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    No firewire port on macbook unibody??

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by hwa1201, Apr 23, 2010.

  1. hwa1201

    hwa1201 Notebook Evangelist

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    I noticed that the macbook unibody does not have firewire port.
    So if I need to use firewire device, then I have to get the USB to firewire adapter for it.
    I just want to get this right, if I use the adapter then that means I will get tranfer rate of general USB 2.0 speed which is 480Mb/s. Is that right?
    If it is, then I'm gonna miss the higher transfer rate of firewire on old macbooks :(
     
    hwa1201, Apr 23, 2010
    #1
  2. djpharoah

    djpharoah Notebook Evangelist

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    Note that USB 2.0 has a max theoretical speed of 480Mb/s... that doesn't mean you'll ever reach that or even 1/8 that speed. At least from what I've experienced.
     
    djpharoah, Apr 23, 2010
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  3. cyber16

    cyber16 Notebook Deity

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    Another note is USB uses cpu clock cycles, therefore if you plan to multi-task while useing the firewire, yes you will mis a true firewire port
     
    cyber16, Apr 24, 2010
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  4. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    the old Macbook Unibodies did not have firewire.

    The current Macbook white machines do not either.

    All of the Macbook Pros have Firewire though... firewire 800. you might have to get and adapter to run a firewire 400 device, but there wont be any penalty in performance.
     
    doh123, Apr 24, 2010
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  5. akin_t

    akin_t Notebook Evangelist

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    I thought the Firewire 800 port on the 2010 MBPs were backward compatible with Firewire 400/200/100 ... Computer Shopper's review seems to think so.
     
    akin_t, Apr 24, 2010
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  6. doh123

    doh123 Without ME its just AWESO

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    they are compatible, but the plug is different. the adapter just makes the plug fit.... firewire 400 has the mini 4 pin no power connector, or the normal 6 pin with power connector... firewire 800 has a bigger more box like plug with 8 connectors.
     
    doh123, Apr 24, 2010
    #6