FireWire vs USB 2

[scottstevens]

In terms of CPU usage for an external hard disk, which is interface represents the lightest load? 400Mbps FireWire or USB 2? I am looking to put an external drive on my system for portability due to a collection of DivX movies.

 

[blah]

hey, where do you get those divx things, i want some too

..this is very useful and helpful place for information...

 

[scottstevens]

Nothing sinister unfortunately, I have captured my old vhs stuff to divx. Its all burned onto CD but it would be nice when I take the 2nd PC (laptop) away to be able to take one hdd rather than a pile of CD's (laptop only has a baby 30gig drive). The desktop has firewire - so I was thinking if Firewire delivers better performance than USB II I go for a drive enclosure with both

 

[miahallen]

Hey scottstevens,
I'm not sure about your CPU load question, but and interesting tidbit for you...if you're looking for something really portable, the have <A HREF="http://www.coolerexpress.com/usb20coex25i.html" target="_new">laptop harddrive(external)</A> that are much smaller (2.5"), about the size of a pda...they can also be powered off a laptop's USB bus, so you don't need to plug them into a wall socket. Firewire does not have this capability.

BTW, what program did you use to rip to MPG4 format, I was looking at Dr. DivX and tried the demo, seems to work pretty good, but I was wondering if there are better ones out there? It was $50 for a Dr. DivX license.

 

[scottstevens]

only hassle is, where I am, 2.5'' drives are considerably more expensive than 3.5'' drives -which is a bit of a ah heck, though I'll have another look at the proces because it would be ideal really. Dr Div is the best software I've found for the ripping, easy to use, you just set it up and it goes. If you couple it with DDDecrypter you can do all sorts of interesting things

 

[miahallen]

I assume that means, not in the states? You didn't have your bio filled in, that helps out a bit in an international forum. The link I included in my post ships internationally though, I think.

 

[scottstevens]

I should do that one day, But no, I'm over in Wellington, New Zealand of LOTR fame.

 

[miahallen]

Cool, my brother went there for the 2nd movie's primere, along with a 2 week tour of the sets, etc...
I went to Australia when I was a kid, neat country...I'd love to go to New Zealand. Good luck with a drive.