Comments on: Camcorders and USB: Is Steve Jobs Right?

By: JVC Everio GZ-MG330R Camcorder Specifications

JVC Everio GZ-MG330R Camcorder Specifications — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 04:53:06 +0000

[...] … Canon FS10 Flash Memory Camcorder; Aiptek A-HD+ 1080P High Definition Camcorder; JVC Everio GZ-MG330 30 GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder; JVC Everio GZ-MG330 30 GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder; Canon VIXIA HG20 AVCHD 60 GB HDD Camcorder … I’ m not sure the technical specifications/performance of these technologies can change. I’m ripe to be proven wrong, though. A similar test of the current crop of Mac portables would be welcome. That’s why I wrote, “I’d obviously like to …Read more… [...]

By: Tom Reestman

Tom Reestman — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:30:59 +0000

David,

All my external hard drives have had USB and FW connectivity. It’s just a matter of using the USB connector.

By: Borden

Borden — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:11:43 +0000

Based on research my ass….

Apple knows it all.. This is a very simple business trick..

Read the apple message:” Hi guys, if you want the Firewire port, go Pro and spend more…”

That sucks.

By: David

David — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:42:39 +0000

I am curious how most of you connect to your external HDs for backups? Having an iBook G4, I exclusively use the Firewire. I had assumed that most people do the same, but after reading these posts it appears otherwise.

By: Austin S

Austin S — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:16:23 +0000

I find all the anger over the removal of Firewire hard to understand. Everyone in my Freshman class got a Macbook (literally everyone, one is given to each undergrad), and I’ve been asking around and have yet to find one person who has used the Firewire capability. Now, obviously, this is not a representative sample–college students are significantly less likely to own $300 camcorders–, yet it certainly says something about the penetration of Firewire.

By: Klip

Klip — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:23:47 +0000

And wouldn’t you know it, my HD is shot with a Canon HV30 (see link to my HD vid site)
Ooh well, who needs a new Macbook anyway? :(

By: TMM

TMM — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:33:17 +0000

Roger Mudd:

Slow USB was a Chipset issue of the PowerPC Macs.
It’s been resolved with the transition to Intel.

USB performance on the first MacBook Pro was double that of the single and Quad Core Powermacs in some situations.

USB being slow is on PPC is one of the things that helped to spread the myth in the Apple community that you need to buy the more expensive hard drives, because FireWire is so much better.

It is better for some things.
But not necessary for a lot of things.
You don’t need FireWire for your external HardDrive at home. USB good enough.

And instead of having ANOTHER standard, having ANOTHER type of devices, I’d be really happy with getting rid of FireWire and finally have everything on USB. On one connector which you can find on every computer.

It’s just like Beta and VHS. Or HD DVD and BlueRay.
Get over it.

By: Brian Warren

Brian Warren — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:42:09 +0000

@ Richard Downes: “Axing floppy drives or SCSI wasn’t so much of a problem as you could continue using your floppies via external USB floppy drives and a replacement was provided for SCSI (Firewire).”

Firewire didn’t make it into the iBook or iMac line until a couple revisions down the line the original couple iMacs and original iBook were USB-only. One could argue that perhaps Apple put firewire in when most consumer DV cameras started supporting it. And then took it out when most consumer DV cameras moved to USB2.

I remember people freaking out that they couldn’t use their SCSI scanners and hard drives and serial port printers when the iMac came out, saying that apple was forcing them to get higher powered Macs when they wanted the iMac. No, they were just making the iMac, and saving everybody a few bucks by leaving out extra ports.

Apple does this from time to time. Every time you remove a feature, it’s painful for the people who relied on it. But Apple’s not forcing you to buy a new Macbook. The old ones are a heck of a deal. And you get a ton of bang for your buck w/ the Pro line.

By: Radek

Radek — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:19:54 +0000

USB IS still slower and has higher latency then even Fireware 400, not to speak about 800.
On all Mini DV cameras which I saw ($300-$3000) is firewire. And only reason its that USB is not fast enough. Sometimes they have USB, but its only for still pictures. Non of manufacturers will put both intefaces on camera unless its needed.
Only cameras where footage is stored in file on memory or harddisk are using USB, because in this case speed and latency are not important.
For the same reason is often used fireware in audio products.

By: Roger Mudd

Roger Mudd — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:12:15 +0000

TMM — Please point to recent, independent benchmarks to back up your claims. Then we can put the USB/FireWire speed issue to rest.
Also, while you may not require FireWire, others do. There are legitimate reasons for its inclusion. I have yet to see a legitimate reason for its removal.

By: TMM

TMM — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:32:34 +0000

Concerning all the Firewire vs. USB benchmarks:

I see a lot of you post old benchmarks done on PowerPC Macs.
USB WAS slower back then.

It is much faster on the Intel Macs.

I’ve got a MacBook Pro, I am a graphic designer and I’ve never needed either FireWire or the Express Card Slot.

the FireWire “Tax” doesn’t make ANY sense ANYMORE for external storage or cameras.

By: Helder Luis

Helder Luis — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:11:50 +0000

@ Brian Warren

Yep i kne this, but what Apple should have done is include a FW800 port in the MacBook. Because that way you get FW400 and FW800 by just switching cables.
In the MAcBook Pro getting both FW400 and FW800 would be nice too ; )

By: David

David — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:23:19 +0000

I have a iBook G4 and have been using firewire for backups to my external HD. Its much faster and more convenient than USB 2.0. Many external HDs require the use of both USB ports for power, where as only the one FW port. If you are running an external HD and wanting to do other things like Skype using your USB headset, you aren’t able to do that in the new configuration.

That being said, I guess Apple wants me to buy the newish Airport HD and do the backups wirelessly.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:35:34 +0000

I would bet that if as many people actually used it as are complaining about not having it available then maybe it would be still be in the Macbook.

I like Eric’s point on this. He needed FW, and got a machine that addressed that need and ended up with something that was much better for his money than he had previously.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:15:08 +0000

I don’t understand why every is so pissed over the removal of Fireware. No one said you had to buy the new Macbook. If you need firewaire so much get the older and cheaper macbooks that have the firewire 400 in them. If that does not suit your needs, then put the money for the macbook pro. That’s life!

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:32:23 +0000

Richard

I agree I was being simplistic. FireWire is widely used and will be missed from the cheaper Macbook. Thanks. But I really can’t see this as the start of Apple dropping Firewire from all products.

Eric