NotebookForums.com › Forums › General Notebook Discussions › Notebook Forums - General › What's the difference between USB 1.1 & USB 2.0?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

What's the difference between USB 1.1 & USB 2.0?

post #1 of 14
10/26/05 at 8:46pm
Thread Starter 
...And can USB 1.1 be turned into USB 2.0 on an old desktop?

Here's the deal;
I just built a desktop from spare parts. The MoBo is an EMachine 433 and it only has one USB port in the back. I'm sure it's the old type.

I have an external HDD enclosure w/USB port that I use on my Dell I9200 to transfer data to my other, older laptop. The old laptop has old USB configuration, but does have two ports. The plug that came w/the HDD enclosure has a single USB plug on one end, and two plugs on the other.
When I hook the HDD up to the old lappy, I do need to use both plugs, or it seems to lack the current to run the HDD.

So I was just wondering if it was just a matter of stronger current running through the USB 2.0, or what.

Thanks.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 14
10/26/05 at 8:51pm
USB 1.1 only max at 12Mbps
USB 2.0 max at 480Mbps

for old laptops with only USB1.1, u can get a PCMCIA USB2.0 adapter to add USB2.0 features for ur laptop
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 14
10/26/05 at 9:18pm
Thread Starter 
So I'll be much faster transfering data by setting up a network using my wireless router?
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 14
10/26/05 at 9:30pm
USB 1.1. and 2.0 both require 500 mA sustained be available per port. It's not required by the spec, but a lot of USB 2.0 parts can do better than that, though, and can frequently push over 1 amp for short periods to allow things like hard drives to spin-up (hard drives require more power during spin-up than they do during normal use). That's why you can sometimes get away with one connector.

The USB 2.0 spec also added 480 Mbps transfer rates (although a device does not have to support that data rate to be USB 2.0 compliant).
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 14
10/26/05 at 9:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gold Beater
So I'll be much faster transfering data by setting up a network using my wireless router?
wireless is not necessarily faster.. for the wifi-g network as the peak is 54Mbps..
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 14
10/27/05 at 12:10am
USB 2 cards are a dime a dozen. Well, maybe $20 each but still worth it...
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 14
10/27/05 at 12:31am
yeah, 2.0 is so WORTH IT! my old desktop had 1.1 but i bought a 5-port usb2.0 card....get it!
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 14
10/27/05 at 11:12pm
Thread Starter 
Cool! That was my next question...If I could get a card with more than one 2.0 port on it.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 14
10/28/05 at 9:33am
not only should you be able to get a card with more than 1 port, you can also get USB 2.0 Hubs... gives you more ports...
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 14
10/28/05 at 11:47am
The industry has moved away from the 1.1 or 2.0 naming scheme. Now almost all USB devices/ports are considered either 2.0 (which is the old 1.1 speed renamed) or High Speed 2.0 (just added the HS moniker to the name).

Make sure an USB devices you purchase are High Speed USB 2.0 complaint.


^_^_^
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 14
10/28/05 at 2:23pm
From the OP it looks like you want it for a desktop.

For a desktop: get a PCI card. They're dirt cheap and usually come with 3-4 ports.
For a laptop: get a PCMCIA card. They're about double or 3x the price, but still about $20 or less. They generally come in 2 port or 4 port flavors.

Is it worth it, HELL YES!!! Transfering a ripped DVD (4.3GB) from my laptop's internal HDD to a USB HDD with the USB1.1 port takes over an hour. Using the USB2.0 PCMCIA card it takes about 20 min. This is an old P3 and both HDD's are 4200rpm, but the difference is definately worth it.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 14
10/28/05 at 9:51pm
Thread Starter 
My desktop is a Frankenstien using an ancient MoBo and 433i cpu.
I can expect to be able to add a 2.0 USB PCI to it?
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 14
10/29/05 at 1:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gold Beater
My desktop is a Frankenstien using an ancient MoBo and 433i cpu.
I can expect to be able to add a 2.0 USB PCI to it?
If you are running XP no problem. Older OS's (95? 98? ME?) might require drivers and a little voodoo...
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 14
10/29/05 at 2:31pm
98 and above can do it, but as oly mentioned 98 & me require drivers (I've installed one into a oanciend AMD (~300MHz) running W98 and it went as smoothly as one could expect from something that old.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Notebook Forums - General
NotebookForums.com › Forums › General Notebook Discussions › Notebook Forums - General › What's the difference between USB 1.1 & USB 2.0?