Firewire, or SSD USB

Zulu

Hi folks,
hoping for some tech advice, and I guess this is the most appropriate forum.

I have a 250GB SSD on my laptop, which I use for games & work. Suffice to say, this drive is quickly filling, so I'm looking at getting an external drive. I have a few 500GB USB2 drives which are fine for bulk storage, but they're slow at transferring libraries & large media. So I was thinking of utilising my firewire...

Would anyone have any recommendations for a slimline 500GB external firewire drive?
Would a firewire hd be comparable to an SSD USB drive? (better or worse) I'm pretty sure I don't have USD3 ports, so...

Clearly an SSD Firewire would be ideal - like sh1t off a shovel, but they are well outside my budget (absolute max of €250, would like to spend around €150)


Any help, advice, opinions welcomed.

ED E

TBH, I'd stream it. Run all my music off of gMusic now, thats a big load off. External hdd is gonna be limited by its own R/W speeds, which typically can be quite low(as most people buy them for backups).

Any option to put in a NAS? If you have wireless N that could be a neat solution(ensure only N devices are connected when booting files over).

Zulu

This is for "on the go", at home I've no space issues. I'm all NAS'd up and using a desktop.

marco_polo

Slight longshot but there isn't an ESata port on the laptop by any chance (Lenovos generally seem to have them but I think most manufactures don't)?

If so an eSATA HDD caddy would be comfortably the fastest option and a caddy would much cheaper and easier to get your hands on than a Firewire one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Icy-Box-Ib-318stus2-b-Aluminium-Interface/dp/B001KWDOOQ/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1332342294&sr=1-5

Zulu

marco_polo wrote: »

Slight longshot but there isn't an ESata port on the laptop by any chance...

Thanks for the input.
Sadly there isn't
It's a Dell Alienware M11x, in terms of ports, it has:
External Chassis Connections
(1x) IEEE 1304a (4-pin) Firewire Port
(2x) SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Ports
(1x) Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Port with PowerShare technology
(1x) Display Port
(1x) RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet
(1x) HDMI 1.4 Audio and Video Output
(1x) 3-in-1 Media Card Reader
(2x) Audio Out 1/8" Ports
(1x) Audio In / Microphone 1/8" Port (retaskable for 5.1 audio)
(1x) Security Lock port

Note: the above is taken from the website today. I got mine a year ago. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have 2xUSB 3.0 ports.

vibe666

you could get a seagate goflex portable drive.

i have one myself and its very handy as the connector is removable and swappable with other types of connector, so you can have adapters for firewire, usb2, usb3 or esata (assuming you have a powered esata port) and just pull out the little bit at the end and swap it over with something else so you aren't tied to a single format.

there's several different base station type connectors as well, some of which offer network connectivity, multiple drive bays and all sorts of stuff and the inner connector that is visible when you remove the dongle pice is just a standard internal type sata data and power connector from the 2.5" hdd so you'll never be totally stuck.

marco_polo

Actually since the Dell only hasd a 4-pin Firewire connector, it would not be able to supply power to an external devices like a portable HDD anyway, so even if you did track down a caddy it would need to have a external power adapter, much like current 3.5" external drives do, so it wouldn't be portable.

Only 6-pin firewire ports can supply power to an exernal device in the same way that USB 2/3 can.

Zulu

Thank you very much! Good catch. Thanks. That sorts that one.

...now I just need to determine if I maybe have a USB3.0 port.

Monotype

Quick way to check is if they are blue.

You can buy express cards for USB 3 ports.

Zulu

Monotype wrote: »

Quick way to check is if they are blue.

You can buy express cards for USB 3 ports.

What? The inside of the port is blue?

marco_polo

Zulu wrote: »

What? The inside of the port is blue?

Yeah the inside of a USB 2.0 port is usually black and USB 3.0 blue .

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2012/03/why-you-should-insist-on-usb-3/img_3543-2-1280x1024.jpg

Zulu

Dammit so, I'm kinda snookered.
USB2.0 only ports, and 4 pin firewire - so I'd need a powered ext hd.

marco_polo

Zulu wrote: »

Dammit so, I'm kinda snookered.
USB2.0 only ports, and 4 pin firewire - so I'd need a powered ext hd.

No you can still use USB 2.0 2.5" portable drive without external power, only if you were looking to use the firewire port would you need external power.

You could get a hybrid caddy like this, which ought to give you the best of both worlds, self powered USB 2.0 connectivity, with the option of using 4-pin FW 400 with an external power source.

The unit has a AC adaptor which should do the trick when combined with a 4 pin to 6 pin FW 400 cable (not included) .

http://www.dabs.ie/products/startech-com-2-5in-usb-firewire-enclosure-6PDJ.html

Zulu

Sorry that wasn't very clear of me. I know I don't need power for USB2.0 (I'm currently using this lacie drive) but the transfer speeds are quite slow, and I was hoping to get a similar drive in terms of physical size & capicity, but with much faster speeds. (if you catch my meaning)

vibe666

Zulu wrote: »

Dammit so, I'm kinda snookered.
USB2.0 only ports, and 4 pin firewire - so I'd need a powered ext hd.

i'd definitely recommend having a look at the seagate goflex portable to keep your options open.

i have the 2.5" 1tb one, usb powered, but you can swap out the lead and the end section of the drive for separate firewire, usb3, esata connectors in a couple of seconds, depending on what your needs are.

it will allow you to use what ports you have now to make the most out of it, but still allow you to upgrade later without ditching the whole thing.

marco_polo

Zulu wrote: »

Sorry that wasn't very clear of me. I know I don't need power for USB2.0 (I'm currently using this lacie drive) but the transfer speeds are quite slow, and I was hoping to get a similar drive in terms of physical size & capicity, but with much faster speeds. (if you catch my meaning)

If you got the enclosure above you could either take the current drive and and put it in the new enclosure or buy a new 2.5" if you prefer. It is not a portable Firewire solution, it woud just give you the option of firewire connectivity if you are somewhere you can plug it in, with USB 2.0 to fall back on the move.

marco_polo

Thought of one further option, you could possibly use something like this to power the HDD while using the firewire port for connectivity, but without knowing the type of connection the power adapter uses I'd be only guessing at which is compatible.

http://www.amazon.com/3-5mm-Barrel-Jack-Power-Cable/dp/B003059FAI

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB2TYPEM-Barrel-Power-Cable/dp/B003MQO96U/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_c

http://www.amazon.com/5-5mm-2-1mm-Barrel-Power-Cable/dp/B00304DZ7I/ref=pd_cp_e_0