External DVD Burner-What to do?

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Hey, everybody.

I am looking for an external DVD burner, but have a few questions.

1. Are all DVD burners compatible with Macs, or are there special ones. (My parents went to Future Shop, and the guy said something about them it, but my parents don't remember).
2. Are all DVD burners compatible with iDVD? Could I make the DVD, then click burn, and it work like it were built in?

Thanks for any input or advice.

Forum Shark
 

chscag

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Any new external DVD burner which connects via USB should work OK with your Mac. However, most burners come packaged with software and it's that which probably would not be compatible as most are for the PC.

(Your Mac already has software built in to burn DVDs.)

In any event, buy an external burner from a store which accepts returns in the event it doesn't work for some reason.

Regards.
 
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Theoretically most should be compatible, at least with Mac OS X 10.5, but some probably aren't. I'd make a few recommendations:

1. Contact the manufacturer of the drive you're thinking about buying and ask them about compatibility with Macs. I'd suggest you do it by email - you'll get a quicker response and you'll have it in writing.

2. When you contact the manufacturer, ask them if the drive is hot pluggable. If it's not, don't buy it. I have an LG that usually works fine with my Mac, but it has to be turned on before I turn on the computer and it can't be unplugged without first shutting down the computer. It's a real pain.

3. Get a Firewire drive. Firewire is much more reliable than USB.

Hope that advice helps.

Claire
 
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Yes go with option 3 the Firewire external optical drive especially as you will require it to boot from when updating operating systems etc.
 
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And I'll add Pioneer as the brand of choice. The range is extensive, the level of compatibility and reliability high.
 

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