[Bruck]

I burn ALOT of dvds, I think it would be nice to burn at 8x instead of 2x. I have read the installation guides, and I'm pretty sure I could install this thing. But I have a few concerns.

1) I'm aware of the cableselect issue that causes the pioneer k05 to be seen as a slave unless you mod the pins on that particular connector

This brings me to the choices of drives to buy.

a) pbfixit.com sells an 8x powerbook replacement drive for $200, I assume that this would be 100% issue free in my tiger 15AL 2x superdrive 1.25 powerbook

b) MCE sells an 8x powerbook intended drive (I believe the pioneer k05) for $149 but I'm unsure if they address the slave/master issue for me

c) Buying the following Panasonic UJ-845-B 8X Slim DVDR/DVD-RAM DL Drive(186-117), Slot Loading drive for $113 - I'm curious if this is actually the same drive which will produce the same 100% compatibility as choice (a).

I'm really looking to get the exact same experience as having ordered this powerbook with an 8x drive directly from apple, and to be honest if it requires paying $200 instead of $150, then I might actually do it.

2) My second issue is heat/noise concern
Should I expect my right wrist/ears to be able to tell that I've upgraded to an 8x burner with any of these choices?

Thanks for any thoughts!

[uicandrew]

i don't know how much use this info will be to you, but I had a UJ-825B and that is rated as a 4x burner. however, I was never able to burn at 4x. I was burning dvds in 30 minutes (2x) even though my laptop said it was burning at 4x.

I was using very reliable media (riteks)

other people also had the same problems with the pansonic burner. people said that the burner was very picky about media. I tried verbatims, fujis (japanese not taiwanese), and riteks, but i never got true 4x. riteks have been reliable for me for the NEC burners (desktop and laptop) so i got rid of my slot loading.