DVD burner recommendations

Hi. I have a dual G5 Mac running 10.4, and I'm looking for DVD burning software (besides iDVD). I need it to be able to:
- burn 2-4 hours of video
- source from avis or mpegs
- build simple menus
- (most importantly) burn a disk that will play correctly in a PAL/region 4 (Australian) DVD player; I have no way of testing this, so it's important that this be a reliable, well-tested feature.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Not sure of the extent project needs could be met by a freeware opensource
disc burning utility; but even if it should not meet one project's expectations,
this is handy and works well for many items. There is additional info on site.
http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net
{Of course, there are pro utilities such as Toast; and others out there which
should be capable of producing a recorded DVD within your parameters.}
Good luck & happy computing!

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External CD/DVD Burner Recommendation

Just purchased a 27" iMac Quad. I'm looking for an external CD/DVD Burner because the built in Super Drive will be hard to access in my space. I'm mainly looking for it to be compatible with iDVD and iTunes. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Hi Moof219
Welcome to Apple Discussions
There's a great selection at > http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/
Dennis

DVD Burner Recommendation

Looking to replace DVD-ROM with a dvd/cd burner for my G4:
G4 Gigabit Ethernet
Dual 450 mhz
768 mb ram
OS 10.4.8
For standard burning - audio cds and home movies to dvd using iLife '06.
Looking for recommendations for a average to fast burner, and vendor also if possible.
For instance OWC advertises:
Pioneer 16X DL SuperDrive DVR 111D $42.99
vs.
Genuine Apple 16X SuperDrive w/DL $29.99
Any advice appreciated
Thanks in advance!
vince
Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I installed a Pioneer DVR 111D in my MDD G4 after having it in my Beige G3 MT. The drive is fast and quiet. I don't know if it will do DL, never tried and don't have a need. $40 is about the going rate for the Pioneer on the internet.
I don't know anything about the Genuine Apple SuperDrive, but if the specs are exactly the same and it is cheaper, go for it. However, I'd first find out why it is being sold for less than the Pioneer.

External FW DVD burner recommendations?

I have the iBook G3 and want to run iDVD or DVDSP from it (nothing big), I am at a loss as to what external burners would be best. Any thoughts/experiences?
Ta.

Fear not Cindy
If your external FW DVD drive is working fine (i.e compatible) with Apple's Applications then you're ready to go.
Just make sure that your FW drive is recoginsed in System Profiler, burns and reads fine in iTunes etc.
I've done numerous installations from external FW drives without a single glitch...
Apple's recomendation on disconnecting external FW HDs is based (mostly) on issues regarding buggy HD drivers for FW devices in the past.
Pismo - MacMini - Dual G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5) SGI O2 R12K/400/1G/Irix 6.5.29

I am using MacBook Pro OS 10.6.8. I need a compatible CD/DVD burner. Can someone recommend one?

Can someone recommend a compatible CD/DVD burner for a MacBook Pro? I have returned two burners, so far, that were not compatible,.

LowLuster wrote:
The Apple external DVD drive will NOT work on a Mac computer that originally came with a built in DVD drive. They only work on Mac computers that did NOT originally come with a built in DVD drive. The Air, Retina and iMacs from late 2012 to present.
True to the extent that out of the box they indeed will not work with Macs other than Airs and Retinas. However a minor modification WILL make them compatible with other Macs. Here are the instructions:
http://www.tuaw.com/2012/04/02/use-the-macbook-air-superdrive-with-any-almost-ma c/
Thus it is a valid choice for consideration.
Ciao.

Need recommendation for external DVD burner drive!

