DescentBB

I have a Toshiba Satellite M35X-S1492 with a 4 pin firewire connection.

I just bought a Maxtor onetouch T01W300 with Firewire 800, Firewire 400 and USB-2 ports.

Only Firewire 800 cables came with the Maxtor unit.

On the back of the Maxtor there is a USB port like you'd find on the back of a printer, 1 6-pin Firewire (400/800?) 2 Firewire 800 ports (know that because they say the cable is supplied)

Can I use FW 400 & 800 interchangeable with my laptop?

How can I find out if I have FW 400/800 on my laptop.

What are my choices of the connections on the Maxtor that can be used with my 4-pin FW my laptop.

Hope I'm making some sense since I'm unfamiliar with firewire.

General rule of thumb: if it fits, it should work. And firewire 800 devices should be backwards compatible with firewire 400.

To find out what type of port you have, read the specs and documentation, if it doesn't say \"firewire 800\" it is probably a 400 though.

4-pin fire is the i-link - it carries no power on it, just data - it should work if you can find adapter/cable. It's firewire 400 I should think.

But for ease of use, use the USB port(b to a). Unless you are doing on-they-fly video editing you are not going to notice a difference between firewire 400 and USB2.

Actually, the firewire would be a little more efficient because of the overhead with USB.

thewolfe: I suggest you consult wikipedia for your answer.

your laptop uses a standard firewire IEEE1394 (400)

get a 6 pin to 4 Pin IEEE1394a and you're all set.

Thanks for the posts. Got what I needed as usual.

I find Firewire good for large files such as video.
USB 2 is faster with lots of smaller files such as pictures and MP3's.