External HD Ports

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Level 2

162 points

External HD Ports

I have and older external HD with USB 2.0, Firewire 400/800, and eSATA ports. What is the best yet inexpensive way to connect it to my new Mac Mini?

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), 3 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 Gb RAM

Posted on Apr 1, 2016 5:20 PM

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Answer 1

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lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Apr 1, 2016 6:10 PM in response to Michael Vejar

Use a USB port on the Mac Mini.

To use FW you would need to purchase a Thunderbolt>FW adopter

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Answer 2

Rudegar

Level 10

170,754 points

Apr 2, 2016 6:02 AM in response to Michael Vejar

on paper usb2 is 480bit/sec and firewire 400 only 400bit/sec but in real world performance both firewire 400 and of cause 800 are faster then usb2 about esata it's on it's way out I believe with tb and usb3 and other external port types being used more and more

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