What is Firewire, how does it connect
Sunday, 08 December, 2002
I just want some information on Firewire and what I need to use it.
I presume it is hardware, but is it a plug-in board, similar to modems? If you can point me to an article, or series of, I would greatly appreciate it?
Bill Borchardt, Downers Grove, Illinois, USA
 Firewire was first developed by Apple Computer as a high speed external serial bus. It is also referred to as IEEE 1394, i.LINK and Lynx as a standard for moving data from your computer to peripherals.
It came into its own when FireWire connections were incorporated into Sony's digital video cameras in 1995.
The FireWire connection to an Apple computer -- which came standard on most iMacs -- meant it was practical to do digital video editing on your home system for the first time. Digital video is still the main reason for opting for Firewire as it has become the de facto standard for all popular digital video cameras connecting to PCs.
But it can be used for other devices such as scanners or external hard drives. Theoretically a FireWire device can receive data at about 400 Mbs over 4.5 metres -- about 30 times faster than USB 1.0 ports.
However USB 2.0 is gaining ground and claims to be even faster than FireWire. The competition between the two standards may be confusing for a while but it will be healthy in the long run.
Firewire can be built-in to the motherboard, but most users have am add-in PCI card on their PC. At about $200 (though it's possible to find one for as low as $70) FireWire cards are not cheap, and neither are the leads. So if you are not into digital video, it's worth waiting as most standard peripherals work well with non-FireWire ports.
For the good oil on FireWire see
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BurchfielsPosted: 07/04/2009 re: What is Firewire, how does it connect Thius is the same ie1394 trentPosted: 04/03/2009 re: What is Firewire, how does it connect usb3 is taken over Stephen J. ShepardPosted: 09/12/2002 re: What is Firewire, how does it connect Firewire boards are NOT at all expensive compared to the performance you recieve in comparison to USB 1.0 or even USB 2.0. Not to mention the fact that you can get PCI Firewire cards for as little as $20 and Combo Firewire/USB 2.0 cards for around $50. The writer of this article is way off in price quotes.
As for the speed of USB 2.0, it has been widely exaggerated and in speed tests done by TechTV is slower than Firewire on all tests. Reading was 33-71% slower on a USB drive while Writing was 15-48% slower on drive compared to Firewire. You can read the review here http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/supergeek/jump/0,24331,3393574,00.html
USB 2.0 is a nice improvement of technology but it's not meant for high speed data transfer. for a number of reasons. jeffPosted: 09/12/2002 re: What is Firewire, how does it connect FireWire is a high speed low cost serial bus solution.
It is NOT true that FireWire cards are expensive - they average in price from $40-$100 on average (based on components, specs, features, etc.) You can get a combo FireWire/USB2 board for approx $100.00.
FireWire cables can be thought of as expensive if your go to certain retailers, but on average a 1M (3 foot) FireWire cable will cost you about $10-15.00.
FireWire is hot swappable, allows for peer-to-peer communications, you can daisy chain up to 63 devices on a single chain or use hub/repeaters to extend and expand the number of devices and cable lengths.
You can view FireWire FAQs at:
firewire.apple.com
http://pub44.bravenet.com/faq/show.php?usernum=3722736529&cpv=1
visits sites such as http://www.fwdepot.com to see a wide selection of FireWire peripherals that you can add to your computer and won't break your bank.... |