Card reader vs onboard USB port on G2

I assume that this question is probably answered somewhere in previous posts, but I couldn't find anything right on point. Just a couple of questions from a person new to digital photography:

1) Will a dedicated USB card reader transfer images to my computer faster than the onboard USB port?

2) Will a firewire card reader transfer files faster than a USB card reader or onboard USB port? That is, is the CF card itself capable of allowing reads that take advantage of the firewire port's higher throughput?

Thanks,
Will

Both of my card readers transfer at about .9 meg/second. My Pro90 transfers at about .5 meg/second so yes, the reader is almost twice as fast. Firewire will be faster but I don't know by how much.

Todd

I've ordered a USB 2.0/Firewire card for my computer. Haven't decided if I'll get a USB 2.0 card reader or firewire. Both have transfer rate of 400+ MBits/sec. I've seen card readers advertise as transfering at 1.5 MBytes/sec. I've read an article at http://www.dpreview.co​m/reviews/unitydigital​fwreader/ that FireWire (IEEE1394) can do over 4 Megabytes/sec.

Yes, the USB card reader will be faster than the internal USB port, and Firewire will be faster yet.

On the other hand, using a tool like Breeze Systems's Downloader lets me handle the CF card less and get going faster, so I save a bit of setup time. I've always found plugging the CF card into the reader a bit "fiddly". And I can plug the camera into AC power so I don't have to worry about battery power.

In either case, you can walk away and come back when the download is done.

I use both methods. I like the reader though. It is great for use as a small transportable hard drive for moving large files between home and work. Just a nice side option there.