Site of the Day for Tuesday, June 28, 2005 FireWire vs High-Speed USB Today's site, from the Australian Consumers' Association, offers a practical analysis of current computer connectivity formats -- IEEE 1394 and High-Speed USB. Gentle Subscribers who are a bit hazy about the specifics of these formats will discover a lucid article explaining their finer points. "Connecting peripheral devices to your computer used to be a drag. Not only would you need extra cables and power cords but sometimes you'd also need to reboot your system and wait for it to respond each time you plugged in a new gadget. And, once connected, the transfer of data could be painfully slow. Thankfully, along came FireWire and Universal Serial Bus (USB): faster and easier to use replacements for serial and parallel ports." - from the website The site discusses the characteristics of each type of connectivity format, laying out the advantages and disadvantages of FireWire and USB. A history of the development of each is included, along with photos, and helpful charts comparing the pros and cons with respect to speed, architecture, compatibility and cost. System requirements are covered along with an attempt to clarify the confusion about USB 2 speed labeling practices. Nip over to the site for an easy explanation of computer connectivity options at: http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=104527&catId=100274&tid=100008&; p=1 If the above URL wraps in your e-mail client, enter it all on one line in your browser or use this TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/c8mvb A.M. Holm <admin-sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Manage your subscription and view the List archives on the web at: <//www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/webpage?webpage_id=sotd> and <//www.freelists.org/archives/sotd> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank email to sotd-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with unsubscribe in the Subject field.