Bought a DVD burner/player at DVinfo.net

Chris Westerstrom · May 31st, 2006, 05:09 AM

yesterday and the thing now requires me to buy a special software program (another 127 bucks!) in order to be able to use it. I asked the sales lady yesterday if it worked with idvd, she said i should, and it didn't!

I originally bought it because my apple ibook g4 dvd burner and player stopped working exactly 1 year and 1month past the day I bought it (so it is one month too old to be covered through warranty). After looking into it, I saw that it was cheaper to buy an external burner/ player, but the sales lady didn't mention I needed any additional software.

I am starting to get a little pissed with APPLE!

Anyways, any of you have any similar beef?

Lorne Mathre · May 31st, 2006, 06:32 AM

Chris,
Have you checked out this website? There is a really useful database of drives with user comments and suggestions. If you mention what drive you have and what version of ILife you are using there may be more responses to your post. Good Luck

Chris Westerstrom · May 31st, 2006, 08:23 AM

Thanks Lorne, I did and wish I had known what to ask beforehand. I went and bought a dvd burner for around 200$ and the thing doesn't burn from idvd is what I just found out. The salesperson told me 'no problem', when it didn't work I called up support and the guy acted like 'what, you didn't know that'. Now i have opened the product and tested it and can't return it just because two of the sales people didn't give me the correct information to begin with. I have also lost lots of work time.

Would anyone be interested in buying a video of me taking a 12 guage to my computer and new DVD burner?LOL

Chris Westerstrom · May 31st, 2006, 10:40 AM

Alright, got some DVD's burned off in my new burner driver and I didn't have to buy any new software.

This is what I did:
went to www.patchburn.de
downloaded the program, and followed the instructions. It works for idvd 4 and under, what it does is simply fools the computer into thinking an external dvd drive is internal. I hope this helps anyone else.

Jonathan Jones · May 31st, 2006, 11:04 AM

If you are using iDVD from iLife '05 or earlier, then you are limited to burning with iDVD to using ONLY a SuperDrive, either installed in the Mac when bought, or bought as an upgrade and installed by Apple (or by yourself so long as you get the right drive meeting the right specs).

Beginning with iLife '04, a convenient workaround was introduced that alot of people really enjoyed. You are able to burn your iDVD project to a 'disc image" (sort of a virtual disc). This was touted as a means to allow you to author a DVD on a Mac without a SuperDrive, but then take your disc image and transfer it to a Mac with a SuperDrive and then burn it......but you don't have to. You can also use Toast to burn a disc image to many third party drives. So if you don't have a SuperDrive, or prefer to use your external third party burner, just save your iDVD project to a disc image (it goes through the same lenghty process of encoding the video, etc) and then drop your disc image to a Toast window (using the copy disc image feature) and burn to the drive of your choice.

If you are using iLife '06, Apple finally opened up iDVD with the ability to use third party burners directly from iDVD, but I haven't used this version and I don't know if their compatability list if very encompassing.

My recommendation for you would be to first find a free trial version of Toast from Roxio and see if you can use it to burn your project using your new burner. Toast is an excellent, powerful and versatile program that will cost you less then that other app you mentioned.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
-Jon

Jonathan Jones · May 31st, 2006, 11:06 AM

oops, you posted while I was typing my response, so it appears you found a nice workaround yourself, and it looks very clever.
-Jon

Chris Westerstrom · June 1st, 2006, 04:33 AM

I appreciate you taking the time to reply, I'll try that next time if I get in a similar bind.

thanks

Dave Halliday · June 1st, 2006, 08:47 AM

yeah, I had this EXACT problem with my powerbook. i bought an external burner and foudn out that I needed iDVD 6 or something like that. It was time for me to upgrade, so I just sold the old computer and got a new one, but I feel you--it pi**ed me of that Apple won't let you use the DVD burners out of the box.

May 31st, 2006, 05:09 AM	#1
Chris Westerstrom Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gothenburg, Sweden Posts: 259	Bought a DVD burner/player yesterday and the thing now requires me to buy a special software program (another 127 bucks!) in order to be able to use it. I asked the sales lady yesterday if it worked with idvd, she said i should, and it didn't! I originally bought it because my apple ibook g4 dvd burner and player stopped working exactly 1 year and 1month past the day I bought it (so it is one month too old to be covered through warranty). After looking into it, I saw that it was cheaper to buy an external burner/ player, but the sales lady didn't mention I needed any additional software. I am starting to get a little pissed with APPLE! Anyways, any of you have any similar beef?

