External DVD DL burners

I want an external DVD DL WR burner.
1. I am wondering if I can get one of these to be recognized by Tiger (to burn in iTunes, iDVD, etc).
2. Should I get a +DL or -DL burner, for most DVD players that one has for their home systems?
3. Which format (+/-) does the Superdrive read?
4. What format (+/-) are standard movie rental DVD's?
5. Is there a unit that burns + AND - ?
6. Best place to buy DL disks?
Thanks.

1. I am wondering if I can get one of these to be recognized by Tiger (to burn in iTunes, iDVD, etc).
Yes.
2. Should I get a +DL or -DL burner, for most DVD players that one has for their home systems?
Most DVD Players have support for neither dual-layer support though that is changing. The original DVD-R is the only true universal standard.
3. Which format (+/-) does the Superdrive read?
The original superdrive only did DVD-R, CD-R. Later models added did DVD-RW, CD-RW, and even later ones added the + and dual layer format. Use your System Profiler in Apple menu -> About This Mac -> More Info in Mac OS X to determine your Disc Burning support in the Hardware section to find out what formats are supported on your Superdrive if you have one.
4. What format (+/-) are standard movie rental DVD's?
Most are a special kind of dual-layer that can only be gotten in a commercial quality, but are also playable in players that only support DVD-R for consumer grade media.
5. Is there a unit that burns + AND - ?
Current Superdrives do, and have for about a year on some models.
6. Best place to buy DL disks?
I've found two places are good for buying media:
http://www.meritline.com/ and
http://accaproducts.com/
Media reliability of dual-layer is not necessarily as great as just straight DVD-R. Straight DVD-R also comes in a double-sided (not double-layer), which offers more storage capacity than plain DVD+/-DL on a single disk, though you have to flip the disk, and there is no label space on it except on the ring. There is though substantial circumstantial evidence that labeling and/or writing on disks can damage their ability to be read and possibily create issues of balance on certain drives.
For more on the quality of media, and what drives support which type of media, see http://www.videohelp.com/dvd/
Several good general purpose external Firewire burners that support all formats on the Mac with all of Apple's burning software are available from http://www.macsales.com/
Other burners may also work, though may need a firmware update and http://www.patchburn.de/ to work with iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, iTunes, and the Finder. http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/ has an extensive database where you can search drive compatibility.

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External DVD Burners & iDVD Compatibility

I am looking to purchase external DVD burners for use at my school - that are compatible with iDVD.
I am running iLife 5 on many different pre-intel Tiger Macs (mostly eMacs)
I have looked for a definitive listing of burners and have been receiving conflicting pieces of information.
I understand that I students can save iDVD projects as Disk Images then burn after the fact... but it would be nice to know which External Burners are compatible with iDVD without having to go the Disk Image route.
Any assistance that you can provide me would be tremendously appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Dave

Hello Dave,
iDVD 5 does not natively support external burners. What you have discovered concerning the creation of disk images, though, is not simply a workaround, but a widely recommended procedure, as it greatly reduces the risk of burn errors.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=939694&start=0&tstart=0
hope this helps
mish

Bus powered external DVD burners risky?

I am thinking of putting a second HD in my 1.83 MBP with the Maxupgrades kit , and getting an external DVD writer.
Years ago I had a firewire bus powered Formac DVD writer, which took too much current out of my Ti powerbook and burnt the internal firewire bus.
Are the modern generation of portable bus powered (USB2 and FW) such safe in this respect?
I see that offering includes an internal battery. Why would they do that if the no-battery ones are OK?
Thanks for any input.

so the battery is not there to prevent overload of the USB port,
I doubt it, though having a functioning battery may do so
but so that the device can be used independently (from computer)
Perhaps the drive could power headphones so you could listen to music, but the battery is there to provide additional life when you aren't plugged in. If your MBP normally gets 4 hours of life from a full charge, add that bus powered burner and it will drop - bigtime I'd expect. The extra battery in the device gives you a bit longer life.

Alternating external DVD burners

In theory, could I hook up 2 Lacie external DVD burns to the USB ports on my keyboard and alternate between the two of them while burning DVDs? I would like to do this since the internal burner is too slow and I know you're supposed to let a burner cool down after so many burns.

I still would not use the keyboard ports; they do not have enough power for burning. I tried finding any kb article on the power issue, but could not directly - the only one I found is this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3932
I don't know if the reason for this has to do with the power or not, but thought I'd link to it.
The best test might be to possibly "waste" a DVD and try it - you may wind up with a coaster but you'd know - try this at your own risk. I wouldn't do it.

Any cheaper external dvd burners out there???

Now that i've found out that my wonderfully expensive apple doesnt have a dvd burner, i have to buy an external dvd burner. I was recommended Lacie but that's too expensive. Anyone know of any cheaper ones that work fine as well??
also, do i need all of that touch8 stuff? can i just get the dvd writer without all of the extra programs?

