External DVD Burner

I've been trying to find an external DVD burner that will work with my PowerBook G4.

Will it work if I find an external enclosure and use an internal burner? If so, does it have to be one compatible with a Mac, or would a PC-compatible one work?

I've also found quite a few cheap external burners that don't seem to be supported on Mac - or at least that's what the manufacturers' websites show. Has anyone had any success using one of those? I know that LG and Sony both make some that I've looked at.

Thanks!

I don't know about building one, but I have purchase a LaCie burner. Which works very will. I have never had any problems with it. What ever you get make sure you have at least a firewire port on it.

What specific LaCie burner model do you have? Was it listed as Mac compatible on their website, or not?

If I don't have to worry about whether or not it's listed as Mac compatible, my life will be much simpler.

HERE is Apples OSX 3rd party mass storage devices compatibility page.

I have seen this page while researching the question. However, it does not provide any clear answers - only links to individual manufacturer's websites.

It does say on their page that "Most external storage devices that use a FireWire (IEEE 1394) or USB 2.0 connection — including optical drives (CD, DVD), hard drives and Zip drives — work with Mac OS X." It then goes on to say to check the manufacturer's websites.

I have checked several (Sony, Comstar, HP, and LG), and none of them list Mac compatibility! I guess I'll have to make sure that I can return the drive if it is not compatible with my OS to whatever retailer I purchase it from.

I suspect the "compatibility" question may be whether the manufacturer makes drivers for OSX. I suspect that for most of these, no drivers are required as they are built into OSX.

baggss said:

I suspect the "compatibility" question may be whether the manufacturer makes drivers for OSX. I suspect that for most of these, no drivers are required as they are built into OSX.

Click to expand...

yes, I belive that is correct!

Also just wanted to let you know, I use a Pioneer drive in a firewire case and it works well, its even supported by ilife via OS X 10.4's drivers.

http://www.macsales.com
they specialize in mac stuff, you should be able to find a compatable burner there.