as per title, one of my USB port is dedicated to my permanent logitech vx nano receiver. that leaves me with 1 available USB port! i've been shopping for external HD that supports firewire 800 AS WELL AS ones that are bus powered firewire. so i have a less clattered desk and a small lappy bag to carry with me

i know some of WD, lacie and seagate ext HD supports firewire 800 but i'm not sure which ones doesnt need external power supply. or do all of them dont need external power supply?

the desktop externals do need external power but not the portable externals.

u're talking about firewire interface, arent u?

yes i am

As far as I know; The 2.5 in notebook-sized harddrives will run off the USB/FireWire port power on Macs. Note that the FireWire 400 port on a Mac is different from the iLink port on the Vaios. The Mac one is bigger and will provide power. The Sony iLink does NOT provide power. So make sure you get the Mac-type FireWire port on your external HD enclosure.

I do not know of any 3.5in harddrives which will run only off the USB/FireWire port for power. AFAIK they all require a power brick.

FireWire 800 has the additional advantage of being extremely fast. The ability to go into Target-Disk-Mode with FireWire 800/400 is also extremely useful when troubleshooting a problematic Mac.

the sony ilink is the 4 pin cable whereas the mac ones are 6 pin cables, am i right?

cheers guys

anyway, any brand/models do u guys suggest? currently, i've only found lacie all-terrain rugged HD as the only brand that can be easily found. i've found a couple of not-so-popular brands in the US online stores but i doubt i can find it easily in australia or back in m'sia

It's same for Firewire800 (1394B) and FireWire400 (1394A).
2.5" drive: no external power needed.
3.5" drive(s): external power required.
Laptop slim optical drive: no external power needed.
Desktop optical drive: external power required.

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Added on January 22, 2008, 9:35 amFireWire400 comes in different flavor. 4pin for portable device or standard 6pin. Sony just gave it a different name so it sounds "exclusive" to them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire

And FireWire800 are backward compatible with FireWire400. Let's say I have FireWire800 external drive. But my older Mac only have FireWire400, I can easily get a plug converter or cable to hock them up.

This post has been edited by wei: Jan 22 2008, 09:36 AM

we have the 2.5 inch enclosure for SATA HDD

comes with Firewire 400, Firewire 800 and USB 2.0 ports

please check out the link.

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=557607&hl=

if you are interested, please let me know.

It seems that the problem seems to be that you have just one USB port available for everything else. Might it be easier and cheaper to get a USB Hub (RM20) and portable USB external drives?

nah, i'd prefer to minimise the clutter when i'm mobile. i might get a USB hub for desk use eventually

@sonnettech-asia
sent u a msg on ur thread, cheers bro

Thanks, I will be in touch with you soon. Thanks!