[DVD burner] Which one to buy today?

[MatFox]

I am thinking about buying an external firewire DVD burner for my G4
iMac 700mhz, 512MB ram.

Which one would be today the best one, e.g. the most complete, that
supports all the DVD formats available today?

Will it be accompanied with a DVD mastering/editing software
application?

In any case, which is the best DVD mastering/editing application? DVD
Studio Pro?

Prices and links are welcome, as I live in Italy.

TIA.

[Alan Quirt]

In article <1fy7x6h.a4iel3s4ye26N%MatteoXYZ1963@excite.it>,
[email]MatteoXYZ1963@excite.it[/email] (MatFox) wrote:

> I am thinking about buying an external firewire DVD burner for my G4
> iMac 700mhz, 512MB ram.
>
> Which one would be today the best one, e.g. the most complete, that
> supports all the DVD formats available today?
>
> Will it be accompanied with a DVD mastering/editing software
> application?
>
> In any case, which is the best DVD mastering/editing application? DVD
> Studio Pro?
>
> Prices and links are welcome, as I live in Italy.
>
> TIA.

If your warranty has expired, you might want to consider replacing the
internal optical drive of your computer with a Pioneer DVR-105 (retail
package is DVR-A05, including 2 blank DVD and some PC software), which
Apple uses as their superdrive in G4 towers. I am not certain if it fits
in your iMac. When I upgraded my G4 I found that it was about 2mm longer
than the DVD-ROM drive that came with the computer.

They are very cheap now because the new A06 is just arriving (similar
except it handles DVD+ as well as DVD-). An internal drive uses no desk
space, and is supported by iDVD 3 which is a cheap though limited way to
burn optical DVDs. It is now also supported by Retrospect backup.
--
.... Al Quirt ... Ottawa Canada ...
.... Please remove anti-spam BIRD for email replies ...

[MatFox]

Alan Quirt <HERONaquirt@sympatico.ca> wrote:

> If your warranty has expired,

not yet, as I have the Apple care 3 years plan until 2005.

you might want to consider replacing the

> internal optical drive of your computer with a Pioneer DVR-105 (retail
> package is DVR-A05, including 2 blank DVD and some PC software), which
> Apple uses as their superdrive in G4 towers. I am not certain if it fits
> in your iMac. When I upgraded my G4 I found that it was about 2mm longer
> than the DVD-ROM drive that came with the computer.

I am not really able to set up things myself; and the space within the
iMac is extremely limited.

>
> They are very cheap now because the new A06 is just arriving (similar
> except it handles DVD+ as well as DVD-). An internal drive uses no desk
> space, and is supported by iDVD 3 which is a cheap though limited way to
> burn optical DVDs. It is now also supported by Retrospect backup.

Does this A06 exist as external burner? Any link for technicalities the
price?

[Alan Quirt]

In article <1fy8ejb.1rcji41iac45mN%MatteoXYZ1963@excite.it> ,
[email]MatteoXYZ1963@excite.it[/email] (MatFox) wrote:

> Alan Quirt <HERONaquirt@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>

> > If your warranty has expired,

> not yet, as I have the Apple care 3 years plan until 2005.
>

OK, in that case you probably are best to stick with an external burner.

> >
> > They are very cheap now because the new A06 is just arriving (similar
> > except it handles DVD+ as well as DVD-). An internal drive uses no desk
> > space, and is supported by iDVD 3 which is a cheap though limited way to
> > burn optical DVDs. It is now also supported by Retrospect backup.

> Does this A06 exist as external burner? Any link for technicalities the
> price?

There are several companies selling external burners with Mac software.
Two I have used are La Cie and Formac. The actual drive inside changes
quite often, sometimes with no change in the model number on the box.
Check the specifications (read and write speeds, kinds of media)
carefully. Each has a different software bundle. And most new models
will not be supported by other software such as Retrospect for quite a
few months.

My son has had decent results creating a DVD using a Formac drive and
its DVD burning software. It has one big advantage over iDVD: instead of
two fixed data rates (which give you a 60 or 90 minute DVD) it lets you
choose any data rate that fits. That was a big advantage for his 62
minute DVD.
--
.... Al Quirt ... Ottawa Canada ...
.... Please remove anti-spam BIRD for email replies ...

[David Dunham]

In article <HERONaquirt-5E9B40.22134116072003@news21.bellnet.ca>, Alan
Quirt <HERONaquirt@sympatico.ca> wrote:

> If your warranty has expired, you might want to consider replacing the
> internal optical drive of your computer with a Pioneer DVR-105 (retail
> package is DVR-A05, including 2 blank DVD and some PC software), which
> Apple uses as their superdrive in G4 towers. I am not certain if it fits
> in your iMac. When I upgraded my G4 I found that it was about 2mm longer
> than the DVD-ROM drive that came with the computer.

Were you able to fit it?

> It is now also supported by Retrospect backup.

The Retrospect web site wasn't completely clear on this -- they say
support APPLE's version of the drive.

--
David Dunham A Sharp [email]david@SPAM_B_GONE.a-sharp.com[/email]
[url]http://www.pensee.com/dunham/[/url]
"I say we should listen to the customers and give them what they want."
"What they want is better products for free." --Scott Adams

[Alan Quirt]

In article <200720032048409735%dunham@SPAM_B_GONE.pensee.com> ,
David Dunham <dunham@SPAM_B_GONE.pensee.com> wrote:

> In article <HERONaquirt-5E9B40.22134116072003@news21.bellnet.ca>, Alan
> Quirt <HERONaquirt@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>

> > If your warranty has expired, you might want to consider replacing the
> > internal optical drive of your computer with a Pioneer DVR-105 (retail
> > package is DVR-A05, including 2 blank DVD and some PC software), which
> > Apple uses as their superdrive in G4 towers. I am not certain if it fits
> > in your iMac. When I upgraded my G4 I found that it was about 2mm longer
> > than the DVD-ROM drive that came with the computer.

>
> Were you able to fit it?

No problem. In a G4 tower there is lots of space (though you have to
pull off the conductive tape holding an EMI shield in place, and move
the shield out a tad). In the original poster's G4 iMac space is tighter
and it could be an issue. If Apple uses this drive it must fit, but they
could be using a different make in the iMac.

>

> > It is now also supported by Retrospect backup.

>
> The Retrospect web site wasn't completely clear on this -- they say
> support APPLE's version of the drive.

It works fine with the Pioneer version. Unfortunately Retrospect
totally refuses to write any kind of CD in a DVR-105, but I expect that
will be fixed next release.
--
.... Al Quirt ... Ottawa Canada ...
.... Please remove anti-spam BIRD for email replies ...