Buying a Macbook but have a question

[willyhunt]

Howdy all

Okay I have decided to buy a Macbook to replace my aging iMac Core Duo. It still works fine I just want the portability. Not MBA portability a Macbook is fine for my needs.

I have decided to go for the base model and upgrade the ram and HD myself afterwards as obviously its cheaper this way. As you know the base one only comes with a combo drive. I only really burn a couple of DVD's a month and dont want to pay the extra £120+ for the superdrive when i don't need the other bits like the slightly quicker processor and extra hd space.

So now the question. Will any external DVD burner work with Macbook, now I would have thought so as its just really a standard device, but i have read mixed responses.

The one I am interested in is an LG one which says its only compatible with Windows but it does include Nero software which might be why it only lists windows. Surely any of them should work?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132741/show_product_specifications?spectype=extended

Thats the product in question, opinions welcome.

So doing it that way I save £80. But if its going to be more hassle than its worth then I will stop being a cheap skate and just buy the middle one.

Cheers.

 

[Paix247]

I have the same MacBook, and I went with an internal Phillips DL DVD drive and a black aluminum Bytech FireWire external enclosure. It works fantastic and cost only $66 shipped from New Egg.

 

[dwright1974]

LG Drive

I have an external LG drive and just plugged it into my MacBook, plonked a black DVD in and Finder recommended it.

Can't speak for your particular model though.

HTH

- D

 

[Makosuke]

I don't have any experience with LG branded drives, but I've used a TSST (Toshiba/Samsung) DVD burner successfully on a Mac, as well as a much older DVD-RAM drive in a generic FW case, so in most cases it should work.

The "maybe" would be whether it's supported directly from Apple software, in particular iDVD. Certainly, if you buy Toast, just about anything should work--it's good that way, albeit pricey.

Have a look at XLR8 Your Mac's Drive Compatibility Database--it's pretty good about giving you tips as to what should work:

http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com/drivedb/search.drivedb.lasso

[Edit: More useful examples posted while I was typing, but my Compatibility Database recommendation stands.]