I want to install a new DVD RW in my G4 tower. Does anyone know of a good brand and model? Will I have to do anything to make the outer door on the G4 function or will that be automatic?
Would It be better to use an external and what would you recommend?
Thanks
Comments
I want to install a new DVD RW in my G4 tower. Does anyone know of a good brand and model? Will I have to do anything to make the outer door on the G4 function or will that be automatic?
I personally like the LG drives. They are very cheap and I've burned over 100 DVDs on mine with hardly a single failed burn. Most of those I burned over the course of a couple of years and I recently copied them all to an external hard drive and almost all 400GB of data was intact. I only lost about 20MB of data on one disc.
Some drives aren't supported in apps like itunes and imovie but my LG drive is. Even DVD-Ram is supported. DVD-Ram discs behave like hard drives. They are also used in my DVD-video recorder so I can read those (that's actually why I got it).
Pioneer usually get a good reputation for quality but they tend to be more expensive. Lite-on (Sony) is quite good too and that's what Lacie tend to use but like I say, I don't know about compatibility with the iapps.
The outer door should function automatically, my dad has a G4 tower and he put an IDE drive in his and the door works fine.
Would It be better to use an external and what would you recommend?
I use an external simply because if a burn hangs up, you don't have to wait on your computer freeing itself up again. Hardware devices are outside the system's protective layer so you can't force-quit programs that are waiting for hardware events. So your system will hang up completely - this can happen if you try to force-quite Disk Utility or Toast during a burn. With an external, you just pull the FW or USB plug out and the system frees itself up instantly.
Internal drives save space and cable clutter though. Plus you have to get an enclosure for an external if you don't get a pre-built one. But pre-built ones are more expensive. Lacie external drives can be 5x the price of an IDE drive on its own.
I'd say to get an IDE drive and install it internally first. If you find any trouble with the system hanging or whatever then you can try an external but I think the internal should be fine and it will be the cheapest route to go.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136134
I personally like the LG drives. They are very cheap and I've burned over 100 DVDs on mine with hardly a single failed burn. Most of those I burned over the course of a couple of years and I recently copied them all to an external hard drive and almost all 400GB of data was intact. I only lost about 20MB of data on one disc.
Some drives aren't supported in apps like itunes and imovie but my LG drive is. Even DVD-Ram is supported. DVD-Ram discs behave like hard drives. They are also used in my DVD-video recorder so I can read those (that's actually why I got it).
Pioneer usually get a good reputation for quality but they tend to be more expensive. Lite-on (Sony) is quite good too and that's what Lacie tend to use but like I say, I don't know about compatibility with the iapps.
The outer door should function automatically, my dad has a G4 tower and he put an IDE drive in his and the door works fine.
I use an external simply because if a burn hangs up, you don't have to wait on your computer freeing itself up again. Hardware devices are outside the system's protective layer so you can't force-quit programs that are waiting for hardware events. So your system will hang up completely - this can happen if you try to force-quite Disk Utility or Toast during a burn. With an external, you just pull the FW or USB plug out and the system frees itself up instantly.
Internal drives save space and cable clutter though. Plus you have to get an enclosure for an external if you don't get a pre-built one. But pre-built ones are more expensive. Lacie external drives can be 5x the price of an IDE drive on its own.
I'd say to get an IDE drive and install it internally first. If you find any trouble with the system hanging or whatever then you can try an external but I think the internal should be fine and it will be the cheapest route to go.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136134
Thanks Marvin. As usual, you come through.
I plan to give this computer to a lady friend after I get the
To date, I'm using Panther 3.9, but intend to upgrade to Tiger after installing the DVD burner. Do you know if Tiger iDVD supports a non-SuperDrive?
It lets you save as an image so you can burn in Disk Utility or Toast. It's best not to use idvd for burning because I find it's not very reliable. It's also pretty slow.
I plan to give this computer to a lady friend after I get the
The iMac is technically the better machine but the Mini has a better form factor and is cheaper to run overall. Neither machine is ideal unfortunately but I think you'd prefer the Mini - we can only hope that Apple don't screw us over this year again.