[rgruber]

I was looking into getting a Sony Spressa CRX1600L Firewire CD-RW and just skipping all the the Sony supplied software and using Disc Burner instead (most the negative comments I've read about the drive focus ont he software) Will this work? Will I able to use Retrospect without installing any Sony crap? Or am I better off getting a burner that comes with Toast?

Thanks

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Watch out for the Sony CD-RW 16xx (4 digit) drives. Yes, once you have it working it's a nice drive.. it should have a nice blue faceplate that looks good in a firewire case, but beware the pitfalls. Check Sony's storage support site. http://sony.storagesupport.com/cdrw/crx1600la2dwn.htm The Firmware upgrade is recommended for "...Mac G-4 detection issues",(unless the drive already has the latest--a crap shoot) yet it can only be installed from a PC. Nice. And Typical of Sony, except I'm surprized they mention the Mac.

I just went through it with The CRX1611, I bought 5 of them bare for $75 each, and was scratching around for software that would actually work with them, and found that Toast 5.0.1 was the ONLY thing I owned that would work with the drive. Disk Burner wouldn't touch it. iTunes? Forget about it. Nor would any version of Toast prior to Titanium 5.0.1. It wouldn't even show up in the Apple system profiler.

I managed to sell the 5 drives I got, repackaged as Firewire externals, and set up the buyer (thankfully a Mac user) with Toast Titanium.
Ironically the only thing that will make this drive work on the PC is Sony's CD Extreme software-- even the latest, EasyCD Creator 5 won't go near it!

After the whole transaction, I understand why I found them so cheap, and why the re-seller I got them from didn't even know what software worked with them and had none to sell me... nothing he had would work with this drive!

I've learned from this and other experiences that Sony actually has a horrible track record for product support, and a care-less attitude about Mac support for what should be cross platform equipment, so beware them! Buying a digital camera, comp peripheral, Handheld Palm device, etc. is a minefeild of Mac support.. some items work fine with Macs and Sony supports them like a normal company, others, even in a seemingly direct numbered product line DON'T work with Mac, and Sony's attitude is--"oh well, OR-- Mac users must pay MORE for special software that makes this work!"

The 5 CRX 1611's I bought...? That's the LAST Sony headache I go through! I've learned my lesson!

In short, yeah I'd avoid Sony (16xx)drives and thier crappy software, and go with a drive with clear all around Mac support and Toast software.

[rgruber]

The drive I was looking at is the 12x external Firewire one in the greyish black case. Not sure if these are what you are talking about.

Most of the reviews I've read have been very positive about the drive. The only negatives have been for the Sony Support and the Describe software (which I wasn't planning on installing). The Apple site and many people on XLR8yourmac.com have said that it works flawlessly with both iTunes and Disc Burner. I was just wondering if you need to install some Sony software to use it with Retrospect (which interfears with iTunes and Disc Burner). As I don't have access to a PC with Firewire, that firmware update could be a big problem.

[ 08-31-2001: Message edited by: rgruber ]

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Yeah, the drive mechanism 1600L is the same 1600L drive, regardless of what Firewire case it's slapped into. Good that the 1600L has disk burner support and iTunes though.

The firmware upgrade does list that it fixes problems with Retrospect on Macs, so you'll definitly need a drive with the latest firmware. (under upgrades and manuals)

But this is exactly the sort of support problem I was referring to with Sony, regardless of the drive mech. Down the line, you may need additional firmware updates as the Mac OS changes, and you can't count on Sony to provide them for Mac users. It's a crapshoot. Other makes are much more on the ball with actually providing support for thier devices, and less pushing their own 'total package' way of doing things.