Topic: FireWire (1394) And Maxtor 160Meg Disk Is Here! (Read 3444 times)

KingSparta · « **on:** March 26, 2002, 02:29:15 pm »

Well I Got The Maxtor 160Meg FireWire Drive, And I Also Bought The Maxtor FireWire (1394) PCI Adapter Card

Using Windows XP Pro, It Seems All the drivers are built in since I did not need the Installation disk, and it set up the drive as External Drive.
I Copied Some Files To It To See If It Worked And Then Ran Them - Every Thing Ok

This Was Really Easy And If You Plan To Expand Your Drive Storage I Would Recommend The Fire Wire Drives Since There Is No Switches (Master, Slave, Cable Select) etc... Just Plug And Play.

I Think This Puts Me At 34|PLS|80|PLS|80|PLS|100|PLS|100|PLS|160 = 554 Gigs And Should Give Me Space For Another 40,000 Mp3's

Since I Have A 3 Month Membership To EMusic I Plan To Take Advantage Of It At The Same Time testing Out MJ's Download Manager And MJ.

Severian · « **Reply #1 on:** March 26, 2002, 02:34:06 pm »

I got two questions for you, King:

1) How much $ were these marvelous devices/where did you get them, and

2) What On God's Green Earth Is The Deal With Capitalizing Every Word. Are You Afraid You'll Miss One?

--Severian

KingSparta · « **Reply #2 on:** March 26, 2002, 02:42:04 pm »

>> 1) How much $ were these marvelous devices/where did you get them, and
A Bbit Under $500 I Think, The Wife Is Paying The Bills So Who Cares... (Really I Beged Allot)

>> 2) What On God's Green Earth Is The Deal With Capitalizing Every Word. Are You Afraid You'll Miss One?
It Is A HandyCAP, You See I Was In The Military, And I Was Hit In The Head With A 155MM Artillery Round, So Ever Since Then I Have This Need To Cap Every Word. I Have Beeen To Many DR's And As Of Yet There Has Been No Help. One Of Them Sugested That The Caps And The Shift Key Be Removed From The Key Board, But It Is Such A Nice Key Board I Could Not See Removing Them. And How Would I Ever Use Some Of The Other Functions That Require Said Key.

So I Am Sorry But I Do Think It Is Much Better Than All Caps.

>> Are You Afraid You'll Miss One?
Yes, Thats Why I Always Re-Read My Messages 3 Times To Make Sure I Get Everyone.

KingSparta · « **Reply #3 on:** March 26, 2002, 02:45:46 pm »

>>And I Was Hit In The Head With A 155MM Artillery Round,

Well, at least you didn't lose any teeth trying to set fuzes without a wrench, like another moron XO in my Bn.

dragyn · « **Reply #4 on:** March 26, 2002, 02:48:46 pm »

Maxtor HDs are solid. The one in my car is the original for over 2yrs..still going strong.

I think I may need to check this one out though. I need more space.

Smiler · « **Reply #5 on:** March 26, 2002, 02:49:13 pm »

YEP
Firewire is really cool and very easy in XPPro. Only 80gigs here yet but filling it up nicely.

Scronch · « **Reply #6 on:** March 26, 2002, 03:08:36 pm »

King, eMusic just announced that all files are going to 256 kbps, so you get to start over now.

Oh, wait, it seems I'm kidding. As zev says, "a joke".

500 bucks is a bit steep for my needs right now. What are the prices of smaller firewire drives, say 20GB, 40GB, 60GB, 80GB? Any recommendations on an online source for them?

Thanks.

Scronch

KingSparta · « **Reply #7 on:** March 26, 2002, 03:18:12 pm »

FireWire Drives

Maxtor Had The Largest

60, 80 & 160 Gigs
http://www.maxtordirect.com/searchcat.asp?search_id=3

60, 80 & 120 gigs
http://www.westerndigital.com/products/FireWire120GB.asp

TJZJ · « **Reply #8 on:** March 26, 2002, 04:29:51 pm »

I have been using my IEEE external drive that allows me to very conveniently replace my 160GB harddisk; much like replacing an audio cassette, into the external casing. Only difference now is that I'm inserting over 40,000 songs at a go instead of a meagre 20|PLS|; welcome to the 21st century! I'm able to also loop numerous other external drive together if I wish to expand on my library.

