Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

iWrite · Jul 19, 2003, 05:05 PM

I just ordered the Lucid DVD-R/RW Drive to accompany my Titanium. I have the CD-RW version and it's tiny (it's the same thickness as the bottom half of my Powerbook and small, small, small -- and the acrylic over aluminum design matches my Titanium perfectly) and it works great.

Called MCE Tech today and found out that using Toast I can burn DVD-RW in this baby -- unlike with the Powerbooks.

Thought I'd share the news with those of you who care to know.

I think it's an awesome product -- one thing I don't like is not being able to use DVD-RW.

Plus, the other thing? This drive can take the 3-inch mini-CDs -- something the slot-loading drive cannot AND I can burn CD to CD or DVD to DVD (using my Titanium Superdrive).

urrl5201 · Jul 19, 2003, 05:54 PM

I am curious. MCE was supposed to have an internal DVD-R that burns at 2x for the Ti. Did they ever begin selling those?

Off topic. After capturing and editing a wedding using my 120 Gig Firewire 800 drive (from transintl.com) plugged into the 17" I burned a 90 minute DVD with no problems, with the footage from the 120 external HD. I also saved a disk image of the wedding on the 120 gig in case the customer wants more copies. Got to admit things are gettin' better all the time.

Let us know how things turn out with your new burner.

Hey... they do seem to have the internal DVD-R and it also has DVD-RW. Why didn't you go for that? It's about the same price, yes?

http://store.powerbook1.com/mceindvsupup.html

iWrite · Jul 19, 2003, 06:35 PM

Because I already have the internal in the Superdrive -- didn't want another one.

What I don't understand is why the current Powerbooks don't have DVD-RW?

All of the PC laptops do.

???

urrl5201 · Jul 20, 2003, 05:05 AM

Who knows. Next revision maybe? Think iheard something about these internal DVD-RW drives were at first undependable for Powerbooks. I am still not sure if MCE installs them yet. Apple can't wave a magic wand; they depend on other manufacturers. Just my opinion.

iHeard; is that a Mac term?

iWrite · Jul 20, 2003, 06:46 AM

MCE Tech can install an INTERNAL DVD-RW drive see it here but Apple cannot?

I don't get it.

It seems like Apple just chose a cheaper drive, that's all.

urrl5201 · Jul 20, 2003, 08:00 AM

Maybe you are right. I just haven't heard of any posts yet where people have reported on the performance of such internal drives if they exist. In fact you are the first one reporting the external but the internal has been on that website for almost 11 months now I think. Anyone out there that has one? I waited for them to be in stock when I had my 667 DVI but finally gave up and bought the 17".

As you can see on the link these items are still backordered . Apple or MCE can do nothing if products are delayed from the manufacturer due to defects.

juanpacolopez · Jul 20, 2003, 11:27 AM

Originally posted by iWrite:
MCE Tech can install an INTERNAL DVD-RW drive see it here but Apple cannot?

I don't get it.

It seems like Apple just chose a cheaper drive, that's all.

Less that they chose a cheaper drive, more that they crippled it.

I was under the impression that the Matshita drive in the 15" SD's WAS in fact capable of both 2x DVD and RW, but the Apple firmware for the drive only allows for straight 1x DVD-R.

Am I forgetting this? I think there was some mention of it in a thread about SuperDrive firmware not too long ago. Too hungover to go searching for it at the moment though

Anyone know what the story is?

haunebu · Jul 20, 2003, 11:34 AM

17" PowerBooks can read/burn DVD-RW. They also burn CDs at 16x.

iWrite · Jul 20, 2003, 11:57 AM

I don't think so.

The Apple Store online does NOT mention the "-RW" part -- only "-R".

But the point is that MCE Tech can put in a SLOT-LOADING DVD-RW drive into a Titanium...

Yet Apple did not.

