WANTED: Mac compatible internal OEM DVD drive for USB DVD enclosure.

[Rustman]

Hi,

I have a 3 year old External USB2 DVD drive that is basically an IDE enclosure for any standard internal DVD drive/burner. I'm looking to replace the drive inside with a high quality one that supports DL burning on all types of DL disks as quickly and safely as possible.

I have an iMac with a Pioneer K06A drive that isn't a year old yet. Sadly it doesn't seem to be reliable enough burning even standard DVDs, so I'm not risking more expensive DL media in there.

I've been successfully using the external USB burner for about 6 months now. Sure, it's noisy and bulky, but it's quicker and more reliable than the useless drive Apple decided to bung in an otherwise terrific machine.

All I need now is for a recommendation of a Mac compatible, OEM DVD drive that is tried and tested (and quiet, if possible).

I was hoping to buy from the likes of Ebuyer.com or Misco as I'm in the UK and they've served me well in the past.

Thanks in advance.

 

[logana]

I would recommend a Pioneer drive (this is a 3.5" IDE one you are looking for ?) - I have a 111 but I think the current model is 115.

Check that it is IDE and not SATA - should not be more than £15 or so plus delivery.

The replacement internal for the iMac is more tricky since all the other (Panasonic/Matshita are worse than what you have already....

 

[Rustman]

Thanks for the feedback. I've gone for one of these, a Pioneer DVR-115DBK, which I believe is the model you've mentioned.

One of the reviews even mentions an internal upgrade on an eMac (wow, that's some time ago) and how it works just fine. Sounds good, and it's being ordered. Hopefully it'll prove more reliable than their useless thin models.

 

[Rustman]

Well, I thought I should post a follow up to my efforts with this external burner.

I've had the displeasure of having two Pioneer drives forced upon me in the case of my G4, over 5 years ago and in my current Aluminium iMac. Both were completely unreliable. The one in the iMac certainly has the crown for unreliability though. It's supposed to manage DL disks, but can't burn more than a CD without having Medium errors or problems closing the disk. The single use for that drive in the side of iMac is to load OSX. It takes forever to rip a CD from it, makes a ton of noise if trying to watch a DVD and rejects every reputable brand of writable DVD media that I could throw at it.

Basically, every single Pioneer drive that I've used has been useless. So what happened with the 115? Well, after creating 6 coasters of 8.5GB DL disks I reckoned that it was clearly a dud and it's going back to Ebuyer.

I've since got hold of an LG GSA-E60L and can report 100% success. Sadly they are now discontinued, so getting hold of one might prove a pain, but at least it does the job it was intended for.

I thought I should just add that despite the External GSA-E60L working flawlessly for over a dozen burns I've now replaced it again. Not because there was any flaw with the drive at all. It's just that it cost £69.99 which is frankly a ridiculous price to pay for a discontinued drive that was manufactured nearly a year ago. I've since managed to get an LG GSA-H55N, which an OEM internal drive that fits in the enclosure I have perfectly. This was just £17.99 and has identical specs to the £69.99 LG. So, about half a dozen burns later (all perfect) I can safely say that LG drives pwn Pioneer. I'ts been a pain in the butt the last week, but I can say I'm satisfied now.

 

[Mike Schwend]

(This is a duplicate, almost; I tried to edit/add more info, but got messed up. Please proceed to the following posting, which has better info.)
-Mike-

 

[Mike Schwend]

Well, I thought I should post a follow up to my efforts with this external burner.

...I've since got hold of an LG GSA-E60L and can report 100% success. Sadly they are now discontinued, so getting hold of one might prove a pain, but at least it does the job it was intended for.
.[/B][/I]

Good day;
I just have received the LG GSA-E60L from buy.com.
I have not opened the actual device's box yet, but have removed the unit's box from the shipping container.

My question: Is this unit able to actually burn a LABEL onto a Lightscribe platter, using the LIGHTSCRIBE labeling software? (I have an HP computer that has a Lightscribe burner, but the software is for the Vista OS on the HP unit.)

- Where is the Mac software available for the Mac/Lightscribe?
- The unit's container makes no mention of Mac compatibility, only Windows.
- The LG site has offered no hint or help; Only Windows references.

How does one make this unit burn a Lightscribe label on the proper media, if one is using a Mac? (My computer is a late-model Intel iMac, 2.8 Ghz, 4 Gb memory, etc.)

Thank you very much!!
-Mike-

 

[Mike Schwend]

My question: Is this unit able to actually burn a LABEL onto a Lightscribe platter, using the LIGHTSCRIBE labeling software? (I have an HP computer that has a Lightscribe burner, but the software is for the Vista OS on the HP unit.)

- Where is the Mac software available for the Mac/Lightscribe?

--- U P D A T E ---
The problem is resolved!

Guided by another user, I did a quick search for the driver, and was able to download and install it! I thank you VERY much for your help on this matter.

This application works well, at least VISUALLY!!! Both the TOAST and the LIGHTSCRIBE applications see the LG (LightScribe) device.

I did have to locate and download/install a total of three files, as the first one (some 22 Meg) would hang at the point that I would ask the unit to burn the label. I needed more drivers, it seems. It now seems to be just fine, but the three items I had to search for, then load are as follows;
1. DiscRecording.pkg
2. LightScribe Installer 1.2.dmg
3. lightscribe.pkg.sitx

-Mike-