Looking forward to the day when 1.0 TB harddisk is made available (and affordable). Thousands of VHS music video tapes just waiting to be converted to digital.

KingSparta · « **Reply #9 on:** March 26, 2002, 04:32:00 pm »

>> Looking forward to the day when 1.0 TB harddisk is made available
soon

i would think it will be a matter of 2-3 years

NY40Male · « **Reply #10 on:** March 26, 2002, 05:01:07 pm »

hey um King..i got the Maxtor 40gig USB 2 hard drive when it
first came out..and its the nuts too..got the USB 2 adapter
card which really does make a difference...using the drive
mostly to backup my work files from work to home..
but indeed Maxtor external drives are da nuts
good luck with yours

elpaolo · « **Reply #11 on:** March 26, 2002, 08:30:09 pm »

just scored a maxtor 120 gb hd. usb 2.0. backwards compatible. like one said before, very "solid" and easy to install...for xp at least. recognized it right off the bat and started moving files in a jiffy. soooo excited to have a dedicated jukebox for all my files.

Harry the Hipster · « **Reply #12 on:** March 27, 2002, 12:30:12 am »

TJZJ (and others):

I'm a hardware rookie working out my expansion options. Are the response times significantly slower with an external hard drive?

Thanks....HTH

Scronch · « **Reply #13 on:** March 27, 2002, 12:51:28 am »

The weak link in the external drive chain used to be the i/o port. But with firewire (IEEE-1394) and usb2, you will not notice any appreciable difference versus an internal drive. In fact, the drive data transfer rate should become the dominant factor.

Here are some speeds from http://howstuffworks.lycoszone.com/firewire2.htm :

FireWire vs. USB

The key difference between FireWire and USB is that FireWire is intended for devices working with a lot more data -- things like camcorders, DVD players and digital audio equipment. FireWire and USB share a number of characteristics and differ in some important ways.

Here's a summary:

As you can see, the two are remarkably alike. Implementing FireWire costs a little more than USB, which led to the adoption of USB as the standard for connecting most peripherals that do not require a high-speed bus.

USB 2.0, released in 2001 and becoming popular in 2002, is designed to offer performance similar to FireWire. USB 2.0 has a maximum data rate of 480 Mbps. Given that their speeds are now roughly identical, the big difference remaining between FireWire and USB 2.0 is that USB 2.0 is host-based, meaning that devices must connect to a computer in order to communicate. FireWire is peer-to-peer, meaning that two FireWire cameras can talk to each other without going through a computer.

There is also a proposed firewire follow-on standard, P1394b, that aims to be 2 to 8 times faster than 1394. A good discussion can be found at http://www.genitech.com.au/LIBRARY/TechSupport/infobits/firewire_vs_usb.htm .

Scronch

charles · « **Reply #14 on:** March 27, 2002, 04:19:49 am »

someone posted here a site for a $75 enclosure for a disk that made a regular disk portable and did both USB 2.0 and Firewire. But the link aint here anymore. Anyone catch it or know where to get this?

Mr.X · « **Reply #15 on:** March 27, 2002, 07:19:03 am »

Never saw the post, but here is a product like you suggest:

Deltron Technologies

http://www.deltrontech.com/Firewire/Enclosure/NoteBox.htm

Don't know the price...

Trelane · « **Reply #16 on:** March 27, 2002, 07:27:48 am »

Addonics also makes 2.5" and 3.5" drive enclosures (USB 1/2 and FireWire). See http://www.addonics.com

Mike

NY40Male · « **Reply #17 on:** March 27, 2002, 11:22:38 am »

on that firewire and usb comparison chart.
the USB 2 spec is comparable to Firewire
and USB pales in comparsion
the USB 2 Data Transfer rate is like 480megs
as compared to 12 megs for USB 1
you will notice the difference with a USB 2 adapter card

Quiet · « **Reply #18 on:** March 27, 2002, 03:07:01 pm »

KingSparta, Is your Maxtor 160 totally quiet? If you are in a quiet music listening room can you hear the disk seeks during quiet music passages?

starflyer, NY40Male, Dragyn, Smiler, others, same question regarding your USB 2.0 Maxtors, etc.?

