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dividend · Aug 10, 2003, 01:22 PM

I saw on Macnn that there is now a dvd-r replacement for the dvd-player. I thought this was a good deal, since a firewire dvd-r is costs nearly the same, and dvd-r at 2x speed is pretty good. Anyone else with any reactions or word of caution?

MacNStein · Aug 10, 2003, 05:50 PM

How portable do you need the DVD-RW to be? If you're going to be buring DVDs on the run I'd suggest the replacement. If you don't plan to do that very much, if at all, then get an external drive. The external drive will be much faster and will be a little less expensive (you can get an external burner for <$300US.

ae86_16v · Aug 10, 2003, 06:03 PM

I've seen the Pioneer 105 internal ones (not slot-loading) for as little as $125 online.

dividend · Aug 11, 2003, 05:58 AM

well, i am not sure that the price-difference is so huge, perhaps only 50 dollars or so. at the moment i have an internal dcd and a firewire cd/r. apple's dvd/cd-r replacement cost as much as this dvd-r replacement. it burns 2x, which i guess is pretty good. current powerbook dvd-r only burn 1x. But i hope that there are other people who are buying it and installling it and who will be able to tell me if it all works.

MacNStein · Aug 11, 2003, 06:33 AM

Oh, it works. I installed one (identical to the ones sold by OWC) in a 667 DVI and it burns DVD-Rs just fine. I didn't try any DVD-RWs on it though. OWC has great instructions with their drives too, they're pretty easy to install as long as you're careful.

I'd still get an external burner though, unless you really need to burn on the go. I have a Superdrive in my 12" and it does a good job, but I bought an external DVD-R anyway. The internal drive was just too slow when I'm doing mastering at home.

dividend · Aug 11, 2003, 06:42 AM

the fastets drd-r are at 4x, and the internal is at 2x. how fast does it burn cd's? The thing is, at the moment i don't have an internal burner at all, which can be a pain at times.

Did you install it yourself, was it easy or complicated? I installed a new HD and the airport-card, not difficult but a bit tricky. is installing the drive something like that?

I am a bit afraid that if something happens one will not be able to boot the computer or something of that kind, that'�s why i will probably opt for not sending in my own drive.