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martyrart · May 10, 2002, 02:18 AM

OK, I am through searching for straight answers on the Web so I'll just post a question here and hopfully make it easier on myself.

What is a good external firewire cdrw that will work under OS X with the disc burner feature as well as iTunes?

I don't want to spend over $300 but want a firewire cdrw that will burn at least 8x and will work with iTunes and more importantly with OS X disc burner feature. I'd like to setup a successful combo with an empty drive case and internal cdrw if possible, anybody had success?

However, I have my eye on the VST Smartdisk firewire cdrw if it is reliable and burn at least 4x and work with disc burner under OS X. Has anyone had success with this drive at all?

climber · May 10, 2002, 02:27 AM

Apple has web site that list the drives that work.

iTunes drives

martyrart · May 10, 2002, 02:41 AM

Yeah, but I'm talking about performance here. Speed, reliability, compatibility.

Sony used to support Mac big time and now I go to their site and it's nothing but all Windows supported stuff. I don't see anything for Mac OS X. I don't see any updated external firewire (ilink) cdrw except that piddly little 4x thing. It's all USB 2.0 crap. Their internal drives are iffy driver and compatibility wise. Has anybody got an updated internal sony and an empty drive case and had it work under os x with disc burner?

And how about that little Smartdisk 8x with OS X disc burner, any luck?

I'd rather have a small portable or a big stackable. i.e. not something like the Revo that's big and bubbly. I have a QPS usb drive and it sucks not to be able to stack it.

I realize I'm probably not going to get all the features but I'd like a reliable combo.

tinrib · May 10, 2002, 11:54 AM

my yamaha has always worked with itunes disc burner, toast, os 9, os x exactly as it should. it has my vote (16x f/w)

May 13, 2002, 02:39 PM

Well, after much research I ordered the EZ Quest Boa 4-x12x48. Between the cool look, the claims of working with iTunes, the apparently great support for the Mac and a good Macworld rating on their site as well as Macworld's ratings for their other drives. I ordered from MacMall online where they have the thing marked down to $209 compared to their magazine price of $260.

I hope it works well and fast. I will let ya'll know.

G4ME · May 13, 2002, 03:15 PM

no offence man but you got raped, LaCie is now offering a 32X12X40 firewire drive at only 268, is speed is an issue you can pick up a 40 recordable drive and plop it in a firewire encloser

unless you made a typo and the speed is 40X12X48 if thats the truth good hunting thats an amazing price.

Ken_F2 · May 13, 2002, 03:29 PM

4-x12x48

If that's a 4x12x48 instead of 40x12x48, then the drive is obsolete. However, I am assuming that was typo on your part.

The latest ATAPI and Firewire CDR writers are 40x write and 12x rewrite, which in actual practice, equates to 30x recording, or 4500Kb/s, or 4.5 megabytes per second, or about 2.5 minutes to create a 650Mb CD. In contrast, a 12X cd writer will require between six and seven minutes to create the same size CD.

I just bought a new Lite-On 40X CD writer (40x write, 12x rewrite, 48x read) for my mac from Dell for $78 shipped; it's an internal ATAPI drive. According to the news on some hardware sites, a number of 48X CD writers (48x write, 16x rewrite, 48x read) will be released in June.

[ 05-13-2002: Message edited by: Ken_F2 ]