Gentlemen, thank you for the advice about drive cloning on the Wallstreet. But aside from cardbus USB and Firewire solutions, there is yet another option available:
MCE Expansion Bay Kit for 2.5" Drives, for Wallstreets ($69+shipping):
http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=XPKIT&Category_Code=STORHDLTPB&Product_Count=5
http://www.mcetech.com/manuals/xpebhd98v2kit_ig-ss.pdf
And sold for only $40 (+shipping) by L.A. Computer Company right now:
http://www.lacomputercompany.com/cgi-bin/rpcart/index.cgi?command=dispitem&type=sku&sku=26412
I wrote to LA Computer yesterday, but they've not replied back to me. I also wrote to MCE too, but they didn't reply back to me either. I am quite dissatisfied with such apathy toward customers, and such casts a dark cloud over the product itself. Nevertheless, putting emotion and human foolishness aside, focusing exclusively on the technology itself, my questions remain.
Specifically, I want to know if the MCE Expansion Bay kit would yield the same or better performance than a Firewire drive attached to the Wallstreet via cardbus adapter. Does anyone know?
I found the following discussion thread. Open the page and then do a keyword search for "Multi-Word DMA" to jump to the right post there:
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-notebooks/60105/external-hd-vs-internal-hd/
Assuming that poster is correct and knows what he's talking about (sadly, I cannot confirm it), he indicates the Expansion Bay drive would not be as fast as the primary internal drive attached directly to the Wallstreet's IDE bus. But my original question remains, how fast is a Firewire external drive (assuming a fast drive mechanism, of course), in comparison to the main IDE connection and the Expansion Bay connection? And if there is a difference, is it a noticeable difference in speed?
Surely someone out there must know the answer to this basic question, but after much Googling I could not find the specifics on it. I therefore look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks!
MCE Expansion Bay Kit for 2.5" Drives, for Wallstreets ($69+shipping):
http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=XPKIT&Category_Code=STORHDLTPB&Product_Count=5
http://www.mcetech.com/manuals/xpebhd98v2kit_ig-ss.pdf
And sold for only $40 (+shipping) by L.A. Computer Company right now:
http://www.lacomputercompany.com/cgi-bin/rpcart/index.cgi?command=dispitem&type=sku&sku=26412
I wrote to LA Computer yesterday, but they've not replied back to me. I also wrote to MCE too, but they didn't reply back to me either. I am quite dissatisfied with such apathy toward customers, and such casts a dark cloud over the product itself. Nevertheless, putting emotion and human foolishness aside, focusing exclusively on the technology itself, my questions remain.
Specifically, I want to know if the MCE Expansion Bay kit would yield the same or better performance than a Firewire drive attached to the Wallstreet via cardbus adapter. Does anyone know?
I found the following discussion thread. Open the page and then do a keyword search for "Multi-Word DMA" to jump to the right post there:
http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-notebooks/60105/external-hd-vs-internal-hd/
Assuming that poster is correct and knows what he's talking about (sadly, I cannot confirm it), he indicates the Expansion Bay drive would not be as fast as the primary internal drive attached directly to the Wallstreet's IDE bus. But my original question remains, how fast is a Firewire external drive (assuming a fast drive mechanism, of course), in comparison to the main IDE connection and the Expansion Bay connection? And if there is a difference, is it a noticeable difference in speed?
Surely someone out there must know the answer to this basic question, but after much Googling I could not find the specifics on it. I therefore look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks!