IMac - internal or external DVD?

iMac - internal or external DVD? That is the question...
Can you install a normal DVD burner in an iMac 800MHz flat panel?
If so, can anyone advice on the technical proceedure?
If installing an internal drive is easy enough to do, can you please advise on types, makes or specs to install.
My current DVD drive runs slow and I'd like a DVD burner, so is a seperate external drive the better option?
External drives just seem so expensive. THANK YOU!

Hello,
Internal.
Most replacement optical drives should work under Tiger fine. If not Patchburn will be the driver you need.
Most of us have Pioneer 'superdrives' installed by Apple so it seems sensible to stick with that product line.
The DVR-112 (18x DVD±RW DL for £21) seems a good deal to me (plus and hour or two of your time).
It's pretty fiddly to work inside an iMac G4 so you must be cautious. Always take anti-static precautions. Here are three options for guiding you through the procedure:
MacWorld
xlr8yourmac
Service Manuals
I've also taken a fair few photos which you can find here.
I'd advise reading the reports on the xlr8yourmac drive database so get other people's experiences first.
You must replace the Thermal Paste when you close the iMac up or it will overheat.
It's probably worth replacing the PRAM Battery whilst you're in there as these have a finite life (once they fail to re-charge you may start to run in to snags - it's only a £5 part).
External.
A whole lot less effort to install and should you upgrade to an Intel iMac / Mac Mini/ MacBook in the future you'll have access to this faster desktop spec tray loading drive rather than the slow laptop spec slot drive installed in these current Macs.
Let us know how you get on/what you decide.
mrtotes

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You're very welcome.
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Hi ellejay,
welcome to the discussions.
Try Patchburn - http://www.patchburn.de/ Works a treat with almost all "unsupported" burners.
You could also consider simply updating to a more recent version of Tiger, as support for additional external burners has been added in the later revisions.
Cheers
Rod

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http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=se-208db%2Ftsbs&tag=mh0a9-21&index=a ps&hvadid=3174900530&ref=pd_sl_1fmc9mcvlw_p
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Thanks, A Brody. Don't know what the PRAM battery is. Here are more details of the fault ... Although I've had the iMac for 5 years this may be the first time I've tried copying a video recording onto the DVD drive (I've made lots of CD copies without a problem). The folder and files all seem to be reproduced in identical order on the disc but my domestic DVD player cannot make sense of the recording, unlike the original source DVD from which the files originated. The drive has always been noisy but I've never assumed it shouldn't be! Does this fit your PRAM battery theory? If so, please explain more. Thanks.

IMac cannot read any DVD drives - internal or external

Hi,
My iMac began exhibiting problems about 12 months ago when it wouldn't load CD's properly to iTunes - it would do some songs and not others. It also stopped reading an external drive I bought. I bought another external DVD drive from an apple store - no luck. This iMac of mine refuses to deal with any external media.
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Thanks and regards,
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Hi and welcome to Apple Discussions...
From your Finder menu bar click Finder / Preferences then select the General tab.
Make sure: *External disks* is selected.
If that box was already, checked try repairing disk permissions.
Launch Disk Utility. (Applications/Utilities) Select MacintoshHD in the panel on the left, select the FirstAid tab. Click: Repair Disk Permissions. When it's finished from the Menu Bar, Quit Disk Utility and restart your Mac. If you see a long list of "messages" in the permissions window, it's ok. That can be ignored. As long as you see, "Permissions Repair Complete" when it's finished... you're done. Quit Disk Utility and restart your Mac.
Carolyn

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The external DVD/CD Writer will Not appear on your desktop when you attach it to your iMac. It will appear in "Finder", which is in your Dock.
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How do I use iMac as monitor for external DVD player (HDMI to Mini DisplayPort)

iMac 27" (late 2009). Internal DVD is region locked. I would like to use an external DVD player to watch DVD's from other regions.
I can't use the new Apple SuperDrive because they say it's not compatible with iMac's before 2012. (Is it??)
My iMac doesn't have Thunderbolt. It has mini displayport.
I have resigned to getting a generic DVD player and plugging it into the screen.
I have found this in Apple support pages...
Can I use the iMac in TDM as a display for my gaming console, DVD player, or other device?
The Mini DisplayPort port on a supported iMac can receive DisplayPort compliant video and audio signals. Converters not made by Apple may provide options to convert other electrical, video, and audio protocols to Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt compliant signals.
( http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3924 )
What is DisplayPort compliant video and audio signals? Does HDMI fit into that signal type?
Is it possible to get an HDMI to Mini DisplayPort converter?
Will it work if I get a generic DVD player with HDMI output? (and connect it to the iMac through MiniDisplayPort)

First try VLC.
<http://www.videolan.org>
On many Macs, it will play DVDs even if the region codes don't match.
The Apple SuperDrive should work if you use the terminal (Utilities foldsr) command:
sudo nvram boot-args="mbasd=1"
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<http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/optical-drives/superdrives/>
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<http://www.macblurayplayer.com>
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<http://www.kanexlive.com/xd>
but it will run at 720p (1280 x 720) and may have problems with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) on HDMI from Blu-ray or DVD players.

Internal DVD drive is shot. Can I install SL from an external DVD drive?

Hi folks, a quick (well actually a few) questions.
I've had my imac since early '06. It's currently running Tiger, and I'd like to install Snow Leopard. The problem is that the internal DVD drive is shot. It's been occasionally refusing to accept DVDs for a while now, and now it has a DVD stuck in it (not mounted), which I can't get out via terminal, rebooting, or jiggling it (technical term I know).
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Many thanks,
Chris
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Peter,Welcome to Apple Discussions.
Here are some alternative choices for playing DVDs.
If the LaCie drive USB or FW?
Tiger is serious improvement over 10.1 (although you may need some more RAM) I'm not sure whether it will cure the DVD player issue? If you still have space (9Gb) on your 40Gb drive you could use Mac the Ripper, and then open the VIDEO_TS file in DVD Player.
mrtotes

Need to get an external DVD player for Imac, which one?

Hey (again),
I've had a terrible time getting my imac up and running properly since I got it back from its HD replacement yesterday.
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In my experience just about any external DVD drive works. I've found them way cheaper at a big technology store like "Fry's".

IMac - internal or external DVD?

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