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Click to expand.First: Make sure the burner you get works with the applications you expect to use it with. If all you need is a way to backup to DVD, then most USB or FireWire devices should work fine. The catch is that apps like iDVD and so on may not recognize the hardware.
The easiest thing is to buy from a Mac friendly retailer. They will be more likely to have a proper bus-powered device you can use, or can recommend an internal drive that is most compatible with the software you intend to use. Do a web search for 'os x' DVD burner' before you spend any money. First: Make sure the burner you get works with the applications you expect to use it with. If all you need is a way to backup to DVD, then most USB or FireWire devices should work fine. The catch is that apps like iDVD and so on may not recognize the hardware.
The easiest thing is to buy from a Mac friendly retailer. They will be more likely to have a proper bus-powered device you can use, or can recommend an internal drive that is most compatible with the software you intend to use. Do a web search for 'os x' DVD burner' before you spend any money.
Click to expand.Most of the time, when a manufacturer of an optical drive says this, he really means 'we didn't test it with Mac OS' and 'we aren't bundling any Mac software'. But the drive will usually work just fine in a Mac. Third-party utilities like Toast almost always work with third party drives. Apple's disc-burning utilities (like the Finder, iDVD, etc.) can be a bit more finicky, but for those drives, you can usually download a program called 'patchburn' that will take care of the problem. Of course, it is theoretically possible that the drive really isn't compatible with a Mac, but I would be very surprised to see such a drive today. If you already have Toast, and/or you can buy from a retailer with a no-questions-asked return policy, just buy the one you like and see if it works. Chances are it will.
Otherwise, take the time to look for drives that have Mac support. Dealers that specialize in Mac stuff should be able to help you here. Or do some web searching (searching for specific brands and models is usually a good idea.) FWIW, I replaced the internal SuperDrive of my PowerMac G4 with a Plextor PX716A drive, and it had had no problems. Didn't include any Mac software, but I didn't need any - all of my existing disc burning software (including Apple's) just worked. I've also used the occasional USB, FireWire and SCSI drives with this PowerMac without any problem. Click to expand.You can use nearly any external CD/DVD burner.
The only exceptions that I'm aware of is burners from Plextor. They won't work with Mac OS X, neither USB nor Firewire.
Somewhere on the Plextor site, they even write 'we're sorry, but the drives won't work with Apple Computers'. BUT - Select an external Firewire burner - not an USB only. Firewire simply is working better than USB. If you like to, you can choose a USB+Firewire burner, so it can be used on both Macs and normal PCs. Select a drive with either Pioneer or LiteOn - fx.
A drive with a Pioneer DVR-111D drive technology. Click to expand.Yes. All machines with G5 processors have USB 2. USB 2 was introduced on the first PowerMac G5 (June 2003), and gradually appeared on other product lines (with G4 or G5 processors) as new models were released, mostly around September/October 2003 (iBook, PowerBook, iMac).
The eMac was the last product line to get USB 2, in April 2004. (I'm ignoring the Mac Mini, as it was a new product introduced with USB 2.) Incidentally, any machine with built-in USB 2 is also unable to boot Mac OS 9, since USB 2 support came after Mac OS 9 booting was dropped. There is no PowerMac G4 model with built-in USB 2, since the PowerMac G4 was replaced by the PowerMac G5. The most advanced PowerMac G4 model was the mirrored drive doors with Firewire 800, and it also cannot boot Mac OS 9. Click to expand.Wow. You sure about that?
I'm posting this from a 'mirrored-door' - or, as I like to call it, the 'Disco G4' - with the 1.25ghz dual-proc, dual-boot system. When I first bought it, I ran it with OS9, but moved over to OSX, permanently, at the first opportunity after I'd gotten all my apps up to speed. I could reboot this machine into OS9 right now if I wanted, but I just can't see why anymore. 'Though I could not caution all, I yet may warn a few: Don't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools!' -grateful dead. Mike Flugennock, flugennock at sinkers dot org 'Mikey'zine': dubya dubya dubya dot sinkers dot org.