How to: Upgrade an external DVD burner
Reduce, reuse and recycle””call ‘em the three “Rs.” My current single-layer DVD writer started life inside a Graphite G4 tower, migrated to an external enclosure and now it’ll be sold on Craig’s List. It’s being replaced by a faster, dual-layer burner that should make life a good bit easier.
Although there are dozens of drives to choose from, I went for the Samsung Super-WriteMaster DVD writer, 22X dual-layer mechanism, with LightScribe, an optical disc label design package. This barebones drive from Other World Computing costs just $31.99 and is designed for installation in a tower-style Mac or stand-alone external enclosure, like the FireWire 400 one I’ve got.
Whereas drives and drive technologies come and go, this 5.25-inch external drive enclosure with FireWire 400 will be quite useful for years to come. Besides, it’s already earned its keep many times over (i.e. I purchased it in back in 2005).
The new drive, being a dual-layer burner, can handle data sizes up to 8.5GB versus the current writer’s 4.5GB (wikipedia.org on DVDs). It is going to simplify and improve the DVD making and copying process.
Some other places to purchase DVD writers:
“” Tiger Direct’s selection of external burners
“” Directron’s external writers
“” Fry Electronics’ external burners
“” FastMac carries optical drives, tooSelf help guides:
“” iFixIt
“” FastMac
“” Other World Computing
I only needed one tool for this upgrade, a phillips head screwdriver, and about fifteen minutes door-to-door (.pdf owner manual). I didn’t need to install any software or drivers, as OWC certifies that the Samsung Super-WriteMaster DVD writer works with the Mac and commonly used optical disc burning and mastering software packages, including Toast, Popcorn, Disc Utility and iDVD, among others.
Get your geek on…
This drive is bootable, meaning I can pop in the Mac OS X Install Disc that came with my MacBook or a retail OS X Install Disc, and everything works just peachy. Best of all it boots faster and performs common maintenance tasks, such repairing the hard disc or repairing permissions, faster than the internal combo drive. And, yes, it burns DVDs a lot faster than the old drive.
Also, whereas I upgraded my external burner””I’m thinking it’ll last longer than my current Mac””there are plenty of affordable internal upgrades for both portable and desktop Macs. Further, faster SATA interface optical drives, which used carry quite the price premium, are now quite affordable…
What are you waiting for?
