DV Info Net - Need new optical drive

I had a similar situation and decided I'd go with a firewire set-up so I could use it with my portable as well (I do a lot of fieldwork). I thought about buying an enclosure and a drive, but the deadline was on top of me and I didn't want to get stuck with figuring out any compatibility issues. I ended up popping for the new LaCie firewire drive that uses the new NEC dual-layer burner. Haven't tried the dual layer feature yet (no media available where I am yet) because it got good reviews and I thought LaCie would be a decent bet for out of the box functionality. So far it has performed flawlesslyand fast, It is such a relief not not wonder whether I have just invested another hour into a coaster. The LaCie drive also comes with Toast 6 (I had 5 already: hard to say if it's really worth the upgrade), which helps a bit to compensate for the higher price than other solutions. If the dual layer feature actually works when I can use it, so much the better. Anyway, it's been a good solution for me.

For what it is worth, I'm also figuring that about the time the drive begins showing its age, the warranty will be running out and I can guiltlessly pop the case and reuse the enclosure with whatever is current and uses the same device interface. On that note, when I bought my powerbook, I did not pay the extra $$ for the superdrive, figuring it would be hard to update and I might end up in exactly this situation. I'm not unhappy about that now, though there were a couple of times I missed burning on the fly earlier.

Linc Kesler