Apple super Drives

[earlygrace]

The Apple Super Drives that come in the newest G4s Do Not Support DVD-RW or DVD+RW? Only DVD-R? Is this Right?

[resnullius]

the super drive that mac is selleing right now is the pioneer ao4
it burns dvd-r/rw but no +r/rw

[earlygrace]

Ok so it will burn DVD-RW, cool I was checking the specs and it only stated DVD-R. I guess I will know for sure soon enough.
Thanks

[AntnyMD]

My guess is they dont state DVD-RW compatibility because it is still gradually being supported in standalone DVD players.

[Thargok]

They do not state it as DVD-RW compatible because there is no Apple software to reburn the disc (as far as I know), you have to use toast.

Also Apple only sells DVD-R discs and suggest they use their media (for good reason, it is the most reliable)

[AntnyMD]

Sony branded DVD-RW made in Japan are the only -RW media I've had work as a DVD-Video in a standalone player. I now use Apple brand DVD-R and Sony brand DVD-RW exclusively.

[3dcandy]

Apple don't actually support -RW writing, the OS doesn't directly support, and they don't have any software that supports it. And again, they don't sell -RW media!

IMHO this is a really strange stance for Apple!?!?

[earlygrace]

Ok thanks for the info , now I just have to find some Sony DVD-RW's
Cheers

[PatGmac]

Apple don't actually support -RW writing, the OS doesn't directly support, and they don't have any software that supports it. And again, they don't sell -RW media!

IMHO this is a really strange stance for Apple!?!?

OS X supports writing to DVD-RW's and can erase them too using Disk Utility. OS 9 requires Toast.

[AntnyMD]

Ok thanks for the info , now I just have to find some Sony DVD-RW's
Cheers

I bought a handful from tapeandmedia.com/, who were, for a moment, selling them for $8.99 a piece (versus $12.99 at sonystyle.com). It appears since then the price has gone up slightly. I just did a search on Yahoo!Shopping and found them at J&R in New York City for $7.99 (although I was in their store two weeks ago and saw nothing for sale).

Tape and Media made a mistake on my first order. I ordered 1 piece for $8.99, but they actually shipped 1 box (5 pieces) for the same $8.99! Of course, I tried it again, but they had gotten their act together by then.

[Scalgo]

I bought some DVD-RW's from http://www.allmediaoutlet.com/dvd-rw.html
They're as low as $1.09 each and they work on the Pioneer AO3 Drive (Apple Superdrive 2001) using Toast on OS-X.
They also play well in my Apex AD-1200 player.

Watch out for the 2X DVD-R media though. Apple Superdrive's are finicky with generic 2X rated media, and they only record at 1X.

- Scalgo

[aya]

let me get this right...

i just followed your link to allmedia...; i'm about to buy 100 of their DVD-R generic supports.

will they work allright ?
will i be able to burn DVDs on IMAC/Superdrive and watch them on a regular DVD home player ?
did you have any problem with their generic brand DVD-Rs ?
is there a list somewhe of DVD-R compatible DVD home players ?

thx,

[AntnyMD]

It will probably burn fine and play back great in the SuperDrive, but you may find problems when playing back on a standalone. I bought some no-name -RW's and some Pioneer lookalike -R's and none will play back smoothly on any standalone I've tried. The only media that works 100% of the time (for me) is Apple branded DVD-Rs and Sony branded DVD-RWs.

[aya]

thx a lot for your reply
...i guess i'll have to spend 5$ a piece for a DVD-r then

[jchansen]

I wouldn't spend that much. Why not go to someplace like supermediastore.com and order some small packs of the cheapest DVD-R and RW, and try it out? There are so many factors in whether some things will work, and you may get lucky with your combination of hardware and discs.

Example: I buy the chepeast DVD-R media I can find. They work great, but at high bitrates my Philips player won't recognize them. The same discs work in everyone else's machine. My player won't do and RW's, unless I reinsert over and over. About one time in twenty, it works. I'm going to get an Apex as a second testing player, which should play the RW's.

Get as small a pack of each as you can, at the lowest cost. Burn a high-bitrate and low bitrate disc on each type of media, and take it to Best Buy to see how compatible they are.

Jeremy

[aya]

thanks jeremy, BTW i'm going imac soon; how long does it take to burn a complete 4.7 DVD ?

is there any 1x,2x... option with TOAST and the superdrive ?
thx,
a.

[jchansen]

It takes about an hour to burn a full DVD at 1x. The superdrive can do 2x, but 2x DVD-R discs are about $2.50, more than twice the cost of 1x discs. I haven't bought any 2x discs for this reason.

Writing the lead-out takes forever on a DVD, so you just need patience.

1x DVD is equivalent to 8x CD, so you can figure out your own lengths of time (8 x approx. 160 k/s)

[aya]

...anyone knows how to overclock the super drive to burn DVD 4x ?

8)

[resnullius]

just a btw 8x is 1200KB/s

[aya]

i didn't get that, sorry...