[micha schraven]

I would like to purchase a DVD RW in a short time, so I can store DVD-sized data on disc.

There are 2 models for sale :
Pioneer DVR-A03
HP DVD100i

Both are NOT equipped with Macintosh-drivers, both drives are IDE.

Now, I am quite sure that the Pioneer model is the same one that Apple calls their Superdrive. Is there a certainty that if I mount the Pioneer or HP in a G3 B/W case I will be able to burn MAC-DVD's?

iDVD is commonly available. I guess the drive would be auto-detected then..

Bring me the good news

[micha schraven]

So I just discover in a magazine (MW) that www.macandmore.co.uk sells a pioneer drive (built in an external firewirecase ). It is expensive (: 1300 euro) and does not support iDVD. It does support DVD studio Pro.

They also sell the same thing as a 1-to-1 copymachine for 350 euro more. Then you get a dvd drive, a dvd rw and a 70 gig hd.

Also, I discovered that DVD-R's are quite inexpensive.

pffff what do you think of it?

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Go with the pioneer. I wouldn't trust any product from a company like HP to be solidly Mac compatible. This is a company with a solid 'talent' for going out of their way to make standard USB gear that's almost purposely non-Mac compatible. (IE: a good many of their scanners).

Yes, the DVR-A03 IS the superdrive:
http://www.creativemac.com/2001/08_a...tall-page1.htm
http://www.digitalpostproduction.com...orEveryone.htm

Yes it works as an external in a Firewire case. Yes it works with iDVD. Yes it works with DVD StudioPro.

Yes, it's exactly the same drive as the Apple OEM DVR-103, which ships in their comps.

[ 10-11-2001: Message edited by: CRASH HARDDRIVE ]

[micha schraven]

I assume that if I already own a firewirecase myself (which is currently occupied by a cdrw, I can simply swap the cdrw with the DVDRW right?

It was MacWorld what claims that iDVD does not work on the pioneer.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Firewire case: Yup, you can swap the drives. Check that the DVD-RW drive is jumpered the same as the CD-RW drive you're taking out (to master, it should be set to that by default) and pop it in the case.


From Macworld concerning the DVR-A03 drive and iDVD:

"At the heart of Apple's SuperDrive is Pio-neer's DVD and CD burner, a revolutionary IDE drive that can read and write four formats: DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, and CD-RW. This $995 drive hit the retail market in May as the Pioneer DVR A03..."

"Although Apple packages its iDVD application exclusively with SuperDrive-equipped G4s, Mac users can turn to several DVD-creation apps, all of which will work with the new Pioneer drive."
http://www.macworld.com/2001/07/buzz/burn.html

Basically I don't think they're saying iDVD won't *WORK* with a standalone DVD-A03, just that you aren't likely to *HAVE* iDVD, because they only ship it with machines that have the DVD-RW drive.

We have DVD-A03 drives at work in Firewire cases, and they work fine with iDVD and DVD StudioPro. Basically though, iDVD is a real pile of crap. It's buggy, it makes substandard DVDs that can have errors in them playing back on certain DVD players, and it's very creatively and technically limited.

If you're gonna really get into making DVD's, bite the bullet and get your hands on DVD Studio Pro.

But if you can get iDVD, it WILL work with the Pioneer drive.

[dimension10]

I installed the pioneer DVR A04 in my mac g4 jaguar installled. Everything functions fine, but when my computer goes to sleep with media in the drive when I wake it up it gives me one of those OS X crashes where teh white text appears over black background over my screen.

has anybody else experienced this?