[muzakdoc]

I would just like to pose a question to the more knowledgeable members on this message board regarding their opinion of the best external firewire DVD-R, etc. drives for a Powerbook G4 with the combo drive in it. I was told that the Pioneer A05 (4x write DVD) is the best but will it work with the Powerbook?

I am assuming that I will obtain DVD studio Pro 1.5 which Apple sells in an academic version for $499. (usually 1000).

I would appreciate any knowledgeable opinions and recemmendations.

Thanks in advance.

MUZACDOC.

[GK]

This is the exact same question that I wanted to ask. I need a Firwire A05 DVD-R for my Ti, same situation.

I looked at the following vendors:

lacie $450 (surrently there is a promotion at Dell where this drive costs $340 including free next-day shipping)

Ezquest ~$400, I think I saw the best price (~$332) either at Macwarehouse.com or Macmall, not sure anymore.

there is also www.macsales.com (OWC), they have a house brand, it's more than $400, a bit pricey.

All these drives include the new Pioneer A05.

Let me know which one you have decided to buy.


I too am eligible for the academic pricing for DVDSP, just coudn'y decide on which drive. The current Dell promo is tempting though.


I welcome any comments and opinions on the aboive mentioned drives/manufacturers. Thanks




Hope that helps

[bstad]

Personally, I'm leaning to the Sony 500U. It does DVD-R/-RW AND DVD+R/+RW, AND CDR/CDRW. Does DVDs at 4X, and CDs at 24X, which is a lot faster than the Pioneers. Just a thought. Sells for $350 retail, get a FW case for 50 to 100...there you go!

[Stogieman]

Formac also sells the Pioneer DVR-A05 drive but in a really nice case that matches your Powerbook. It's price at $400.

Formac Devideon

[Sven G]

... The aforementioned LaCie DVD-RW drive also looks quite cool (being a LaCie fan, I'm probably going to buy this one).

BTW, I really hope Apple will stop with their idiotic (retrograde!) "internal drive only" policy for iDVD: they are making a fool of themselves by not allowing *basic* mainstream external drives (like the LaCie or the Devideon) to take advantage of such an essential iApp - talk about increased "compatibility"!

As usual, http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback...

P.S.: Here's my feedback about iDVD, BTW:

"iDVD and the new external DVD-RW drives (LaCie, etc.):

Just a simple feature request: iDVD 2.1+ should support also these basic *external* DVD writers.

Compatbility is a global paradigm: you can't just use it in some areas (see Windows compatibility) and not in others! If you really believe in complete software and hardware compatibility - also and above all with third party devices, - a logical consequence of this is, for example, that iDVD must support also external, third party DVD writers, such as the new LaCie 4x2x12 (or the Formac Devideon, even if it has its own software: that's irrelevant) - often based on the very same Pioneer DVR-A mechanism present in Apple's internal DVD writers...

Think Different™, both ideally and practically: try to favor your users - they'll support you even more! "

[BJNY]

I will wait until some company (Apple, LaCie, SmartDisk, Lucid, MCE, etc.) offers a firewire bus-powered external using the same mechanism that's inside the Titanium 1GHz Superdrive AND at the full specs the Matsushita UJ-810 (tray load) and UJ-815 (slot load) is capable of (DVD-R 2X, DVD-RW 1X, DVD-RAM 2X, CD-R 16X, CD-RW 4X). Imagine how portable & sleek it would be being one quarter the size of the units mentioned in the messages above, and it would be nice if a blocky AC adapter isn't needed.

I would pay $400 for it especially if it's by Apple and iDVD software works with it.

[BTP]

I have the Pioneer A05 that I grabbed for $340, something off of dealmac.com and it is a great drive. Of course iDVD won't work with it, unless I install it in the G4, which is an option. I have no desire to spend $1000 on DVD SP, so installing removing it from the FW case is looking like a good option.

The annoying thing is that the A05 is picky about the media you use. Earlier versions of this drive allowed you to use cheaper media, but this one is picky. I have updated it to the newest firmware ( new a few days ago) and that didn't help, depsite may people thinking it would.

I have used Disk Copy and Toast, but still haven't been able to burn above 1X. I had hoped for better, but possilby it is just the media I am using.

If you don't get the FW case, you can get the A05 for around $250, which is great, IMHO.