Dual Layer DVD recorder

[Soulstorm]

I am considering of buying a dual layer recorder for macintosh. Anyone can give me any recommendations?

Also, I would like to know if all new dual layer dvd recorders are also made for macintosh.

(You see, this is the first time I am considering of buying an external burning device since the shipping of OS X, and I don't know if all companies make their products for the macintosh platform along with others...)

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

AppleStore sells this LaCie burner, I havn't tried it, but never had any problem with the single layer LaCie d2 4x I regularly borrow and use with both my iBook and a Pismo...

Edit: Forgot you were in Europe... They have it in AppleStore UK (and the Norwegian AppleStore), too... so you should be able to find it here in Europe... e.g. at Amazon UK...

Edit2: Amazon UK also has an external Iomega burner which they claim is dual layer, at only £99...

Edit3: The LaCie burner is 16x, use firewire and includes Toast 6 Titanium while the Iomega drive is 12x, use USB and comes with some burning software I've never heard about... I guess the LaCie drive is the better choice, if you don't already own Toast and doesn't mind (slightly) slower burn times...

Edit4: I'll stop editing now...

 

[JzzTrump22]

I have a benQ burner and it works quite well. I bought an internal with external housing. It came out to be a little cheaper then buying an external burner. Links....http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1071638&CatId=482
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1194142&CatId=1204

 

[pulsewidth947]

LaCie 16x DVDRW

We bought the LaCie burner at work a couple of weeks ago. Its a really nice drive. It's basically an NEC ND-3520A drive in an enclosure.

Write Speed: 16X DVD+R, 8X DVD+RW, 4X DVD+R DL, 16X DVD-R, 6X DVD-RW, 48X CD-R, 24X CD-RW

It burns really fast, its dual-layer, comes with Toast.. what more could you ask for

Oh yeah.. its CHEAP! Checkout the apple store, or http://www.jigsaw24.com dunno if jigsaws cheapest for non educational buying though..

 

[FFTT]

xlr8yourmac.com maintains a fantastic drive compatibility database.

You might want to give them a look.

 

[AstroManLuca]

From the looks of your sig, you have only desktop computers. Unless you want to move the burner from computer to computer, I'd suggest avoiding the price premium and getting a plain internal DVD burner. I don't know what the best option is for buying in the UK, but here in the US you can get a desktop DVD burner for around $60. I'd recommend a Pioneer brand for maximum compatibility, but many other brands work with Patchburn 3. As FFTT said, the XLR8yourmac drive compatibility database is your friend.

 

[jiggie2g]

he's right about the xlr8yourmac.com data base. If u want speed then go NEC ND-3520A , if u want something more all round the go Pioneer DVR-109.

P.S. don't shop Tiger Direct go Newegg.com they are the best in the business.

 

[Soulstorm]

xlr8yourmac.com maintains a fantastic drive compatibility database.

You might want to give them a look.

Yeah but it doesn't say if they are Dual Layers or not... Anyway I will look that Lacie... Seems good, although I don't need it right now...

Anyway, I would like to request a technical information... There are certain brands of DVD' and CD's that my G5's Superdrive refuses to burn... These are Sanyo CD's. It has also happened (with other brand, though) with my other system, my 1ghz G4 iMac.

I have also noticed that certain brands of disks are burnt better than others. And the most ironic: No-name CD's are burnt easier than the ones from a brand like Sony, or even TDK!

Although I cannot tell you now the Superdrive of my iMac G4, I can tell that my G5 has a Pioneer DVR-117D in it.

What is the matter?

 

[AstroManLuca]

NewEgg is indeed great, but they only ship to the US. No international orders.

Almost all 16x DVD burners have dual-layer capability. You can always look up the drive's model number on Google or something to see if it has DL capability, or you can go to NewEgg to get the information. They may not ship it to you, but they will at least provide accurate information.

The NEC ND-3520A and Pioneer DVR-109 are very similar in terms of speed. This is how they compare:

DVD-R: Both 16x
DVD+R: Both 16x
DVD-RW: Both 6x
DVD+RW: Both 8x
DVD+R Dual Layer: 4x on the NEC, 6x on the Pioneer
DVD-R Dual Layer: Not present on the NEC, 6x on the Pioneer
CD-R: 48x on the NEC, 40x on the Pioneer
CD-RW: Both 24x

So as you can see, the only speed advantage for the NEC is that it can burn CD-Rs at 48x instead of 40x. But the Pioneer writes dual layer DVDs faster, and supports dual layer DVD-R format (unlike the NEC). Plus, Pioneer is a company that Apple has always provided drivers for. The DVR-109 is too new to have the drivers built into the current version of OS X, but once 10.3.9 comes out it should be supported.

I hope Apple starts shipping 16x DVD burners with dual-layer capability soon. They're still stuck at 8x, which is kind of silly since 16x burners are very cheap ($60).

EDIT: The "Pioneer DVR-117D" is probably the Apple OEM model number for the DVR-107. That was an 8x DVD burner that came out about a year ago.

 

[freiheit]

I have a Pioneer DVR-108 in my PowerMac and it's really great (though I have not tested its dual layer burning because of the expense of dual layer discs). I have an NEC 3520A in my PC and it's also great. I use Roxio Toast 6 Titanium on the Mac and Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 on the PC. Quite happy with the whole setup.

 

[Inkmonkey]

We bought the LaCie burner at work a couple of weeks ago. Its a really nice drive. It's basically an NEC ND-3520A drive in an enclosure.

Write Speed: 16X DVD+R, 8X DVD+RW, 4X DVD+R DL, 16X DVD-R, 6X DVD-RW, 48X CD-R, 24X CD-RW

It burns really fast, its dual-layer, comes with Toast.. what more could you ask for

Oh yeah.. its CHEAP! Checkout the apple store, or http://www.jigsaw24.com dunno if jigsaws cheapest for non educational buying though..

Great Burning Bernhardi Monkeys! Don't mean to hijack this thread but I have a couple related questions. I have zero experience with DVD burners. My iMac G4 only has a built in CD burner. I may not be in the market for a new computer with Superdrive anytime soon so I've been considering an external DVD burner.

I assume they read DVDs as well? And will the Lacie, for instance, work with iDVD?

 

[AstroManLuca]

Yeah, obviously if they can write DVDs then they can also read them . And I'm pretty sure you can make iDVD work with external burners.

If you're not confident enough to open your iMac's case, then I guess you could go with an external drive. Still, it should be possible to replace your CD-RW with a DVD burner. That would reduce clutter and cost, because you wouldn't have to pay the $30-$40 for an external case.