That's the beauty of it. No drivers required when you make your own. The OS already has everything you need. There is nothing required in terms of additional downloads to make your burner work via Firewire when you install a Pioneer S-Drive into a standard 400 0r 800 firewire enclosure. It works right out of the box!
At one point in time, I too thought that whatever I build in terms of computer hardware was bound to fail. Now it turns out that the items I built, actually last the longest!
Now there is one exception to the above that comes to minds, Lacie (pre configured) ext. FW HD's may rerquire additional 3rd party drivers at times.
Don't ask me why. You'd have to check their web site for this type of support.

Any external DVD Burners out there for Dual G4 450?

Hey, I have a Dual G4 450 Gigabit Ethernet with 10.2.8 w/ firewire 1 and a meh USB2.0 from CompUSA. I've checked a couple of places for an external DVD burner but most are listing a 500mhz as a requirement. The OWC drive they're selling isn't listing a speed as a requirement, so I'm worried about ordering their drive. Does anyone have their drive and would know if it works with my speed, and is there still a drive out there that can work with my computer? Thanks for your answers.

Went ahead with another burner.

Which external dvd burners are compatible with lion?

I'm looking into buying an external dvd - dvdL - cd burner but wanted to make sure it would work with lion.. anyone ?
thanks!
H

I have successfully used apples external SuperDrive.
However, I get faster results using the Mac's built-in SuperDrive.

External DVD Burners ?

My first post so please be patient!!! I have an Imac with ComboDrive and am looking to buy an external DVD drive to burn a couple of projects I'm working on in IMovie. Could anyone please offer any recommendations ? Also will I still be able to burn from IDVD using an external DVD writer or is there a way to upgrade my existing drive to Super drive ? Probably silly questions but I'm new at this!!!
Thanks.

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.
You can upgrade to a Superdrive, but simply adding an external drive is much easier, and probably less expensive (no labor). You also don't have to be without the computer till 'they get to it' and you avoid the worry of packing up & transporting the computer.
Garyjr is right, there are many drives that will do fine with the iMac; I got the LaCie d2 for actually a bit less than the cost of an internal Superdrive (without even counting labor), and have been happy with it.
The only really silly question is the one not asked which would have saved unnecessary trouble/expense/unhappiness, just for the asking!
Vicki

External DVD Burners.... Suggestions Needed

I am looking to buy an external DVD r for my Mini. Can anyone tell me which is the best to purchase? I would perfer something that would compliment the Mini, but I do not want to compromise performance for looks. Any suggestions?

I have an LG 5163D DVD drive and it works fine with the Mini. It comes in white and complements the Mini nicely. It doesn't, however, come with any software for the Mac, but it works fine with Patchburn and OS 10.4's built in burn capabilities (i.e., disk utility, finder, and probably iTunes, iPhoto and iDVD), and Toast.
I bought it because I don't live in the US and I don't have many options for Mac compatible hardware, and the LG drive was the cheapest DVD drive I could get. It's a very quiet drive (a nice change after my noisy EZQuest CD/RW drive), but it's not a "plug and play" drive - you have to plug it in before turning on the computer. You can use it with either Firewire 400 or USB 2.0. Company support (by e-mail) is reasonably good, especially from the UK division.

External dvd burner no longer works

hello
recently upgraded from leopard to snow leopard. i have two macs in an audio studio where the computers, their hard drives, and some other gear is one room away from me in a machine room. this cuts down on noise for me in the control room of the studio.
i've used external dvd burners for the two studio macs. both have been working great. these burners have worked fine under both tiger and leopard. suddenly, after the snow leopard install, neither works. i have never installed any special drivers for these, the os has always properly handled them.
i have found that if i insert a disc, i can power the burner off and then back on and then the disc will mount. it will not mount just by inserting it per normal. also, cd burning software doesn't see this drive. it's not a choosable option in the menu.
this is a major pita. i don't think that there is anything else that i can do here. i'm hoping it's clear to apple that this is an area of concern. firewire devices ought to be able to plug in and work, and the os which has handled this so well in the past is not doing it right now.
i've tried some basic troubleshooting, like swapping firewire cables, but have realized via these forums than many others are having similar issues. i'd love to have this working asap.

well, i have two external dvd drives, and both are firewire only. and neither one works anymore. it's quite a bummer. i'd love to see them working again. i kind of need them. i sure didn't expect this to be something that stopped working in snow leopard.

The DVD function of 2007 MacBook Pro (10.7.5) no longer works. Apple does repair, but referred to buy an external DVD player. Purchased two, including the Apple, neither work on my model. Trying to burn DVD of 8MM video. Any suggestions?

I am trying to turn my Sony 8mm Handicam video into DVD through my MACBOOK PRO. Unfortunately my DVD function no longer works. Apple won't repair, no longer carries the parts. Referred to Apple repair shop. Gentleman there said it cost the same to purchase an external DVD player as repair the MACBOOK. So far, I have purchased two, including Apple's. Neither works with my MACBOOK. Any ideas or suggestions?

