I need advice buying a DVD Burner

[macmonkey]

I don't know much about the technology...


I'm on a mac and I'd like a DVD burner to do 2 things.....

1. burn dvd's that I've made in my Imovie/IDVD software that will play on most if not all dvd players new and old.

2. Copy dvd's for my work (fully legit copies of content my company owns) so we don't have to run down to the dub-house every time we need an extra copy.

I'd like to stay between $100 and $150 as for speed and "special" un-needed features arent really a concern. Firewire would be nice.

I appreciate any help.

[lordsmurf]

Moved to MACINTOSH area.
Top spare you from the "pee cee" people.
I know the burners can act very different between platforms.


That said, PIONEER is usually the best choice for any system.

[babgolis]

Check out bananapac.com or egghead.com. You can get an internal burner for 60-70 bucks. FW cases are not too pricy either. Pretty much any DVD burner will work with Mac OSX if you download patchburn (for free) from http://www.patchburn.de/ . I've been pleased with Lite-On & Pioneer drives in the past.

Cheers.

[redwudz]

Don't know your system, but I replaced the CD burner in my G4 with a Pioneer 106 DVD burner, OSX, and it works great.

Fairly easy install, just have to figure how to get the old drive out. You should be able to get some install tutorials on the Mac sites. Some drives may have a problem with the Mac door, but Pioneer doesn't. It depends on how the face of the drive is set up. Use Patchburn to make it compatible.

[macmonkey]

Thanks for the input...


I'm on a powerbook and don't plan to put an internal in. This means I'm going to be looking for an external. I'll be looking for a Pioneer since you guys recommend and almost all of my electonics are Pioner.

I'm just worried that I may pick up something that doesn't do what I need to do...

I've looked on here and I've seen all the different types (i.e. DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+-R) Which one do I want?


Any clues or DVD Burner's For Dummies tutorials that could shed some light...

Thanks.

JW

[lordsmurf]

The 109 is new, and I like it, but be warned that you may have better results on the 108 since it is a proven tech. Mac is ALWAYS behind PC on burners, hence the suggestion.

[terryj]

The 109 is new, and I like it, but be warned that you may have better results on the 108 since it is a proven tech. Mac is ALWAYS behind PC on burners, hence the suggestion.

only when it comes to NATIVE compatiblity with the OS,
hence the reccomendations to use Patchburn 3 to give
you Native support.

If you are using Toast 6.07 ( which you should if you are on a Mac)
then an external FW cased Lacie or Pioneer would be optimal.
At the shop we have a FW cased Pioneer DVR-107 I built myself
( drive can be found for $75, case was $40) and aside from
also installing Toast to burn on the laptop ( a Powerbook g4 867),
it was pretty painless and it gets to do what we need to, as far as
making copies and backups.
If we needed to use iDVD on this machine, we would install patchburn 3.

We also primarily stick to DVD-R blanks ( mostly to insure compability
with other Mac Machines, and outside client machines),
and they work fine for backups and copies. They also work great
in older ( settop) DVD players, as many will attest in this forum.

[macmonkey]

What about Plextor?

I've found one that looks good @ http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=PX-712UF-SW-R&cat=DVD


Now - will burning dvd's in this will most likely work in a home component dvd player? (if done correctly)

[macmonkey]

anyone?

[sjk]

Can't wait longer than 30 minutes?

[terryj]

I'd say check www.xlr8yourmac.com for answers.
I'm strictly Pioneer, so I can't help,
but theoretically, if authored right,
a Plextor should burn the disks correctly.

[decay]

http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10422

$149

Conveniently compatible with DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW media, the LaCie Dual DVD Drive lets you choose the DVD format and optical media you'd like to use for your personal projects. This multi-format drive with fast FireWire interface can be used to store nearly twice as much data as current DVD media - 8.5GB on a single-sided, double layer DVD+R9 disc.