Our MacBooks have Firewire 400 &amp; 800 and USB 2.0. Can we use this drive before we get MacBooks with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt?
1010670
Yes you can use both. However, you may an adapter for the firewire. The LaCie runs on 2.0 even though it is equipped for 3.0 just fine. Currently, I am running my 17in MacBook Pro with thunderbolt and firewire since I have two external hard drives plugged in. Before Thunderbolt, I just used firewire and my 2.0 USB.
1363110
No, the G-Drive didn't work for us with Mac OS 10.6.8 when connected with FireWire. The G-Drive Mobile didn't have a problem with FireWire, though. (We use it with Time Machine to back up.)
85204
No. For my new Mac, I had to buy a 3.0 to thunderbolt cable. You'll have to do the same, 3.0 to 2.0, to accommodate your system.
336289
Laurarom; Whoever told you to use it Western Digital "My Book Studio" external hard drive for Time Machine gave you great advice. Your 2009 Mac will be a direct connect FireWire 800, but Apple discontinued that connection on later models, switching to Thunderbolt. When you upgrade to later Mac, you can buy an adapter for FireWire to Thunderbolt. Set up is easy, practically does it automatically. Buy it. You will love it. BTW, it is silent.
909997
Yes, at least mine were using Firewire. This one also has Firewire and a USB 3.0 port, while earlier models do not. That worked out great for connecting USB 3.0 to a new 5k iMac, which is faster than FW anyway; but my older ones cannot as the 5k iMac has no Firewire port.
967238
You can use firewire or USB. In reality, I no longer use the FW connection with my MacBook Pro. I use one of it's USB ports.
297633
well, yes but with some qualifications. First you need a compatible 2.5 inch drive enclosure, if you have an esata port on your motherboard, that would be the best option. If not, USB 3.0 would be next best. Be aware that this is a very high performance hard drive, and either of these options may not allow it to perform to its potential. There are also both thunderbolt and firewire connectivity options, but they are not as common.
1226091
Did I read right? On this LaCie the USB 2.0 transfers at 480 mbs and the 400 firewire at 400mbs? This is in the spec section describing the product. I have a new MacBook Pro and had to use the USB cable since the 400 firewire LaCie cable would not fit the Mac's 800 port. I found that it transferred very fast. However I bought this for the firewire capability and expect to use it. When will LaCie make the 800 firewire, I wonder?
204691
The Firewire model I purchased from Amazon is an older model that is being closed out. The newest model from WD is USB 3.0 and the newest iMacs are USB 3.0. My iMac is Firewire 800 and USB 2.0. I am very pleased with the WD drive and I use the Firewire cable(supplied) and the Firewire 800 port on my Imac.
1721142
Yes. Here's the thing about using the Apple branded Thunderbolt to FireWire adaptor. FireWire has an entirely different protocol than that of Thunderbolt. FireWire is a wonderful protocol to daisy chain with as it will allow 62 devices, whereas Thunderbolt will only allow FIVE devices to be daisy chained! So this can severely restrict your use of your FireWire daisy chain. For simple migration of one Mac to another there should not be any problems provided you disconnect everything FireWire from you Mac during the transfer. If you must have FireWire devices in use during the migration, only plug in what you must. I just broke my large FireWire daisy chain in two so that I can use some of my many Terabytes of files with the new Mac. It has been a real hassle and Apple has done a TERRIBLE job informing the public about the problems of going from FireWire to Thunderbolt. Does this answer your question? Robert
2123465
Well you probably should not have chosen this drive. It's not trivial to connect it to a Mac. This drive is primarily designed as an internal PC drive. Depending on the ports available on your Macbook, the best way to connect this drive is to get a drive enclosure that holds a SATA drive and has an external connector for firewire or USB. I think a newer Macbook has only thunderbolt and USB.
1066040
Yes, Amazon does show the thunderbolt adapter. Seagate Backup Plus Portable Thunderbolt Adapter (STAE128) The Thunderbolt adapter is separate but does provide faster speeds over firewire and USB 3.0. Please remember you need to have a thunderbolt port to use with the adapter. Also consider getting a thunderbolt cable if you get the adapter. I did not notice the thunderbolt adapter including thunderbolt cables. Thunderbolt ports are common on most newer apple computers.
1409690
Absolutely. Works great here on Mt Lion. Note: I replaced the drive with a 1TB OCZ Solid State drive, which only works in USB 3 mode, not Thunderbolt. THe original configuration works fine both ways though so if you use it as is, it will work perfectly in both USB3 and Thunderbolt modes.
832436
The drive and connectors for USB, Firewire, and Power. To use with Thunderbolt you will need a conversion cable.
941053
It should - I believe that MacBook has a FW 800 port. You will need a FW 800 to 400 cable - the enclosure has 2 such ports. It also has a USB B socket, but file transfer would be slower than FireWire.
1638897
Yes, firewire works perfectly (on Macs at least, I'm fortunate not to have a windows machine to be able to test this on). Enough power is supplied via the firewire cable to run the drive. USB is a different matter ... a single USB cable from a Belkin hub attached to my Mac Mini will NOT spin the drive up. The light goes on, but the drive never mounts and it remains invisible on 'Disk Utility'. I was worried this would be the same story on my laptop ... however, a single USB cable works just fine with a 2 year old MacBook Pro. I suspect that it depends how much power the USB delivers, and that newer machines may deliver sufficient. So, USB doesn't suck ... it just depends what you attach it to. I've tried this on a Belkin hub attached to my Mac Mini and on a 15" MacBook Pro.
1458920
don't even think about the thunderbolt drive. the usb3 connection is about same speed as thunderbolt but it is less expensive ($100.oo). If the drive fails it is the first year