May 31st, 2006, 06:32 AM	#2
Lorne Mathre Regular Crew Join Date: May 2006 Location: Orlando, Fl Posts: 56	www.xlr8yourmac.com Chris, Have you checked out this website? There is a really useful database of drives with user comments and suggestions. If you mention what drive you have and what version of ILife you are using there may be more responses to your post. Good Luck

May 31st, 2006, 11:04 AM	#5
Jonathan Jones Trustee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Healdsburg, California Posts: 1,138	If you are using iDVD from iLife '05 or earlier, then you are limited to burning with iDVD to using ONLY a SuperDrive, either installed in the Mac when bought, or bought as an upgrade and installed by Apple (or by yourself so long as you get the right drive meeting the right specs). Beginning with iLife '04, a convenient workaround was introduced that alot of people really enjoyed. You are able to burn your iDVD project to a 'disc image" (sort of a virtual disc). This was touted as a means to allow you to author a DVD on a Mac without a SuperDrive, but then take your disc image and transfer it to a Mac with a SuperDrive and then burn it......but you don't have to. You can also use Toast to burn a disc image to many third party drives. So if you don't have a SuperDrive, or prefer to use your external third party burner, just save your iDVD project to a disc image (it goes through the same lenghty process of encoding the video, etc) and then drop your disc image to a Toast window (using the copy disc image feature) and burn to the drive of your choice. If you are using iLife '06, Apple finally opened up iDVD with the ability to use third party burners directly from iDVD, but I haven't used this version and I don't know if their compatability list if very encompassing. My recommendation for you would be to first find a free trial version of Toast from Roxio and see if you can use it to burn your project using your new burner. Toast is an excellent, powerful and versatile program that will cost you less then that other app you mentioned. Hope this helps. Good luck. -Jon __________________ "Are we to go on record, sir, with our assertion that the 'pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers' are, in point of fact', magically delicious?" - Walter Hollarhan before the House Subcommittee on Integrity in Advertising - May, 1974

May 31st, 2006, 11:06 AM	#6
Jonathan Jones Trustee Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Healdsburg, California Posts: 1,138	oops, you posted while I was typing my response, so it appears you found a nice workaround yourself, and it looks very clever. -Jon __________________ "Are we to go on record, sir, with our assertion that the 'pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars, and green clovers' are, in point of fact', magically delicious?" - Walter Hollarhan before the House Subcommittee on Integrity in Advertising - May, 1974

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May 31st, 2006, 08:23 AM	#3
Chris Westerstrom Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gothenburg, Sweden Posts: 259	Thanks Lorne, I did and wish I had known what to ask beforehand. I went and bought a dvd burner for around 200$ and the thing doesn't burn from idvd is what I just found out. The salesperson told me 'no problem', when it didn't work I called up support and the guy acted like 'what, you didn't know that'. Now i have opened the product and tested it and can't return it just because two of the sales people didn't give me the correct information to begin with. I have also lost lots of work time. Would anyone be interested in buying a video of me taking a 12 guage to my computer and new DVD burner?LOL

May 31st, 2006, 10:40 AM	#4
Chris Westerstrom Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gothenburg, Sweden Posts: 259	Alright, got some DVD's burned off in my new burner driver and I didn't have to buy any new software. This is what I did: went to www.patchburn.de downloaded the program, and followed the instructions. It works for idvd 4 and under, what it does is simply fools the computer into thinking an external dvd drive is internal. I hope this helps anyone else.

June 1st, 2006, 04:33 AM	#7
Chris Westerstrom Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Gothenburg, Sweden Posts: 259	I appreciate you taking the time to reply, I'll try that next time if I get in a similar bind. thanks

June 1st, 2006, 08:47 AM	#8
Dave Halliday Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Washington DC Posts: 116	yeah, I had this EXACT problem with my powerbook. i bought an external burner and foudn out that I needed iDVD 6 or something like that. It was time for me to upgrade, so I just sold the old computer and got a new one, but I feel you--it pi**ed me of that Apple won't let you use the DVD burners out of the box.