WHY?

urrl5201 · Jul 20, 2003, 02:16 PM

Maybe Juan is right; they did put a CD-RW in the drive but they crippled it or at least made no claim that the Superdrive could burn DVD-RW so they could have plausible deniability...yet I had read posts where at least the owners of 17" Powerbooks report burning DVD-RW drives sucessfully. If you guys really want me to I could go out and buy a DVD-RW and try it. I believe the posts said it would burn Maxells but not sure. I am surprised none of you guys are up on this. I believe the threads came from this forum, if not MacWorld. Let me know if you want me to try. Why didn't Apple claim DVD-RW capability? Again, perhaps these drives are not reliable enough. Personally I have no idea how reliable the PC laptop DVD-RW burners are.

iWrite · Jul 20, 2003, 02:46 PM

I have a Sony Vaio PCG-GRZ660 and it has DVD-RW and it works great with Easy CD & DVD Creator 6.

I don't know why the Powerbooks don't burn DVD-RW.

It's very strange.

slow moe · Jul 20, 2003, 07:18 PM

Page 57 of the Getting Started manual that came with my PB,

With applications like iDVD, you can create your own customized DVD, burn it on a blank DVD-R or DVD-RW disc, and play it on most standard DVD players.

Quote from Mac Help,

You can use Disk Copy to erase a CD-RW or DVD-RW disc.

Open Disk Copy and choose Erase CD/DVD-RW Disc from the File menu. Insert the disc and click Quickly or Completely, then click Erase and confirm your Erase command.

Erasing quickly does not erase all the previous content on the disc; instead, the directory is erased and new content overwrites the old.

Erasing completely writes zeroes on the entire disc, which takes a bit longer than quick erasing.

Looks to me the Superdrive can do DVD-RW discs.

mrmister · Jul 20, 2003, 11:52 PM

The help apps are wrong, at least with the stock drives that Apple is using.

Rumor is that the UJ-815 drives weren't being delivered with the reliability & quantity Apple needed, so they downgraded the drives to ensure that they would work 100% of the time. On any given Book the UJ-815 might be fine burning 2x DVD...or it might not.

Currently there is no way to change the firmware and check.

slow moe · Jul 21, 2003, 07:56 AM

You can write to DVD-RW discs with a SuperDrive, just not using the Finder like you can with CD-RW, CD-R, or DVD-R discs. You have to format the DVD-RW disc using Disk Utility first, and then you can use it like a DVD-R until you erase it again. (Link) Apple also says you can use DVD-RW discs in the Superdrive. (Link)

From Apple:

DVD-RW

DVD-RW is a rewriteable format (similar in nature to CD-RW). DVD-RW has a read-write capacity of 4.7 gigabytes per side. It can be rewritten up to about 1000 times. Both DVD-R and DVD-RW were developed and approved by the DVD Forum (http://www.dvdforum.org), of which Apple is a member.

The SuperDrive can use DVD-RW discs. Mac OS X can write to DVD-R General Media discs, which are not rewriteable. Roxio's Toast 5 Titanium and Charismac's Discribe 5 can write to DVD-RW discs. Contact Roxio and Charismac for additional information.

Once written, DVD-R and DVD-RW discs can be used in many different drives and players. The DVD Compatibility page (http://www.apple.com/dvd/compatibility) only lists players compatible with DVD-R discs. Because of differences in DVD-R and DVD-RW media, not all players that read DVD-R discs will read DVD-RW discs. Check with the player manufacturer for DVD-RW compatibility information.

Unless I'm missing something, I'm pretty sure you can use DVD-RW discs in the Superdrive.

GlobalNomad · Jul 21, 2003, 05:19 PM

Originally posted by slow moe:
You can write to DVD-RW discs with a SuperDrive, just not using the Finder like you can with CD-RW, CD-R, or DVD-R discs. You have to format the DVD-RW disc using Disk Utility first, and then you can use it like a DVD-R until you erase it again. (Link) Apple also says you can use DVD-RW discs in the Superdrive. (Link)

Unless I'm missing something, I'm pretty sure you can use DVD-RW discs in the Superdrive.

Errr... No
I am pretty sure you are mistaken. The 12" PB can not burn to DVD-RW the 17" PB can.

There is a thread somewere started buy Eug about this.