Firewire 800 vs USB

[bekindrewind]

I'm currently using a LG BP06 portable super multi blue rewriter that has a 2.0 USB double wire.

Will using a Blu-ray rewriter that uses a firewire 800 make a faster rip and burn than one that uses a double USB wire?

If so, what Blu-ray rewriter brand model would you suggest?

I look forward to your thoughts.

Cheers!

[torque2k]

You didn't give us much to go on as far as the hardware you're running, so I've got to take a stab in the dark. I'm assuming you're running (or want to run) on a Mac, as I've not seen a PC with included FW800 ports. If you ARE on a Mac, are you running the Mac version of DVDFab or the Windows version (and if that, in Boot Camp or in a virtual machine in Parallels or VMware)? If you're actually on a PC, you can get FW800 cards (PCI or ExpressCard/34) as an expansion, and Windows Vista and 7 are compatible without driver add-ons, but I believe you need extra software to run in XP (that's usually included with the card).

FW800 is approximately double the speed of FW400 and USB 2.0. Just because you use two USB ports to plug in your device doesn't mean you're doubling your speed right now, though. The second USB cable needs to be plugged in because the device you're powering draws more power than one USB port can provide. The second USB plug is simply a tap for more power. You're still dealing with a single data stream over USB.

That said, a Blu-ray burner which supports FW800 should be able to rip faster than USB 2.0 versions, but it depends on the chipset, the way the port is connected to the mainboard, etc. You may not see 2X the speed, it may be that your hard drive is the bottleneck once you get to those speeds. eSATA may be a good option for you, as well.

If you're on a PC, USB 3.0 is faster than FW800, but I haven't tried any Blu-ray devices with that port yet (not sure they exist, I'll admit to not looking lately). YMMV.

Finally, the actual Blu-ray mechanism makes a difference, too. Is this a 5.25" (full-size) drive or a slim laptop drive you're looking for as a possible replacement for your LG? The full-size drives can go faster, and tend to do less spinning up and down when seeking (reading). I favor LG drives, and you seem to have picked a good one for the limitation you have with USB 2.0.