I'm one of the officers for a film club at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Recently, I discovered that we had, in our offices, a fully-functional, if not somewhat dated, iMac G4. After getting the neccessary OS X upgrades (it's now running the latest version, 10.4.8), I need to upgrade the CD drive, which is currently just a CD burner drive. It can't even play DVDs, much less burn them, both things we need to have working if we want people in our organization to be able to use this computer.
Since I don't want to physically remove the drive and replace it with an internal DVD burner drive, I'd like a recommendation for a good external one. I noticed that there's only one option on the Apple Store, the LaCie d2 DVD+/-RW Drive, and that doesn't look like it's been getting very good reviews. Does anyone have any other options I could choose from?
iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Good point Keith.
I have no experience of this model but this one from OWC (a company who get very good press on these boards) promises iDVD 5 and 6 support. It's somewhat cheaper than the Lacie in the Apple store but doesn't have Lightscribe.
mrtotes

Recommendations for External DVD Burner compatible with 10.5 Leopard?

We still have an older MacBook that we bought in 2007, it works great except for the CD/DVD drive. I need to be able to burn DVD's, could anyone recommend an External DVD Burner that would be compatible with 10.5 Leopard? Or at least give me an idea of what I need to look for to know if it should work before I buy it? Thank you!

Hello,
Biggest thing you want to avoid is Bus powered ones, here's one good suggestion...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/VLU2SD24XLS/

What DVD burner is recommended for burning an iMovie?

I would like a recommendation for a DVD burner app that will burn quality movies. What does everyone use? I downloaded a couple of free ones from the App Store, but I was not satisfied with the quality of the movie that I created in iMovie.
Thanks!

babowaNov 4, 2014 7:32 PM Re: What DVD burner is recommended for burning an iMovie?
Re: What DVD burner is recommended for burning an iMovie?in response to mikmarjas
I use Roxio Toast as well as iDVD. The quality is also dependent on a) the camera/quality used, b) the process used in iMovie (which version?), and c) which method (quality settings) is used to export it from iMovie. Every process/step (including the encoding for burning) will compress the video and may result in a slight loss of quality.
babowa, how do I go about knowing the correct steps that you mentioned to produce a good quality video? My videos look good on my computer, but on the tv the quality is greatly diminished.
Thank you for your response and help!

Recommendations on Dual Layer DVD Burner Purchase

Anyone have any recommendations on a Dual Layer DVD burner to purchase to replace the old superdrive?

Nope - both formats are for both platforms, but there was a spate of +R players and discs made available on PCs when Apple were only using -R. However, I have two or three PC burners that were -R only (and are now sitting on a shelf somewhere) from those days. The capacity of both is so close as to not be an issue, although +R does hold slightly more data. The gross capacity of a DVD-R is 4.7GB, which is in fact 4.372GB when used in a computer. For DVD+R the gross is 4.73GB which converts to 4.377GB on your computer. I guess for some folk that additional capacity might be necessary, but it isn't really worth worrying too much about, IMO.
Using dual format drives is a good idea, as you can then use either type of disc... however if you read into the background of the formats you'll see that -R is slightly ahead of +R in the compatibility stakes, although more and more players are able to deal with both equally well.
When it comes to burning a DVD in your superdrive, the slower you burn the better the compatibility is likely to be, however some folk report 100% success with fast burns every time (I've had my share of problems with faster burners). As long as you get an Apple compatible drive you should be OK, if faster burning is what you want to do.
Layer break points - on a dual layer disc there comes a point when the laser in the player has to switch from the first to the second layer in order to access the data written there. The point at which this happens is controllable by the DVD author and is called the layer break point. However, on some media (specifically dual layer DVD-R) there is no point in setting this up as the first layer will get written until full, no matter what. There will then be an automatically set break point. When this occurs the change over is flagged as 'seamless' which is intended to make a smooth switch over but there are some players which cannot handle this kind of switch and it needs to be flagged as non-seamless. Other types of media (DVD+R DL) will allow you to set the break point where you want it and will allow you to set it as non-seamless. This helps increase the compatibility of your disc when playing back in set top players.
In DVDSP this means it is probably better to use DVD+R DL media when creating a DL sized project.

