Assistance needed cd's

I have another posting and maybe I didn't explain myself clearly. Let me try again.

I have an iMac G3 slot loading machine. I cannot burn any cd's or dvd's on this machine. I am looking for a machine that will allow me to copy various files/programs so that in the event something happens to my computer I will have these cd's for backup...similar idea as the old "floppy Discs" I used to use. I might also want to copy music to these cd's.

What type of external device should I be looking for? ANY assistance in this would be appreciated

Thank you

Ironman depends a lot on the actual model.

The original slot loading iMac 350MHz does not have Firewire. A 400 and later model does and an external Firewire DVD burner would be bootable. DVD burners will also burn CD's and the best program is Toast Titanium. Here are iMac G3 specs:-

Apple iMac Specs @ EveryMac.com

Something like this would be the go:-

OWC MercuryValue FireWire/USB2 SuperDrive u... (VLFWU2D116) at OWC

If you have the model without Firewire (fingers crossed) would look to upgrade to a G4 iMac.

ironman1 said:

I have an iMac G3 slot loading machine ... I am looking for a machine that will allow me to copy various files/programs ... will have these cd's for backup ... I might also want to copy music to these cd's. What type of external device should I be looking for?

Click to expand...

There were/are two Indigo iMacs, one had 350 MHz or higher; and if you had the 2001 model, it went up to 700 MHz. All indigo iMacs had USB 1, with a rather slow transfer rate of 12 Mbs. All indigo iMacs had firewire 400.

So, first and foremost, look for a firewire external optical drive if you want faster transfer. If you want to stay cheaper, and can tolerate slow burning of CDs, then an IDE-USB adaptor will do the job from an old(er), used 'bare' CD-RW unit, no need for an enclosure.

Me? I'd go for the adaptor method, but I'm seldom in a hurry, and I like keeping older stuff working.

If I went firewire, I'd shop for an enclosure with the Oxford chipset. Okay, it costs a bit more, but it works reliably with MacOS. LaCie do not, to my knowledge, use Oxford. Where to shop? Find the latest Performance Upgrades, Firewire and USB Hard Drives, SATA, Memory, Laptop Battery, and more at OWC Pioneer optical drives are top-shelf.