Im looking to get a decent, and cheaply priced external dual layer dvd burner. What should i get? And I need one that is compatible with iDvd. Any ideas?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Good External Dual Layer DVD Burner, What Should I Get?
- Thread starter nickyj182
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I did a little looking on ebay. I didnt know you could get such a thing. I can get internal drives but run them as external drives? So could I purchase a huge internal HD but buy an external inclosure and run it as an external HD?
nickyj182 said:
It's true. Here's a link to enclosures, and here's a link to drives. In my opinion, you'd have to be crazy to buy a branded external device when you can save money and get a superior product by buying a case and drive separately. For a optical drive get a 5.25 enclosure, and for a HD get a 3.5, or 2.5 enclosure depending on the physical size of the HD.
I second the Pioneer (+ external case) recommendation. iLife compatible (Apple uses them in towers), speed is as good as everything else, they're reliable, from a solid company, and cheap.
Although you'll probably end up with a 111D--they're newer than the 110D, and a bit better. When Pioneer (or anybody else) comes out with a new model, it pretty much completely replaces the old one, at the same or lower price.
The only thing the Pioneer drives don't offer is Lightscribe, which is fun but the media is expensive anyway, so for me at least not worth it. If you want lightscribe and don't want to bother doing a build-it-yourself, LaCie has nice looking prepackaged externals that, I believe, come with Mac software for lightscribe graphics (is there any alternative software to theirs on the Mac, for that matter?).
Although you'll probably end up with a 111D--they're newer than the 110D, and a bit better. When Pioneer (or anybody else) comes out with a new model, it pretty much completely replaces the old one, at the same or lower price.
The only thing the Pioneer drives don't offer is Lightscribe, which is fun but the media is expensive anyway, so for me at least not worth it. If you want lightscribe and don't want to bother doing a build-it-yourself, LaCie has nice looking prepackaged externals that, I believe, come with Mac software for lightscribe graphics (is there any alternative software to theirs on the Mac, for that matter?).