FIREWIRE

[soimcrazy]

if I get an external writer I'll need to hook it to the PC with a firewire...right? Is that the way to go?
I have no idea what a firewire is !! How much do they cost?

What about an internal writer....how is that connected?

[Innershield]

Firewire is like USB. You will either have in built in to your mainboard or you will have to buy a card that will plug into one of your PCI slots. If you shop around you can pick up a card and a cable for around $15.

An internal drive will connect to your IDE cable just like your hard drive or cd burner.

[soimcrazy]

is firewire better than usb for an external DVD writer?

[Innershield]

Firewire is much faster than USB but it is not faster than USB 2.0. they are close to being the same. Some external drives have USB 2.0 and firewire or one or the other. Regular USB is too slow

[soimcrazy]

THANKS !!!!

so i need to look for USB 2.0 !!

[Innershield]

Either USB 2.0 or Firewire. They are both fine.

[Vintageman]

Stick to firewire it's more compatable and certain video stuff will only work under firewire.

[bnbhoha]

But also remember that most computers now have usb 2.0, so if you wanted to take the drive to your buddys house, you could easily plug it into his usb 2.0 port. Most people don't have a firewire port in their computer. You can get a usb 2.0 card, if you're computer doesn't have one, for around $10

[soimcrazy]

I just bought a new Dell Demensions 4600, so it should have the USB port, yep...2 of them in the front !!

[Innershield]

It might not be USB 2.0 though. It might be USB1.1. You need to check.

[soimcrazy]

owners manual says 2.0 !!

good to go !!

[redwudz]

If you are looking to get an external box for an external burner, you should opt for a combo box with both Firewire and USB2 ports. I can tell you for a few bucks more, you won't regret it. It will allow your box to be much more flexible and work with different computers now and later. USB2 on paper is faster, but that depends on the particular USB2 system and setup. Firewire has a better track record for compatibility.

[trhouse]

I have a Sony computer which comes standard with iLink ( their name for Firewire or IEEE1394 ) and usb2.0 ports. I have both Firewire and usb2.0 peripherals like external hard drive, capture device, etc. I see no real advantage of one over the other. The difference is that there are far more suppliers of periperals for usb and they cost less except in the world of dv camcorders where the standard computer interface is 1394.