USB2 vs FireWire

[whubbard]

Hello Gurus, this is probably not the most appropriate forum but it seemed like a good place to start my search. I'm looking at purchasing a webcam but am confused if I should buy a USB2.0 connection or a Firewire connection. My PC has a firewire port and I connect to the Internet using Broadband. Any advice muchly appreciated.

Many thks

[teegee420]

Unless you have your heart set on a model that only connects via USB 2.0 you might as well get a firewire webcam. What are the reasons for your uncertainty? Just curious.

[ajc53]

Research the capture cards first. Find the ones with good reviews that are external devices. Narrow your choices based on that process, then see what kind of connection you need.

Adding a type of hardware connection should be the least of your cost.
If you have a notebook computer that could be different.

You may want to take a minute and fill out the "computer profile" under you profile. It could help you get better responses.

[daamon]

Hi whubbard,

I've been using firewire for a couple of years and never had a problem. I've not seen anyone else reporting any problems either.

I've not used USB2, though I have seen some reports of problems - might be worth a search to see if you can find what the cause(s) were.

My personal feeling would be to recommend firewire... But just an opinion.

Good luck.

[whubbard]

Thanks for the reply and advice, i have upated my profile to include the PC specs.

My uncertainty comes from conflicting advice i've recieved from Computer Stores. One shop told me that firewire would be slower than USB 2.0. There doesn't appear to many firewire webcams on the market here in Australia. I've enquired with at least 10 stores about the Orange Micro IBot Pro but it appears to be like trying to find rocking horse poo.

Basically, if firewire is faster then that will be my preference.

Many thanks for any advice

Cheers

[ajc53]

You came to the right place to get good information.

I would not rely on any advice received from a computer store.

[daamon]

Basically, if firewire is faster then that will be my preference.

These links might be of interest:

USB2.0
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,68823,00.asp
http://www.intel.com/technology/usb/spec.htm

Firewire
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111068,00.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,108445,00.asp

For a webcam, either should be OK. My reference to problems (having re-read your post) was in connection with transferring from a DV cam.

Hope that helps...

[miksu]

Firewire has better real world performance. Take a look at www.anandtech.com or www.tomshardware.com

Firewire has better protocol (both high- and low-level), uses less processing power (processor time) and it is far more elegant engineering

FW-webcam is likely to be better quality, since FW is considered by many people as "professional solution". Which is of course true, since it's good for professionals too. No-one thinks USB as "pro-solution" and that's likely to have impact on products using it (read cheap and poor quality, or at least worse compared to fw-products).

[BSR]

Do you have a USB 2.0 Port?
As for a webcam, I think either would more than easily handle it.
My relative has a webcam that runs on USB 1.0.

I do like firewire better, and if it uses less resources in your computer then that's just even better.

[teegee420]

Whether Firewire is better than USB 2.0, I don't know. I was under the impression that USB 2.0 was faster than Firewire except for Firewire 800.

[Capmaster]

Whether Firewire is better than USB 2.0, I don't know. I was under the impression that USB 2.0 was faster than Firewire except for Firewire 800.

On paper USB2 is faster, but in practice, old Firewire still beats it.

[BSR]

USB 1.0 = 12Mb/s
USB 2.0 = 480Mb/s
Firewire = 400Mb/s
Firewire800 = 800Mb/s

As Capmaster said, these are the specs that each technology is capable of. What it's capable of doing on paper, and what it does in real life are 2 different things.

[lenti_75]

this il ALL nothing but about a creapy WEBCAM.....why would you use firewire for a WEBCAM ?!! can anybody tell me ? unless you want ot spend the extra money....

just use USB, don't matter if is usb or firewire, ypu will still get that crapy images, anyhow.....don't matter your webcam, all what it matter is the internet connection....and that is not as fast as your webcam.....

got it ???

[teegee420]

Chill, dude. It was a valid question.

[lenti_75]

Chill, dude. It was a valid question.

of course...but WRONG answers.....

[thor300]

You came to the right place to get good information.

I would not rely on any advice received from a computer store.

Dont underestimate computer stores, i experienced once they refered to this site, would you rely on that?

[ajc53]

You came to the right place to get good information.

I would not rely on any advice received from a computer store.

Dont underestimate computer stores, i experienced once they refered to this site, would you rely on that?

That would be some good advice.

And I am not saying you can’t get good specific advice, either. However, I would not go to a computer store and make a significant purchase without first doing additional research. Same with a car dealership, real estate agent, etc.

This is not the only site I use for product reviews. But in my opinion it is the best. And besides it can be entertaining.