External DVD Writers

[mistermoya]

I really regretted not getting a Superdrive for my Powerbook last February because it's so difficult to have to chop up big projects that reach the gigabytes in file size to make them fit into CDs. And since I can't afford a new Pbook with a Superdrive, I was just wondering what external DVD-writers can I get locally for my Pbook?

Can I actually buy one and just put it in some enclosure like I would an external HDD? How much would they cost usually?

[Macmon]

Check this thread
click here

If I will be passing by on the friday's guys meet, you can check out the external DVD writer I made to work with my ibook. (will confirm to be going on fri by thurs night)

[Henjie]

Originally posted by mistermoya
I really regretted not getting a Superdrive for my Powerbook last February because it's so difficult to have to chop up big projects that reach the gigabytes in file size to make them fit into CDs. And since I can't afford a new Pbook with a Superdrive, I was just wondering what external DVD-writers can I get locally for my Pbook?

Can I actually buy one and just put it in some enclosure like I would an external HDD? How much would they cost usually?

Sure you can. :-)

I'm using a self-built external DVD writer myself. ME-320 enclosure (Firewire-only version) + NEC ND-2500A DVD±R/RW drive. Spent around P2,500 for the enclosure (Virra Mall) and a bit over P6,500 for the DVD burner (Feb. '04, Jumbo Computer HK). The newer version (ND-2510A 8x DVD±R/RW and 2.4x dual-layer) costs less than P5,000.

If you're looking for official iApps support, go for the Pioneer DVR-107D 8x DVD±R/RW drive. Current price is a bit below P5,200 (Jumbo Computer HK). If you don't mind using PatchBurn II, there are a lot more drives to choose from. The aforementioned NEC ND-2510A; Pioneer DVR-108 16x DVD±R/RW and 4x DL drive (P7,200); Lite-On SOHW-832s 8x DVD±R/RW and 2.4x DL (P5,000); etc.

And if you're an iDVD user, there's a hack available that gives it the ability to burn to external DVD burners (supposed to be a DVD Studio Pro-only feature). ;-)


~Henjie

[Edited on 8-24-2004 by Henjie]

[mistermoya]

Thanks once more! I think I'll be making a trip to Virra Mall this week...

[Kenneth]

Curious, how long does it take to burn a DVD at 8X speed assuming you're gonna burn around 4 gig on it? Also, what's the max speed when burning a plain CDR?

[S13]

A DVD burner would burn a full DVD at roughly the following speeds:

1x - 1 hour
2x - 30 mins.
4x - 15 mins.
8x - 8 mins.

but eventhough i have a 4x burner and 4x DVD-R media, i still find it more reliable to burn at 2x especially when i'm burning more than 4GB of data. of course, better (more expensive) media would be more reliable at higher speeds.

[Macmon]

Originally posted by mistermoya
Thanks once more! I think I'll be making a trip to Virra Mall this week...

Dynamic PC express has the lowest price for the Pioneer A07 model around 7800 pesos compared to 8500 on other stores plus they have the enclosure for it.

Bring your PB if you plan to buy both so you can try it out there.

[mistermoya]

Originally posted by Macmon

Originally posted by mistermoya
Thanks once more! I think I'll be making a trip to Virra Mall this week...

Dynamic PC express has the lowest price for the Pioneer A07 model around 7800 pesos compared to 8500 on other stores plus they have the enclosure for it.

Bring your PB if you plan to buy both so you can try it out there.

Thanks i will do that...

[Henjie]

Originally posted by Kenneth
Curious, how long does it take to burn a DVD at 8X speed assuming you're gonna burn around 4 gig on it?

What S13 said. Fastest is around 8 minutes (Plextor PX-708A). The Pioneer DVR-107D takes around 8:45 while my NEC ND-2500A takes around 9:35 (I take comfort in the fact that the writing quality is superb, hehe). Different times because of different writing strategies. Some burners start at 4x before ramping up to 6x and finishing at 8x while others can burn in just 2 steps (6x then 8x).

Also, what's the max speed when burning a plain CDR?

It depends on the burner used. The Pioneer DVR-107D can burn CDs at a max of 24x; the NEC ND-2500A at 32x; the Lite-On SOHW-832S at 40x. :-)


~Henjie

[mnx]

as a poor man's alternative, i've put together a "matrix" brand external 5.25" fw/usb2 enclosure and a liteon 411s to be shared among our tibook and a couple of winxp boxes. works great but limited to 4x.

we've been using cdrking P11.00 dvd-r discs and haven't produced a coaster yet (done over 50 dvds now). for dvd+rw discs, we use hp and melody discs (P90 and P75 from a shop in megamall). hp discs record at full 4x but the melody discs can only go to about 2.4x or so.

the drive cost us less than P5k after haggling (forgot the shops name but it was in gilmore or whatever the name of that pc area near new manila) and the enclosure was a little less than P2.8k from pc madness in filinvest. had to run patchburn 2, though, for iTunes and Disc Utility to write to the drive.

we backed up a panther disc on a cd+rw and booted up on it.

7+k for an external 4x dvd+/-rw with both usb and fw... happy