USB 2.0 Vs. FireWire 400

This is a debatable topic, due to one may be more reliable than the other at times, but on the other hand the other may be more powerful in certain circumstances.

So I will start this article with outlining the facts on this topic and then I will write my personal opinion towards it to conclude on.

It is a fact that USB 2.0 can reach a higher max transfer rate (480 megabits per second), however it cannot maintain this speed at a steady rate therefore leading to an overall increase in the time it takes for the data to be transferred.  Firewire 400 is capable of reaching 400 mbps transfer speed but it can sustain this rate.

USB data has to travel through the CPU, where as FireWire is totally independent. So for large file transfers, FireWire is relatively faster and causes less energy consumption for your computer. The USB transfer rate mainly comes down to how strong a processor your computer contains, as well as how many other apps/programs may be running at the time, consuming the computer’s mighty power!

Here are some statistics of using the three connections; FW 800, FW 400 and USB.

In my opinion I personally prefer FireWire 400 due to past experiences with external hard drives, I have had many crashes with USB transfers as well as slow transfer rates when using external hard drives. I currently own a Seagate hard drive that has USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 connections, but when using the FireWire connections the hard drive does not require much power. However when using the USB connection it requires one USB connection to power the drive and another for the data transfer.

So I am sure everyone will agree that the FireWire 400 is superior because of its reliability. But if you have other opinions to express please do so in the comments below.