using the RED DRIVE without the ac?

[Brandon Fraley]

I just figured out you can power the RED DRIVE from a MBP

ANyone know if there's any consequence to this? It's way more convenient than plugging it into the wall.

 

[Nathan Garofalos]

I never use the AC...

 

[Vinit Borrison]

transfer speeds will be a lot slower without the AC. Bus Power on the MBP wasn't really made to power 2 drives at once in a raid =)

 

[Michael Ragen]

Use the ac. I've heard of a few drives getting fried by using bus power.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

I have to use the AC with my MBP... Otherwise I experience occasional drop-outs and sluggish performance or the drive just disappearing from the device list and I have to re-mount it. However, when connecting to my Mac Pro, I never use AC power. It bus powers just fine. All FW800 connections... I don't believe I have ever connected a RED drive via USB.

 

[Nathan Garofalos]

I will take my MBP and connect the drive on set, create a REDCINE project, and bring the computer and drive to the Director and DP to review footage between setups.

 

[SF Geek]

I've always used the bus power if I can.

 

[Ben Goldenberg]

NEVER use the ac when using FW800. I fried my brand new macbook pros 800 port. It actually says in the manual somewhere that the ac is only for usb 400

 

[J. Eric Camp]

I always use the AC power if I can and use the Bus power when I have to.

The bus power is slightly under-volting the drives. Under-volt a motor and eventually it breaks.

I would love to hear different if you can prove it. I never read that the ac is only for 400, but would be interested to see it.