Please recommend best DVD burning program and external burner

My FCPX "Share" will no longer burn a DVD on my MacPro 1,1 via the "DVD" destination. However I can send it to "Master File" and it will make a high quality .mov file. I've then tested using Roxio Toast on a 2 minute .mov clip and it did burn a DVD, but the quality was very, very poor. (Much worse than the DVD that I used to be able to get via FCPX Share).
Your thoughts on: 1) Why does FCPX --> Share --> DVD no longer work/ how to fix it? and 2) Can you recommend the best DVD burning program and external burner? With thanks! Duncan

Toast should give you the highest possible quality so you are obviously doing something wrong.
The only thing I don't like about Toast are the menus . . . which are total rubbish compared with iDVD.
You should also be able to burn DVDs from FCP X so once again you are either doing something wrong or there is a problem with your FCP X setup or computer.
Try trashing the preferences using this free app.
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/prefman/
Shut down FCP X, open PreferenceManager and in the window that appears:-
1. Ensure that FCP X is selected.
2. Click Trash
The job is done instantly and you can re-open FCP X.
There is absolutely no danger in trashing preferences and you can do it as often as you like.
The preferences are kept separately from FCP X and if there aren't any when FCP X opens it automatically creates new ones . . . instantly.
Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown

Need recommendation for external DVD burner.

I'm looking for a good and not too expensive DVD burner that works well with my PowerBook 12". Can anyone recommend one? I don't need any top of the line model, just something that's reliable, reasonably fast and is good bang for the buck. I'm considering both FireWire and USB 2.0 interface (USB 2.0 preferable)

This is really tough.
The reason, all major Manufactures have good products.
Lacie, Maxtor, I-Omega.
I suggest you check each of there sites to meet your criteria.
Good Luck...Don

Can Anyone Recommend a Good External DVD Burner?

Does anyone know of a good external DVD burner that I can use with my Powerbook G4 (combo drive)? It seems like most are compatible with windows only. Thanks!

If you're going to get a DVD burner, I would recommend going with a LaCie external drive. I got a 16x DVD+/- with Lightscribe and CD-RW burner from LaCie and I've never had a problem with it. Also, it came with Toast 7 so that was another plus. I got it for $190 at the Apple Store.
However, if you're just looking to buy a simple burner for iDVD, or you want to use the Finder to burn DVDs, just get a cheaper one w/o Toast.
- Alex

Can anyone recommend a New DVD burner compatible with Retrospect?

I'm hoping some more experienced users can help me find a new DVD burner for my trusty old G4 (Dual 1 GHz PowerPC G4 - mirror doors).
My original Superdrive still functions, but has become a little erratic at times (and is a tad slow - like me), so I'm considering a new external burner (Firewire preferred). I've located a new LaCie drive (22x, DVD-DL, lightscribe, etc etc) model reference 301484U, but I cannot determine if it is Retrospect compatible.
As a Graphic Designer, I've built up over the years a very large Retrospect archive of all my work & clients files (several hundred CDs & DVDs), to which I must retain access. I checked the EMC (Dantz) web-site, but the burner is not listed, so I don't know if it is or is not compatible, just not tested.
I decided to go with an external/firewire drive in the hope that when I do buy a new Mac Pro I can switch it over to the new machine.
I suppose as an alternative, if I could find an external version of whatever model Superdrive is included in the current Mac Pros, that would more than likely work with Retrospect.
I would appreciate any suggestions/comments or recommendations

In the past year I have bought a Pioneer for my old G4 and a LG for my MacPro at Best Buy when they have been on sale. No problems, easy installs. If you need more detailed/user experiences check out the drive database at:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com

DVD Burn problem. "Device error - the target device isn't suitable for use"