I use to hate those LP clicks in very quiet passages. Most hard drives make some seeking sound, but you have to be in a very quiet environment, and no cpu fan, to hear this.

KingSparta · « **Reply #19 on:** March 27, 2002, 03:14:09 pm »

>> KingSparta, Is your Maxtor 160 totally quiet?
You Really Can't Hear It

Maxtor Drives Are normaly quiet anyway.

Scronch · « **Reply #20 on:** March 27, 2002, 05:23:38 pm »

MY40Male: Read the text of the article along with the chart, e.g. "USB 2.0, released in 2001 and becoming popular in 2002, is designed to offer performance similar to FireWire. USB 2.0 has a maximum data rate of 480 Mbps."

I think the most interesting difference is "Given that their speeds are now roughly identical, the big difference remaining between FireWire and USB 2.0 is that USB 2.0 is host-based, meaning that devices must connect to a computer in order to communicate. FireWire is peer-to-peer, meaning that two FireWire cameras can talk to each other without going through a computer."

This is shown graphically at the other link I gave, http://www.genitech.com.au/LIBRARY/TechSupport/infobits/firewire_vs_usb.htm

Scronch

NY40Male · « **Reply #21 on:** March 27, 2002, 05:55:27 pm »

cool..i didnt know firewire could talk to each other
but ive never looked into firewire yet i wanted to stay
with USB basically everything i have is USB and i really
dont want to switch to all new stuff

im sorry..i only saw the thoroughput from the USB 1 spec and
didnt want someone who didnt know to think that USB sucked
1 does..but 2 is great
in answer to the question of hearing clicks or sounds
im in the printing business since i was 8 and am sorry to say
about 60 to 70 percent deaf (i have to take my g/f to family court
with me 1) to hear for me and 2) pisses the x wife off)
and if my Maxtor drive was on FIRE i wouldnt hear it..lol
but as far as i can tell its quiet..and actually my computer is loud
love my maxtor..i have slides on my hard drives so i can take them
in and out as i need..my tower has 4 slides for 4 hard drives
both at home and at work..the slides are great but you have to power
down to take them in and out..but the nice thing about the maxtor drive
is i just backup at work/home and boom..click unplug in the taskbar and
no shutting down and with Windows2k that im running now i go 2-3 weeks
without shutting down...(running SETI and finally made it to 500)
sorry for the rambling
have a great night

elpaolo · « **Reply #22 on:** March 27, 2002, 06:07:51 pm »

Quiet-

My 120 gig maxtor is no louder than my laptop fan.....so extremely quiet.

Scronch · « **Reply #23 on:** March 27, 2002, 07:36:56 pm »

OK, not to beat this to death, but I find my laptop fan to be kind of obnoxious when it turns on. I really like a nice quiet office when I'm not listening to tunes. I guess I got really tired of noise after 10 years of listening to big Unix boxes with 2 or 3 external disk enclosures plus a tape drive. Gawd, I'd have a throbbing headache after a 12 hour heads-down session. So, anyway, the point I'm rambing toward is...

"Normally, FireWire cable lengths are limited to the maximum length of 4.5 meters specified in the IEEE-1394a interface standard." So that means the firewire limit is about 15 ft, long enough for me to hide the little bugger behind something that will block the sound.

Note: if anyone needs longer firewire connections, you can use a repeater (or multiple repeaters). For example,
http://www.fishcamp.com/firewire/firefly.html

Scronch

elpaolo · « **Reply #24 on:** March 27, 2002, 07:53:38 pm »

I just KNEW that was a bad comparison.
It's really much quieter. And TONS quieter than any other external I've seen.

Poison Dan · « **Reply #25 on:** March 28, 2002, 03:08:34 am »

Remember that the perfomance of Firewire and USB 2.0 still trails IDE performance:
http://www.gamepc.com/reviews/hardware_review.asp?review=diskinterfaces&page=1&mscssid=&tp=

Of course, this doesn't matter much if the disks are only used to store audio files.

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: FireWire (1394) And Maxtor 160Meg Disk Is Here! (Read 3444 times)

Severian

KingSparta

dragyn

Smiler

Scronch

TJZJ

NY40Male

Harry the Hipster

Scronch

charles

Mr.X

NY40Male

Quiet

Scronch

NY40Male

Scronch

Poison Dan