[Keith_R]

Hey all, my new computer uses USB 2.0, what has been improved with USB 2.0? also do the accessories I connect to it have to be USB 2.0 compatiable to take advantage of the USB 2.0 or can any equipment I connect to my USB ports take advantage of USB 2.0? thanks.

[Kevin Eckhardt]

USB 2.0, or Hi-Speed USB, has a theoretical maximum throughput of 480Mb/s, compared with the older maximum data rate of 12Mb/s. USB 2.0 is fully backwards compatible with older USB1.0 and 1.1 devices, but to get the faster speeds the device needs to be USB 2.0 capable. I have an MP3 player and a compact flash reader that are USB2.0 and you can definitely tell the difference when copying large amounts of data.

Kevin

[Brian Ruth]

Keith:

Kevin is pretty much right. USB 2.0 is a revision of the original USB standard, designed to transport those big files quickly.

You WILL need USB 2.0 devices to take advantage of the increased speed (which is, I'm guessing, slightly more than 40 MB per second in practice). Older USB devices SHOULD work without a hitch, but they will use the slower speed for transmission (around 1 MB a second). The operative 'should' is in there because, occasionally, 2.0 firmware will have problems handling 1.0/1.1 devices, but ideally this won't happen as USB 2 is designed for backwards compatibility.

Just make sure you look for USB 2/Hi-Speed USB certification on the devices you buy. If you have FireWire connections on your computer, you may want to look at them too, as they are JUST ABOUT the same speed as USB 2.0. While USB 2 is slightly faster (in theory) than FireWire, the FireWire cable can (IIRC) transmit more power than a USB 2.0 device, which makes it useful for powering certain devices that may need it.

Regardess of which one you end up using (FireWire or USB 2) really appreciate that additional speed when you're transmitting Gigabytes of information from your computer to a device (or vice versa).