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Boaguy · Feb 17, 2004, 12:04 AM

Hello all, I am new to the site..I did try doing a search but couldnt find anything that applied to me. Anyhow..I have a iBook G4 and I need an external DVD burner that will work with it can anybody help me find the proper one thats on the lower end of the price range.

Thanks!

John

cvibs · Feb 20, 2004, 12:23 AM

When we bought our iBook G4, we purchased the (external) LaCie d2 Dual DVD+/-RW that was available through Apple's website (I believe it was between $200-$250). The main reason we chose this model was because we also have a PC, and this external burner is compatible with both PC and Mac. So far I'm really happy with it. LaCie has their own website if you want to check it out for more info on the product... It also comes with Toast 6 Titanium software.

PS-One thing you'll want to know....so far as I understand, external DVD burners are not compatible with iDVD--at least, they weren't when we purchased our iBook in December 2003. We used iMovie to make our movies and used Toast 6 Titanium to burn them to DVD.

Yandi's Carcass · Feb 20, 2004, 09:34 AM

Originally posted by cvibs:
so far as I understand, external DVD burners are not compatible with iDVD--at least, they weren't when we purchased our iBook in December 2003.

unfortunately they still aren't.

Apple just blocks them so people will buy a mac with superdrive (although some users have had success installing a particular pioneer model in their desktop macs).

webcookie · Feb 20, 2004, 04:56 PM

As soon as I saw the title for this thread, I knew it was you, John.

The Jackalope · 05:39 PM

Here....

Go to Newegg and buy this 8x dvd burner, then go to Outpost and buy this firewire enclosure, and then head over to XLR8 your mac to check out the info on LaCie's driver for the aforementioned DVD burner. You still won't be able to use iDVD, but it is $100 cheaper than getting it from LaCie.

Clarification: the dvd burner available from NewEgg is the exact same model that is in LaCie's own $250 model (the NEC ND-2500A), but is on sale for $105. The firewire enclosure isn 't as fancy as LaCie's, but it will work fine. The information on XLR8's site is about LaCie's drivers for that drive, which make it function fine in OS X. You DO get toast 6 with the LaCie, but you might already have it, or another DVD authoring tool, so this can still save you money.

Hey, you were asking for inexpensive! You got it! Heh.

The Jackalope · Feb 22, 2004, 01:00 AM

What. Not a good enough deal?

selowitch · Jun 21, 2005, 11:06 AM

Will that LaCie drive work with iDVD under Tiger now? Also, what about the Pioneer DVR-109 drive? Finally, how do I get an enclosure, the drive, and Toast Titanium together for a good price?

bluedog · Jun 21, 2005, 08:23 PM

You can enable the drive recording from iDVD. There are two addins from a site called 'hurz' and 'pfurz'. If the drive isn't immediately recognized and recordable by the OS, there is an app called 'patchburn' that will correct that issue.

I've used a Plextor DVD+/-R drive successfully in a firewire enclosure and have written from iDVD with it. Sorry for not providing direct links to the software, but a google search should come up with them.