior to USB2. In practical terms, USB2 devices are more prevalent and cheaper in price.

Originally posted by sblood
usb2 does charge the ipod mini, but I read that it will not charge the ipod, because the ipod uses a higher voltage.

I can verify this which kinda sucks. I sync to my laptop which has firewire but only a 4-pin. So I had to get a firewire to usb adapter for my 3G dock which means wire clutter (usb to the laptop, firewire to the power connector).

I just got my mini today and noticed it was charging with the included usb cable and got all excited until I hooked my 3G iPod to it and noticed it wouldn't charge the iPod. Bummer.

Also, I fully charged the mini (with the power adapter) before syncing but I didn't know the usb cable would charge it as well. I'm a little concerned the battery wasn't prepped properly since with a lot of other devices, they recommend you fully discharge the battery during your first use. I didn't get to do that because it still did some charging while it was connected to my laptop.

hey guys just for the record and a warning . . creative don't use the industry standard IEEE1394 they use um SB1394.essentially it's thier own take on firewire.

i read on this site that even audigy II doesn't work too well with ipod. I read lasdo that audigy I din't work at all with some ppl's pods.

just paying forward some info..

cya!

I think USB2 is better for one simple reason- to use the AC adaptor you need to use your firewire cable. By using USB2 you can leave your AC adaptor intact and use the USB2 cable to sync your mini. Since either one will charge the mini you can leave the AC adaptor at work and the USB 2 cable at home or vice versa.

A decent firwire card only costs about $30 bucks. As mentioned in an earlier post, Firewire is the industry standard for digital video recorders.

So get a firewire card AND a USB 2 card and you will be good to go :)

actually it has come to my attention, that the microdrive on the Mini is limited in transfer speed to something like 3mb/sec. So there is no speed advantage with Firewire with the Mini. I can attest to this, as I have both USB2 & Firewire, and Firewire is not any faster than USB2 with the Mini. In general, the Mini's transfer speed is alot slower than the regular iPod.