Hi rgneil:
Yeah, keeping an older machine running has it's challenges.
Have you tried one of the DVD burners from Other World Computing? Their sales support can probably guide you to one that should work. The OWC burner that I use with my 2009 17-inch MacBook Pro has FireWire and USB2 connectors.
Are you using iMovie/iDVD or Final Cut Pro/DVD Studio Pro? And, do you have Roxio Toast?
If all else fails, you could try a stand alone DVD-Recorder. You'd want to pick a model that supports external video input. I have a LiteON DVD-Recorder that I patch VHS, Regular8 and Hi8 decks to now and again just to get stuff off tape to DVD-R.
Report back on what works (or continues to not work) for you.
Burn on!
-Warren

IMac G3 hooking up External DVD Burner

Hey.
I'm trying to hook up an external DVD Burner to my iMac G3 to use with iLife '05 (I don't think the G3 is compatable with '06)
The problem is, my external USB 2.0 DVD burner I got for my Windows XP computer doesn't say it can be used for Mac OS X. I can take the wait of a movie being burned on a USB 1.1 connection.
Does Apple already have a generic driver for External DVD Burners like it does for Bluetooth?
I'd like to show off to my friends the awesome movie-making capabilities on a Mac, but it can't be done without a DVD burner.

Instead of using an external USB with iMacG3, I also recommend using a firewire one with it. iMac G3's are equipped with USB 1,1 and it is slow for cd/dvd burning. With a firewire case you can use all the speed of your writer.
On the other hand, some writers (CD-R or DVD-R) are not fully functioning with all applications. Toast can handle much of them but iTunes for example was not functioning with my old mitsumi CD-R. I prefered to buy an LG and now it works perfectly.

Internal and external DVD burner ?

Hi all, have a general question, currently have a HP ProBook 6455b, obviously has an internal DVD burner.. I am looking to add an external DVD burner...is this possible to run an internal and external at the same time? would I need additional burning software? Burning is quite slow takes over an hr to burn one DVD, currently using Windows DVD burner because it is simple and effective.. or should I just use another program that is quicker? any ideas or suggestions on fast burning programs? thanks you guys are the best!

You're very welcome.
I have never burned a movie with mine but I have burned large 3+ GB ISO images using CD Burner XP, and it takes just a few minutes.
Now, if you mean can you insert a disk in one drive, and copy that disk via the other drive using the same program set to copy or grab disk, that should be possible.
It should show one drive as the one to copy from and one to copy to, just like if you had two DVD drives in a desktop PC.
If you are asking can you simultaneously burn two different files on two different burners using the same program at the same time, that I have no clue. I guess you would have to try it and find out. You would open the program and burn one file to a disk and open the program again and burn another file to the other DVD burner. If the program won't let you open two instances of it at the same time, then you probably could open a different DVD burning program such as the one I posted above and use that to burn the other files with.
Paul

IDVD/Macbook/external DVD Burner

Hi All,
There are several threads already relating to this subject. I have read them, but am having a little trouble fathoming a straight answer to my query.
I have a Macbook - 2GHz Intel Core Duo - 1GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM with Leopard operating system and iLife 08.
I don't have a DVD burner as part of the laptop and want to use an exteranal burner in conjunction with iDVD. Is this possible?
Some threads are of the opinion that you can't use an external drive with iDVD, some say there are ways round it. Please could someone say which is true?
If it is possible to do so, i'm guessing from other threads on here that Lacie is the way forward. I'm not in a position to build an external DVD writer - I can't even build LEGO!
All help is appreciated
Kind Regards

I know in that past that iDVD would only work with an Apple supplied "superdrive", but I am pretty sure that's not the case anymore. Even if it is, you can create a disk image with iDVD and then use the Disk Utility to burn it to another drive> Which, by the way, is a better way of creating DVDs.
As far as burners go, I believe there are 3 main suppliers: Pioneer, Sony, & Samsung. LaCie doesn't actually make the drive, they just put it in their case- which would be the same thing most any other vendor would do. As example:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MRBFWU2D115/
Pioneer drive, in their case. I don't mind LaCie optical drives (I don't like their hard drives) but you can generally find an external burner for less and as long as you know the drive component, you should be OK.
Mike

Info on Sony DRX820U external DVD burner or other.

Hi all
I would like to know any info about the Sony DRX820U external DVD burner and I know this one is a USB connection I know that it has a firewire one too. I know that this one doesn't say that it will work with a Mac it only has Windows only burning apps. Can I still use it even if it doesn't say on the box Mac compatible or it's just that they don't have any Mac progs in the box, does this goes for all external DVD burners that doesn't say Mac compatible? I don't mind if it doesn't boot from it I just want to burn at the 16X speed compared to my 8X that I have now. If you have any other type of DVD burners besides the Sony, please let me know.
Thanks!!!

Hi
Sony is not renowned for Mac support, even thogh Apple has used specific model drives, many do not have firmware that works well with a Mac.
I would suggest looking at a Mac-vendor such as LaCie or OWC if you want an external drive; FireWire is preferable, because you can boot from it if need be.
On the other hand, internal 16X DVD burners (DVR-111D or ND3550A) can be had for under $40 online; I would suggest replacing your stock drive with one of these. You can always get an external FireWire/USB 5.25" (BYTECC makes perfectly functional inexpensive casings, check out Newegg.com as one resource for both items) casing for your existing drive, if you want the option of having two drives available.

External DVD DL burners

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