iMac SuperDrive.....dead

Got my iMac this past March, and the superdrive is totally fried. Won't read CDs or DVDs (burned or retail) at all, just spits em right back out. I tried repairing disk permissions with no luck, called Apple and they wanted me to drive my machine an hour away to the nearest store to have it looked at and then, if necessary, order a new drive and when it arrives have it put in. I wasn't very willing to box up my Mac and mail it out either, considering it was comparable in price to my car. I looked into just buying an external drive to save myself all of this trouble, but I heard that not all drives are compatible with the iApps?

If anyone knows of an external CD/DVD+-RW DL that is 100% Mac-Friendly, please do let me know. I was also looking into getting another SuperDrive off eBay, so if anyone knows of an enclosure that can house it, that'd be great too.

Any and all help greatly appreciated, as I'm lost without an optical drive.

**I have a 17" 2Ghz Intel iMac (G5, I think)

Since you are still under warranty (bought in March 2007? Your one year warranty isn't up yet), why are you not considering taking it back to Apple for repairs? Why pay for an external DVD player if you can get the internal one fixed for free?

If it is a hardware problem, no matter what you can try in terms of keyboard shortcuts, it won't do much good.

Besides think of the resale value... if you try selling it with a defective internal SuperDrive, you won't be able to get as much for it.

I personally think taking it back is worth the effort.

I'm with headcsae on this, just drove 45 min each way today for a new macbook battery, gotta go back tomorrow to pick it up.

Its worth it in the long run

An hour each way to my Mac dealer and then parking is difficult in rural Australian cities, but I would need two broken legs to keep me away in your position Lobe!