Blu-ray Copy Blu-ray ripping - FireWire much faster than USB 2.0?

[garmingiff]

Hello there,

Quick question: Will ripping a Blu-ray disc over a FireWire connection be much faster than USB 2.0 and if so would FireWire 800 be much faster than FireWire 400? Someone at OWC (www.macsales.com) told me that FireWire 400 would be about the same speed as USB 2.0 (very slow) but that FireWire 800 would be faster.

As my Macs only have FireWire 800 and Thunderbolt (and Thunderbolt is still next to useless), I want to make sure I get an external Blu-ray drive that will give me the fastest ripping/copying.

And from what I've read, getting an LG is the way to go. I'd like to get one that is Region Free or is easy to make Region Free. Any recommendations?

Thanks for any feedback!

Cheers,
Derek

[signals]

Firewire 400 is about the same as USB 2.0. Firewire 800 is faster. So is USB 3.0, better yet is eSATA (if MACs support it).

[90312]

Firewire 400 on a Mac is faster than USB 2.0 as implemented by Apple, not great. A 12x BR reading the outer periphery is reading just about 400 mbps so I would think cost is the major factor between 400 and 800 because the drive read speed will be the limiting factor beyond 432 mbps. Unless BR drives get faster than 12X of course.

[garmingiff]

Thanks, signals and 90312 for your valuable feedback.

I ended up ordering an OWC Mercury Pro 12X external Blu-ray drive with FireWire 800/400, USB 2.0, and eSATA interfaces: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MRF8USD5BD/

Hopefully I can make it Region Free. It uses an LG Super Multi Blue drive.

Well, we'll see.. Thanks again!

[Ozzie]

Is this external BR drive plug n play with a mac or is other software or tweaking required to get it to work on a mac?