[BkueKanoodle]

I'm trying t o decide between a new pb with Superdrive, or an external DVD-R for a new new PB. I like the functionality of having a DVD burner built in, but I wouldn't mind having an external drive that I can also use with my (ack!) pc's. Plus I wouldn't have to wait for BTO on a pb 12, i could just buy stock in store. (I'm impatient)

I know idvd doesn't work on external drives, but does anyone know of any external burners that come with both MAC and PC software?

I do have Roxio, but I want to be able to do video DVD's as well. Nothing major, just sending the parrents home movies of the grand kids.

[joe]

Originally posted by BkueKanoodle:
I know idvd doesn't work on external drives, but does anyone know of any external burners that come with both MAC and PC software?

There are none that come with both Mac and PC video editing software. Though any video DVD you create should be playable on either platform.

I do have Roxio, but I want to be able to do video DVD's as well. Nothing major, just sending the parrents home movies of the grand kids.

FWIW, I recently bought the Formac Devideon ($399). It includes Mac video editing software that allows custom menus. No chapter markers though. The software is designed to only work with the Devideon drive which is currently a 4x DVD-R/RW (Pioneer DVR-A05). If the Devideon is not "seen" the software will default to a 10minute demo mode. It's a free download though. So you can check it out before you actually buy the hardware. Also, the drive itself works great in Jag. You can burn DVD-R/RW discs from the finder and erase DVD-RW discs using Apple's Disk Utility. A completely full 4x DVD-R disc (4.29GB) took me 14minutes 30seconds including lead in/out. Of course that's just a data DVD. With videoDVDs it actually takes several hours to encode the video before it burns the DVD.....joe

[BTP]

I have the Pioneer DVR-105 in an external firewire case and it is excellent, but it won't use really cheap media. (No worry, I found .79 DVD's that work great)

I bought it from a link off of dealmac.com and I have to give that a big thumbs up. It was $325 and I think it is even cheaper now.

HTH.

[joe]

Originally posted by BTP:
I have the Pioneer DVR-105 in an external firewire case and it is excellent, but it won't use really cheap media. (No worry, I found .79 DVD's that work great)

I bought it from a link off of dealmac.com and I have to give that a big thumbs up. It was $325 and I think it is even cheaper now.

I had the same problem. I bought a spindle of Meriline certified 2x DVD-R media that worked great with a Pioneer DVR-104 (2x DVD-R). But my 4x Pioneer DVR-105 just makes coaster after coaster with them - though it reads those same discs just fine if burned by the DVR-104. I managed to find 4x DVD-R for $1.83 each at www.allmediaoutlet.com for a 50pack. Though the price drops even more in larger quantities.

What speed/brand are those 79cent DVDs you bought?.....joe