USB vs. Firewire 1 USB (Univeral Serial Bus) __USB 1.1__:Transfer limit of around 11Mbps (or around 1.5MB per second)\\ __USB 2.0__: Transfer rate of 480Mbps or around 60MB per second.\\ 1 Firewire FireWire (other terms include iLink, IEEE 1394 or 1394EEE) provided both the transfer speed, at 400Mpbs (50MB per second), and consistent rates (guranteed). \\ __FireWire 400 (IEEE 1394a)__: 400 Mbit/s data rates (50MB per second)\\ __FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b)__: 800 Mbit/s data rates (100MB per second) 1 Differences in the real world: At first glance it would appear that USB 2.0 is even faster than FireWire (400); however speed is not the only issue when it comes to DV. One serious issue with USB 2.0 is that it can not guarantee a specified data transfer rate. This is due to USB 2.0 being a master-slave technology, which means it needs a computer's CPU to coordinate the appropriate data transfers. While not a problem when dealing with low demand peripherals such as Web cams, scanners, printers etc, digital video requires dependable performance to avoid dropping video frames. FireWire is a much more independent technology in that it works in a peer-to-peer relationship. For this reason, many professional DV users are now able to download their video from a DV camcorder to an external hard drive without the use of a PC. Finally, and most importantly, FireWire delivers data consistently at a specific rate. If you want to work with video, even to edit the family movie, go with FireWire. ---- Exterts taken from {link: Digital Video Cameras Buying Guide |http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/pp.php?id=1847886895&pp=2&taxid=56789} 2007-08-24 12:31:08.0 2006-03-16 13:44:51.0