what dvd writer

[G4Mac-UserPPC]

hi,, noob here with a g4 mdd 1.42 dual..

my dvd writers on its way out and i dont know what to replace it with.
will any new dvd writer go in or does it have to be a specific type/make/model?
thanks.

 

[Qianlong]

I like Pioneer drives - very easy to make region free and they always come out the best in tests.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129043

You'll need an ide/ata model, not the newer sata models.

I think with the ata bus in the G4 you won't be able to burn at 22X speed.
I have a pioneer 16X dvd burner in my QS G4 800 and it can only burn steady at 8X.

 

[Carolus Rex]

I like Pioneer drives - very easy to make region free and they always come out the best in tests.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129043

You'll need an ide/ata model, not the newer sata models.

I think with the ata bus in the G4 you won't be able to burn at 22X speed.
I have a pioneer 16X dvd burner in my QS G4 800 and it can only burn steady at 8X.

I second that opinion!
I use a Pioneer myself in my G4 DA (@533mhz, OC:d) and it works great! It is a Pioneer 115D : Pioneer DVR 20x DL10X RAM 5X CD 40X DVR-115DBK
(I think, but I am not sure if I remember this correctly, that this is actually the same model as goes for a "superdrive" in at least some Mac:s) I bought it about 2 years ago brand new from an online store in Sweden for about € 30 -35, very cheap)
You should be able to find a similar price.
I have seen that there are quite a few sites where people have tinkered with the firmware ang got it even to do litescribe. With updated firmware you get better performance, but I think you might need to flash it on a PC. At least I did. It should work straight out of the box in your G4. Check the firmware after installing it (you will see it in "about this Mac" menu) and see if it needs newer firmware. I don't use the latest firmware, and I remember that there was a reason for it. But not what that reason was. Google it and you will find out. Something like "update firmware pioneer 115d os x"

Good luck!

 

[Tesselator]

I got this one:

as a replacement and I love it to death! Absolutely awesome! Fast, Quiet, and very robust in the formats department. Drag-n-drop DVD copying, etc.

PIONEER DVD-RW  DVR-116L:

  Firmware Revision:	1.06
  Interconnect:	ATAPI
  Burn Support:	Yes (Generic Drive Support)
  Profile Path:	None
  Cache:	2000 KB
  Reads DVD:	Yes
  CD-Write:	-R, -RW
  DVD-Write:	-R, -R DL, -RAM, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
  Write Strategies:	CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO