Mac DVD writer works with DVD-RW!

[kcarter]

Maybe this one is obvious to you, but when I first bought my Mac G4 w/ DVD burner I called Apple to ask if the DVD drive could write to DVD-RW disks. They gave me a very lame, iffy "maybe". Well I finally decided to plunk down $17 (USDollars) and just try it.

First I tried to copy a short DVD using Toast Titanium. It completed without errors (though I didn't allow the verify process to run) and I could see the recorded area on the disk, but it wouldn't play in any DVD players -- not even on the Mac that burned it!

Next I erased the disk -- worked ok. Then I copied a 3.5Gig session folder to the disk also using Toast. It verified ok, and I can see the files in the finder. I then made sure I could actually read the data off the disk and it worked great!

Just in case the brand of disk makes a difference, I used: Pioneer DVD-RW (120 min/4.7GB with CPRM #DVS-RW47B/U). I never wanted to back up my in-process sessions to DVD because of the high cost of media. But if the disks can be easily recycled like this, then cool!

Hey -- I saw some DVD+RW disks in the store as well. I had the impression these were different from plain DVD RW, does anybody know what's up with that?

Kurt

[where02190]

Thanks for sharing this. I felt the cost vs convienence was a bit steep too, but if we can use rewritables that changes everything and makes having the DVD drive worth something!!!

[ppine]

Even the Apple store has dropped the price to $6.99 each in 5 packs for the regular DVD-R's.

There are some cheaper deals out there, but I have found some of the DVD-RW wont work at all, and some DVD-R's will only burn at 1x.

Even Apple has had some inconsistancies with their DVD-R media..some would only burn at 1x as well. My advice would be if you see a great deal, only order 1 or 2 to do some testing with.

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I saw some DVD+RW disks in the store as well. I had the impression these were different from plain DVD RW, does anybody know what's up with that?

DVD-RW and DVD+RW are different physical formats. DVD+RW compatible drives are the newest, and right now, least supported by the majority of manufacturers. See the amazing site DVD Demystified for FAQ about anything DVD.