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imacgirl · Apr 23, 2004, 03:15 PM

I have a old, old IMAC that needs to be replaced soon when I get the extra cash

Anyway, I don't have a cd burner and need one to burn some larger files that a zip disk won't hold. Can anyone give me some info. of a decent and affordable one for a usb port? Thanks!

f1000 · Apr 23, 2004, 05:13 PM

http://www.pricescan.com/01012400.asp

Packaging: External
Interface: USB

I don't know which of these will work best with your iMac, but you can buy one at CompUSA and return it if you don't like it (check to see if there's a restocking fee).

imacgirl · Apr 23, 2004, 05:22 PM

Thanks for the link and info. I'll look into this

Dex13 · Apr 23, 2004, 11:11 PM

the Que! USB Burner (4x4x8x) would work perfectly w/ your old imac.

Ebay Link

scottiB · Apr 24, 2004, 10:14 AM

I have a Sony Spressa 4x2x6 drive, and it works great with iTunes and burning from the Finder (and Toast).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

Look for the one with the large, honkin' USB interface plug in the back--like this one.

(Wow, that drive was $349, new in 1999, heh.)

finboy · Apr 26, 2004, 12:28 AM

Originally posted by scottiB:
I have a Sony Spressa 4x2x6 drive, and it works great with iTunes and burning from the Finder (and Toast).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

Look for the one with the large, honkin' USB interface plug in the back--like this one.

(Wow, that drive was $349, new in 1999, heh.)

Either Spressa model will work well with an older iMac. The Shuttle interface (the honkin' USB thing) is from the earlier Spressa models, and it works OK with OS 9.1 as far as I've been able to tell. I don't think it will work with OS X, but I haven't tried it yet.

I found a Spressa ILink and that's all I use lately (but not with my iMac).

Krusty · Apr 26, 2004, 12:46 AM

Another thought nobody mentioned. Why not just buy a crossover cable and connect your old iMac to your new machine via ethernet ?? You can send those pesky larger files right across to your new machine w/o the expense of buying a CD burner of any kind at all. Whatever new machine you get (its another Mac, right ??

) should have CD burning capabilities built-in so you can then backup the files to CD from your new machine. Why waste the money on an external burner if your new machine will have one ??

imacgirl · Apr 26, 2004, 10:37 AM

Yeah that's what I decided to do since I bought a new computer and posted this before I realized i was going to. So, once I get the hub i'll be able to get all that stuff to this new one. thanks for the input though.

f1000 · Apr 26, 2004, 04:42 PM

You don't need a crossover cable. New Macs have autosensing Ethernet ports. Save yourself the money, and just use a 'straight' cable.

Krusty · Apr 26, 2004, 08:36 PM

Originally posted by f1000:
You don't need a crossover cable. New Macs have autosensing Ethernet ports. Save yourself the money, and just use a 'straight' cable.

Good point ... though I don't think her older iMac would have auto-sensing ethernet (if it is a pre-firewire iMac) and would need the crossover to see the new one. But as long as the new machine can see the old one to pull the files across .. that should be enough.

imacgirl · Apr 27, 2004, 11:01 AM

So all I need is a cable to connect my old computer to my new one? My old one is USB, so I would just get a USB cord to connect the two? Do you also know if this would work to connect my old computer to my cable modem as well? Or if I want to get the files from my old machine as well as be able to use both computers for internet access would I then need some sort of hub? Thanks for the help, I'm just slightly confused.

bradoesch · Apr 27, 2004, 12:03 PM

Originally posted by imacgirl:
So all I need is a cable to connect my old computer to my new one? My old one is USB, so I would just get a USB cord to connect the two? Do you also know if this would work to connect my old computer to my cable modem as well? Or if I want to get the files from my old machine as well as be able to use both computers for internet access would I then need some sort of hub? Thanks for the help, I'm just slightly confused.

It depends on your Internet provider. Some companies don't like you sharing a connection on multiple computers unless you pay an extra fee per computer. This is where you could use a router, which you could call a glorified hub. The ISP will only see one "computer" (the router.)
Anyway, if you went that route, all you'd need is the router (or hub if you can get away with it) and two Ethernet patch cables to plug each computer into the router or hub. This is how you'd tranfer your files too. Forget about USB, it's too slow and clumsy, and you'd have to pay money for software to make it all work.

imacgirl · Apr 27, 2004, 12:08 PM

Great, thanks. That's what I'll do.