Hello everyone,
I initially had a lot of problems with PE8. However the nVidia driver update solved most of them.
Just thought it was important to report success as well as failure!
However one problem remains. I get the following error at the 96% mark while burning. "Device error - the target device isn't suitable for use". It is always at the 96% mark and the program is "compiling [something]" when this happens.
Having searched this site I notice that user rgferg posted a similar problem 13 days ago but was redirected to repost in a different place, but never did.
I have tried to burn a 1hr clip 4 times and every time I have selected the slower burn speed (8MB/s) as has been suggested. It seems that inferior media is a culprit, so I have bought some [quality] Verbatim DVD-R media to try in my Phillips SATA optical drive. I am sceptical this will work, but open minded nonetheless. I will give it a whirl when my computer has stopped capturing the VHS I am working on.
Each time the burn failed the disk was automatically ejected and the burn process had actually started and progressed perhaps ~40% or so.
This indicates to me that it is a drive sharing issue, rather than a media issue. Somewhere on this forum it suggests that I go through a 20+ step process and delete/disable every piece of software that can compete with Premiere among other things. IF I do this what do I burn with outside of Adobe? Do I have to get imgburn or whatever it was called? What if I like Nero? Nero 6 has worked great for me for 3 years.
So given I am willing to uninstall my old optical drive burning software, who out there can recommened commercial software that for them creates a painless Adobe burning experience with no errors or conflicts? Perhaps there is another solution that I did not see on this forum?
I am running Windows XP SP3. I have the latest nVidia drivers for my SLI GeForce 7600 GS cards. I have 3 monitors. RAID 0 SATA, 2GB RAM, Athlon X2 5400.
Justin.

OK been working through the list of 20 things Adobe recommends to fix DVD burn error. No luck yet:
system meets minimum requirements
Project size does not exceed disk capacity
successfully burned project to DVD folder -thus skip to step 8.
8. Using new blank media for burning
9. Try different media and DVD burners. Bought Verbatim DVD-R. Don't have another DVD burner. Adobe's supported burner list is VERY short, so of course mine is not on it.
10. Uninstalled Nero 6. Did NOT uninstall Acronis True Image workstation or Lightscribe. These do not access the drive unless I say so!
11. Have not yet disabled startup items and services. This will take a lot of work and will leave to last. Deactivated Spybot thus far.....
12. Disabled IMAPI CD burning COM
13. DMA if available already set. Haven't set this in BIOS yet. I already think it is, but will check next boot.
14. Updated DVD firmware
15. Already updated nVidia drivers
16. Don't have any other DVD drives to disconnect.
17. MPEG workaround. Will resort to if required.
18. Disable Autoplay? XP only has "prompt me each time to choose an action". I have set this for ALL file types.
19. Have NOT refreshed the DVD drivers in the registry. This step involves uninstalling PE8. Will leave this as last resort.
20. Visit forums to see if other have the same problem. Hi guys
So still working through some of the items above.
Can anyone direct me to advice on how to write the encoded files sent to the hard drive, or the VOB files that PE8 failed to burn to a disk? Will the former work with DVD menus?
What a process.
Stay tuned.
Justin.

Buying an external DVD burner, what to look for?

Hi, I am buying an external DVD burner in the morning, anything I should look for feature wise, any models which are recommended?
Cheers, S.

Patrica, we'll forgive you this once! For future reference at the top of each Discussions Forum section there's a blue "Post a New Topic" link - that's where you start. Anyway as to your problem as to what to do now. You can ignore the "Easy Media Creator" disc - this is an application for Windows machines.
All you need now is a blank DVD to record onto. Usually LaCie include a complimentary DVD-R disc - didn't you get one?
It's useful because it will give you a good idea as to which brand of disc works best with your burner. My LaCie likes Maxell and Verbatim but not TDK even though it's on LaCies's approved list (which you can find on their website). Buy a small pack until you are sure they work OK. Whether you get DVD-R or DVD+R is up to you, but the minus format tends to work better with domestic DVD players.
I don't know what you want to burn onto DVD - is it files or movies? If it's the former you have all the software you need in Disk Utility. As far as I know iDVD on the other hand doesn't work with an external burner (someone please correct me if I'm wrong!) you need to buy something like Toast for that. I notice also that you're in the PowerBook forum although you have an iMac! Does this not have an internal DVD writer? I thought all versions of the G5 had a SuperDrive? My final bit of advice to you would be to get yourself whichever of these http://www.missingmanuals.com/ you feel you might need. Certainly the 10.3 book will help you enormously. Good luck.

DVD burner recommendations

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