Does faster computer equate to faster syncing times?

It helps a little. But you're limited. The USB transfer rate and amount of content dictate the sync time more than a Mac or PC clock speed.

Message was edited by: Gaffa

Probably the three biggest factors in the syncing speed are the mood of the computer gods, whether an iPad backup has been deemed necessary, and how rushed you are. Seriously, there are a couple of factors involved but if you have a computer new enough to sync the iPad the computer's speed isn't going to be much of a factor. If you are asking about the sync itself, no the computer speed plays no (or almost no) role. But if you are asking about the entire sync process: start up iTunes, make your changes, and then sync - there are a number of factors.

iTunes itself becomes slow as your collection of media grows and while this doesn't actually affect the syncing it affects the overall process. With over 40,000 tunes on my MBP and 4GB RAM iTunes is pretty snappy for the most part but my iMac (same amount of RAM but 4 times as much media) is slower - I see the beachball longer on startup and sometimes between processes. It syncs as fast but takes longer to get the syncing stage. So for the entire process from start to finish, RAM, media collection size, and computer speed all play a role. Depending on how frequently you sync a backup may or may not occur which further slows down the whole process.

Almost forgot - if you have a hub and your iPad is plugged into it, make sure it is a USB 2 hub.

Sync times are only as fast as the slowest link.

An old laptop with USB 1.0, P3 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM, will sync slower than any newer computer. Get to a certain limit, then you will only be limited to the USB 2.0 speed, and either your computer will be waiting for more information from the USB or the iPad is sending out data slower than the USB throughput.

I won't even get into bus speed, xcore processors, HD read/write and access speeds... It all depends on what you are using now. Sometimes upgrading a single component will be enough instead of buying a new computer, like more or faster RAM, or a faster HD, etc.

Dear Dad,

My guess is that most of that sync time is actually the iPad backup process, which does indeed take a long time. However, you can just skip that process by clicking the little x to the right of the "backing up iPad" notice. The process will then go directly to the sync. You can cancel each part of the sync, too (for example, music), by doing the same thing during any part of the sync. It will then just go to the next part.