USB 3.0 for older MAcBook Pro

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Looking for a compact external HD for my late-2009 Macbook Pro. Not many external drives seem to have Firewire. Are there any disadvantages to using a USB 3.0 cable to Firewire port adaptor?
 
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It depends on the Firewire your limited to. Firewire come with 400 and 800 type. Would a ethernet hard drive be more practical?
 
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I am using a WD Studio 1TB firewire 800 for my TM on a 2009 MBP.
 

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I just picked up a WD Studio FW 800 - 3 TB recently. They've been discontinued in favor of Thunderbolt and USB 3, so some places are having close-outs on them. Picked mine up at Fry's almost 1/3 off.

There is no USB to FW - they are not compatible - at all.

You can use FW to Thunderbolt. So, a FW drive you buy now can be used with an adapter to TB later.
USB: it's not compatible with anything but itself - USB 3 is backwards compatible with USB 2 so you can use a USB 3 external drive with your USB 2 ports and be compatible with
 
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I just picked up a WD Studio FW 800 - 3 TB recently. They've been discontinued in favor of Thunderbolt and USB 3, so some places are having close-outs on them. Picked mine up at Fry's almost 1/3 off.

There is no USB to FW - they are not compatible - at all.

You can use FW to Thunderbolt. So, a FW drive you buy now can be used with an adapter to TB later.
USB: it's not compatible with anything but itself - USB 3 is backwards compatible with USB 2 so you can use a USB 3 external drive with your USB 2 ports and be compatible with

Thanks for all the information! Is FireWire headed for extinction? I tend to hang onto equipment too long (still occasionally use my old G4, as it is compatible with my obsolete version of Rosetta Stone). But antiquity is not an asset in the computer world.
 

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Thanks for all the information! Is FireWire headed for extinction?

Yep. Apple started it, and now Apple is finishing it. My new iMac no longer has a FW port, instead it has two Thunderbolt ports. Shades of SCSI. (Remember that?) ;)
 
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Thanks for all the information! Is FireWire headed for extinction? I tend to hang onto equipment too long (still occasionally use my old G4, as it is compatible with my obsolete version of Rosetta Stone). But antiquity is not an asset in the computer world.


Yep. Apple started it, and now Apple is finishing it. My new iMac no longer has a FW port, instead it has two Thunderbolt ports. Shades of SCSI. (Remember that?) ;)

Yep - my MBPro & iMac (both spring 2013) only have 'Thunderbolt' ports, so FW is about to join the dodo bird in extinction heaven, I guess? ;D

Thunderbolt may be headed for the 'chopping block' - little seems available and at an escalated price; for my new 'clone' external HD, I went w/ USB 3.0. Just read an editorial yesterday (attached as a PDF) by Rik Myslewski in MacILife (Jan 2014 issue on my iPad) discussing external device hookups - seems like it is also headed no where? Dave :)

View attachment Thunderbolt_Myslewski.pdf
 
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Doubt Thunderbolt is going away since more than Apple has plans for it and now there is TB2 at twice the read/write speeds.
 
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Doubt Thunderbolt is going away since more than Apple has plans for it and now there is TB2 at twice the read/write speeds.

Well, not sure if you read the attached file? But, unless non-Apple OEMs support the technology and at a competitive price, then not sure if there is a future - just my thoughts after reading the editorial and not my area of expertise - Dave :)
 
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Because Thunderbolt can be adapted into nearly anything (including Firewire AND usb), I tend to think it does have a bright future -- but as a "professional" hookup rather than a "consumer" hookup (this is, not coincidentally, the same thing that happened to FW). USB 3 and future iterations will probably continue to satisfy consumers for the foreseeable future. Professionals need something FAR better, and that's exactly what TB gives them.

As for the myth that TB peripherals being more expensive is going to kill it -- doesn't seem to have hurt SSDs does it? The cost per GB is ridiculously high compared to HDD, but consumers see the benefits (speed). Same thing with TB if you ask me.
 
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Because Thunderbolt can be adapted into nearly anything (including Firewire AND usb), I tend to think it does have a bright future -- but as a "professional" hookup rather than a "consumer" hookup (this is, not coincidentally, the same thing that happened to FW). USB 3 and future iterations will probably continue to satisfy consumers for the foreseeable future. Professionals need something FAR better, and that's exactly what TB gives them.

As for the myth that TB peripherals being more expensive is going to kill it -- doesn't seem to have hurt SSDs does it? The cost per GB is ridiculously high compared to HDD, but consumers see the benefits (speed). Same thing with TB if you ask me.

Thanks for the insights... I am not likely to need a "professional" hookup for the foreseeable future, I will use FW or USB 2.0 cable primarily for Time machine. But I am glad to tag along with whatever new devices Mac introduces (such as TB) just to avoid being marooned with an obsolete system. I am planning to initiate a new external HD for Time machine (do not want to travel overseas with my old Time machine HD).
Another question: Can Time machine contents be transferred from the old macbook to a new one?
 

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Another question: Can Time machine contents be transferred from the old macbook to a new one?

Yes, I've done it numerous times and it works well. May take some time depending on how much data you have to transfer. I just did it with a new iMac and transferred 50 GB which took around 15 minutes.
 

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