firewire and PC notebooks

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t_chance

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As I read the MOTU propaganda it seems everything is designed about Macs. I'm not crazy about learning a new OS and have my mind made up to put together a "as portable as can be at this time" multi-track recording system. I can work with SCSI for output to another drive for speed/noise but I would like to have more on the input side than what USB is capable of. Does anyone here have experience with the 828 or any other units with firewire I/O? Should I hold off for another 6 months for something newer/better comming out, or come to terms with the fact that I'm going to have to carry around a 50+ LB 4-U PC if I want to do it RIGHT.
 
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>or come to terms with the fact that I'm going to have to carry around a 50+ LB 4-U PC

I don't know about "coming to terms" with this "fact" but it has been my experience over the years that a road system should be as roadworthy as you can make it. I've yet to see any notebook that rates in this department. Plus upgrades and repairs are much easier (and cheaper) to do on a full sized PC.

And my 4U rackmount PC only weighs 40+ pounds! :D

USB 2.0 is comparable in speed to firewire.
 
drstawl said:
>USB 2.0 is comparable in speed to firewire.
Click to expand...

Well, things may have changed but last time I looked at a real life comparison firewire smoked USB 2.0! While firewire was capable of keeping up with a modern HD, USB 2.0 stalled at a stiff 10MB/s. The USB chipsets may have gotten better since then, but I wouldn't automatically assume that USB is comparable in speed to firewire; I would certainly check that it delivers before buying!
 
>While firewire was capable of keeping up with a modern HD, USB 2.0 stalled at a stiff 10MB/s.

USB 2.0 is very new. I was referring to the claimed transfer rate.
Are you sure the "demonstration" you witnessed was a fair representation of both protocols? Since USB 2.0 is in direct competition with the already established Firewire there is ample reason to suspect that such a demonstration was designed to show that USB 2.0 sucks. Follow the money! I'm not accusing YOU of any bias in this. Just noting a reality in the marketing of computer products.

I would agree it's a good idea to make sure your particular implementation of USB is fast enough "to keep up with modern HDs" before you plop down bucks on some USB device.

But I've mixed 36 tracks of 16/44.1 audio on a HD that never saw a sustained transfer at even a third of that 10MB/sec.
 
There is a firewire 'upgrade' in the near future as well too but would it be worth waiting for that? It doesn't seem that the high transfer speed limits of the newer 1394-b coming is really needed and when is that expected to be out.
 
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Well, things may have changed but last time I looked at a real life comparison firewire smoked USB 2.0!
Click to expand...
Are you sure you're not thinking of USB 1? I was under the impression that USB 2 is actually a bit faster than Firewire.
 
Digital Harmony a local Seattle company is the mLan/1394 certification agent for north America.

From their literature it looks like most of the major Japanese, and Europeon manufactures have adopted mLan.

1394 has it's own smarts, USB leans on you cpu more.

The second generation mLan products are starting to hit the shelves.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Newp/2002/FireStation.html

Also because 1394 has been adopted by the DV equipment makers, I don't think they will switch midstream to another protocol.

USB is a consumer protocol, 1394 is aimed at pros and prosumers, and the push for an all 1394 audio/video editing suite has already begun.
 
I'm not too up on the techy lingo here but according to smart computing magazine the usb 2 transfer rate is 480Mbps.
June 2002 issue
 
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