[shadybirdstan]

I am looking to see who hear has bought an external DVD-R drive. I was going to get the Pioneer DVR-A04 for my PC but figured since I have my TiPB I might as well take advantage of iDVD and get an external drive.

Can somebody reccomend whether this is a good idea or not and also a drive that is comparable to the Pioneer DVR-A04.

Thanks.

[edit]Here's one that I found: DVD-R[/edit]

[ 05-14-2002: Message edited by: shadybirdstan ]

[edit]It appears the above burner is the same as the "SuperDrive"?[/edit]

[ 05-14-2002: Message edited by: shadybirdstan ]

[Paul S]

iDVD only supports internal drives. I won't recognize an external, even if it is the Pioneer drive.

[Eug]

There is a hack that will allow you to run iDVD 2 without an internal drive, and even with a G3 apparently, but I still don't think you can burn to the drive.

Anyways, I'm running a Panasonic LF-D311 DVD-RAM/-R drive with my iBook and my PC with a generic Firewire enclosure. I love DVD-RAM. You should be able to do the same with a Pioneer A04.

Check my sig for more info on DVD recordables.

EDIT: P.S. The Superdrive is Apple's own version of the A04. ie. same drive with a different firmware. I say different because people have said if you take the drive out of a PowerMac and try installing it in a PC it only gets recognized as a DVD/CD reader, not writer.

[ 05-14-2002: Message edited by: Eug ]

[shadybirdstan]

Originally posted by Eug:
<STRONG>There is a hack that will allow you to run iDVD 2 without an internal drive, and even with a G3 apparently, but I still don't think you can burn to the drive.

Anyways, I'm running a Panasonic LF-D311 DVD-RAM/-R drive with my iBook and my PC with a generic Firewire enclosure. I love DVD-RAM. You should be able to do the same with a Pioneer A04.

Check my sig for more info on DVD recordables.

EDIT: P.S. The Superdrive is Apple's own version of the A04. ie. same drive with a different firmware. I say different because people have said if you take the drive out of a PowerMac and try installing it in a PC it only gets recognized as a DVD/CD reader, not writer.

[ 05-14-2002: Message edited by: Eug ]</STRONG>

So you are or aren't writing to the DVD from your iBook (I have a TiPB 667).

[©]

You cannot write DVD-R's on a dvd-cdrw combo.

I use a selfconfigured Que! firewirecase with a Pioneer A03. Works fine, though it burns all DVD's (R and RW) at one speed. This is due to the slowness of current media. You can buy a 4 speed burner but cannot find media that matches the speed.

[Eug]

Originally posted by ©:
<STRONG>You cannot write DVD-R's on a dvd-cdrw combo.

I use a selfconfigured Que! firewirecase with a Pioneer A03. Works fine, though it burns all DVD's (R and RW) at one speed. This is due to the slowness of current media. You can buy a 4 speed burner but cannot find media that matches the speed.</STRONG>

Huh? Anyways, there is no such thing as a 4X DVD-R burner.

So you are or aren't writing to the DVD from your iBook (I have a TiPB 667).

I can write to DVD with my external drive with Toast. I have not run iDVD2. I don't want to spend $20 to try the hack and still not be able to burn using it. (The hacks allow you to use iDVD2, but not burn on an external burner.)