Question about USB 2.0 on a Mac G4?

Question

I bought my computer (power mac G4) in the year 2002, and I'm not sure if it has USB 2.0

I don't think it does

so if I say, buy an ipod now, which has USB 2.0, will it not be compatable?

Answer 1

It looks like you're right, your computer doesn't have USB 2.0. But the good news is, you can still attach your iPod to it, it will just transfer data slower. So it'll be one song every 2-3 seconds, whereas if you had USB 2.0 it would be about 40 times faster. If I were you I'd get a firewire connector for the iPod, that's almost as fast as USB 2.0 (and your computer does have firewire ports).

Answer 2

Check any USB device to see if it supports USB 1.1, most will say on the package. The only difference between USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 is the transfer rate and all the fun technical stuff. USB 2.0 is much faster than 1.1 and Firewire (up to 480mbp/s). You shouldn't have any problems with compatibility, just the amount of time needed to transfer the music. If you have Firewire 800 on your G4, you do not have USB 2.0. USB 1.1 only runs at about 12mbp/s. Your fastest option is using your Firewire. I'm not sure if the 5th gen ipods still have the firewire option.

Answer 3

I'd be careful about that. Apple was still hanging dogmatically onto their Firewire standard in 2002 so they may not have snagged the USB 2 standard in an effort to get people to believe that Firewire was infinitely faster. An easy way to tell may be to grab someone's USB 2 flash key and transfer a large file on a system that you know has USB 2.0 support and then compare that with how long it takes to transfer the same file on your Mac.